52 PLINY'S NATUBAL HISTOBY. [Book XVIII. 



fingers in depth ; the less the pains that are bestowed upon it 

 the better it will thrive a singular fact that there should be 

 anything that profits from neglect. The kinds, however, that 

 are known as "secale" and " farrago' ' require harrowing only. 



CHAP. 40. SECALE OR ASIA. 



The people of Taurinum, at the foot of the Alps, give to 

 secale 94 the name of " asia ;" it is a very inferior 95 grain, and 

 is only employed to avert positive famine. It is prolific, but 

 has a straw of remarkable thinness ; it is also black and 

 sombre-looking, but weighs extremely heavy. Spelt is mixed 

 with this grain to modify its bitterness, 96 and even then it is 

 very disagreeable to the stomach. It will grow upon any soil, 

 and yields a hundred- fold ; it is employed also as a manure 

 for enriching the land. 



CHAP. 41. FARRAGO: THE CRACCA. 



Farrago, a mixture made of the refuse of " far," or spelt, is 

 sown very thick, the vetch being sometimes mingled with it ; 

 in Africa, this mixture is sometimes made with barley. All 

 these mixtures, however, are only intended for cattle, and the 

 same is the case with the cracca, 97 a degenerate kind of legu- 

 minous plant. Pigeons, it is said, are so remarkably fond of 

 this grain, that they will never leave the place where it has 

 been given to them. 



CHAP. 42. OCINUM : ERVILIA. 



Among the ancients there was a sort of fodder, to which 

 Cato 98 gives the name of " ocinum ;" it was employed by them 

 to stop scouring in oxen. This was a mixture of various kinds 

 of fodder, cut green before the frosts came on. Mamilius Sura, 

 however, explains the term differently, and says that ten modii 

 of beans, two of vetches, and the same quantity of ervilia, 98 * 

 were mixed and sown in autumn on a jugerum of land. He 



94 Probably the Secale cereale of Linnrcus, cultivated rye. 



95 It is now held in high esteem in many parts of Europe. 



96 Rye has no bitterness, and this assertion has led some to doubt if it is 

 identical with the " secale" of Pliny. 



97 Perhaps identical with the Vicia cracca of Linnaeus. 



98 In c. 54 and 60, and elsewhere. See B. xvii. c. 35. 

 98 Probably, fitches. 



