70 PLINY'S NATUBAL HISTOET. [Book XVIII. 



beyond that, it is unproductive. 86 The same definite rule 

 which applies to one kind of sx?ed is applicable to them all : 

 the seed which falls to the bottom 87 on the threshing-floor, 

 should be reserved for sowing, for being the most weighty it 

 is the best in quality : there is no better method, in ^ fact, of 

 ascertaining its quality. The grains of those ears which have 

 intervals between the seed should be rejected. The best grain 

 is that which has a reddish hue, 88 and which, when broken 

 between the teeth, presents the same 89 colour ; that which has 

 more white within is of inferior quality. It is a well-known 

 fact that some lands require more seed than others, from which 

 circumstance first arose a superstition that exists among the 

 peasantry ; it is their belief that when the ground demands the 

 seed with greater avidity than usual, it is famished, and devours 

 the grain. It is consistent with reason to put in the seed 

 where the soil is humid sooner than elsewhere, to prevent the 

 grain from rotting in the rain : on dry spots it should be sown 

 later, and just before the fall of a shower, so that it may not 

 have to lie long without germinating and so come to nothing. 

 When the seed is put in early it should be sown thick, as it is 

 a considerable time before it germinates ; but when it is put 

 in later, it should be sown thinly, to prevent it from being suf- 

 focated. There is a certain degree of skill, too, required in 

 scattering the seed evenly ; to ensure this, the hand must keep 

 time 90 with the step, moving always with the right foot. 

 There are certain persons, also, who have a secret method 91 of 

 their own, having been born 92 with a happy hand which im- 

 parts fruitfulness to the grain. Care should be taken not to 

 sow seed in a warm locality which has been grown in a cold 



86 " Sterile." This is not necessarily the case, as we know with reference 

 to what is called mummy wheat, the seed of which has been recovered 

 at different times from the Egyptian tombs. 



87 The threshing floor was made with an elevation in the middle, and 

 the sides on an incline, to the bottom of which the largest grains would 

 be the most likely to fall. 



88 "Far" or spelt is of a red hue in the exterior. 



89 This appearance is no longer to be observed, if, indeed, PHny is cor- 

 rect : all kinds of corn are white in the interior of the grain. 



90 Hand-sowing is called hy the French, *'semer a la volee." 



91 This occult or mysterious method of which Pliny speaks, consists 

 solely of what we should call a " happy knack," which some men have of 

 sowing more evenly than others. 



92 Sors geniulis atque fecunda est. 



