The Life of the Weevil 



Nothing is clearer than the teaching of 

 the poet, who was wonderfully well-informed 

 on agricultural matters: we must begin to 

 sow the phaselus when the constellation 

 Bootes disappears at sunset, that is to say, 

 at the end of October, and continue doing so 

 until the middle of the winter. 



These conditions put the haricot out of the 

 question: it is a chilly plant, which would not 

 withstand the slightest frost. The winter 

 would be fatal to it, even in the climate of the 

 south of Italy. On the other hand, the pea, 

 the broad bean, the everlasting pea and 

 others, better able to resist the cold because 

 of their country of origin, have nothing to 

 fear from an autumn sowing and thrive dur- 

 ing the winter, provided that the climate be 

 fairly mild. 



What then does the phaselus of the 

 Georgics stand for, that problematical bean 

 which has handed down its name to the 

 haricot in the Latin languages? Remember- 

 ing the contemptuous epithet vilis with which 

 the poet stigmatizes it, I feel inclined to loolc 

 upon it as the chickling vetch, the coarse 

 square pea, the jaisso despised by the Proven- 

 gal peasant. 



274 



