Chap. 39.] aiLiclA. 51 



CHAP. 37. (15.) — THE VETCH. 



The vetch,^ too, enriches the soil, and its cultivation en- 

 tails no labour on the agriculturist. It is sown after the 

 ground has been but once turned up, and requires neither hoe- 

 ing nor manuring ; nothing at all, indeed, except harrowing. 

 There are three periods for sowing it ; the first is about the 

 setting of Arcturus, when it is intended for feeding cattle 

 in the month of December, while in the blade ; this crop, too, 

 is the best of all for seed, for, although grazed upon, it will 

 bear just as well. The second crop is sown in the month of 

 January, and the last in March ; this last being the best crop 

 for fodder. Of all the seeds this is the one that thrives best 

 in a dry soil ; still, however, it manifests no repugnance to 

 a shaded locality. This grain, if gathered when quite ripe, 

 produces a chaff superior to that of any other. If sown near 

 vines supported by trees, the vetch will draw away the juicei^ 

 from the vines, and make them languid. 



CHAP. 38. THE FITCH. 



The cultivation of the fitch,^^ too, is attended with no diffi- 

 culty. It requires weeding, however, more than the vetch. 

 Like it, the fitch has certain medicinaP" properties ; for we 

 find the fact still kept in remembrance by some letters of his, 

 that the late Emperor Augustus was cured by its agency. Five 

 modii will sow as much ground as a yoke of oxen can plough 

 in a day. If sown in the month of March, ^^ it is injurious, 

 they say, to oxen : and when sown in autumn, it is apt to pro- 

 duce head-ache. If, however, it is put in the ground at the 

 beginning of spring, it will be productive of no bad results. 



CHAP. 39. (16.) SILICIA. 



Silicia,^^ or, in other words, fenugreek, is sown after a light 

 ploughing^^ merely, the furrows being no more than some four 



^ Vicia sativa of Linnaeus. 



^ Or orobus, the Ervuni ervilia of Linnaeus. 

 _ ^ It is thought by many that the ervum is unwholesome, being produc- 

 iye of muscular weakness. The blade of it is said to act as a poison on 

 •igs. However, we find the farina, or meal, extolled by some persons for 

 ts medicinal qualities ; and if we are to trust to the advertisements in the 

 ewspapers, it is rising rapidly in esteem. See B. xxii. c. 73. 



^' From Columella, B. ii. c. 11 



*- Trigonella foenum Graecum of Linnaus. »* " Scarificatio." 



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