50 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book XVIII. 



though left upon a soil thickly covered with brambles, it will 

 throw out a root amid the leaves and brakes, and so con- 

 trive to reach the ground. We have already stated 83 that the 

 soil of a field or vineyard is enriched by the growth of a 

 crop of lupines ; indeed, so far is it from standing in need of 

 manure, that the lupines will act upon it as well as the very 

 best. It is the only seed that requires no outlay at all, so 

 much so, in fact, that there is no necessity to carry it even to the 

 spot where it is sown ; for it may be sown the moment it is 

 brought from the threshing-floor : 84 and from the fact that it 

 falls from the pod of its own accord, it stands in need of no 

 one to scatter it. 



This is 85 the very first grain sown and the last that is gathered, 

 both operations generally taking place in the month of Sep- 

 tember ; indeed, if this is not done before winter sets in, it is 

 liable to receive injury from the cold. And then, besides, it 

 may even be left with impunity to lie upon the ground, in case 

 showers should not immediately ensue and cover it in, it being 

 quite safe from the attacks of all animals, on account of its 

 bitter taste : still, however, it is mostly covered up in a slight 

 furrow. Among the thicker soils, it is attached to a red earth 

 more particularly. In order to enrich 86 this earth, it should be 

 turned up just after the third blossom ; but where the soil is 

 sandy, after the second. Chalky and slimy soils are the only 

 ones that it has an aversion to ; indeed, it will never come to 

 anything when sown in them. Soaked in warm water, it is 

 used as a food, too, for man. One modius is a sufficient meal 

 for an ox, and it is found to impart considerable vigour to 

 cattle ; placed, too, upon the abdomen 87 of children, it acts as 

 a remedy in certain cases. It is an excellent plan to season 

 the lupine by smoking it ; for when it is kept in a moist state, 

 maggots are apt to attack the germ, and render it useless for 

 reproduction. If cattle have eaten it off while in leaf, as a 

 matter of necessity it should be ploughed in as soon as possible. 



83 In B. xvii. c. 6. 



84 " Ex area." This reading is favoured by the text of Columella. B. ii. 

 c. 10, who says the same. But " ex arvo," from the field, . e. the " moment 

 it is gathered" seems preferable, as being more consistent with the context. 



85 From Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. B. viii. c. 1. 11, &c. 



86 It is still thought that the lupine enriches the soil in which it grows. 



87 Marcellus Empiricus says, that boiled lupine meal, spread as a plaster, 

 aad laid on the abdomen, will destroy intestinal worms. 



