Chap. 2.] HOW FLAX IS SOWN. 131 



already mentioned by us on a more appropriate occasion ; 7 not 

 satisfied that his fellow-men should perish upon land, but 

 anxious that they should meet their end with no sepulchral 

 rites to await them, there are no execrations 8 to be found that 

 can equal his demerits ! 



It is only in the preceding Book 9 that I was warning the 

 agriculturist, as he values the grain that is to form our daily 

 sustenance, to be on his guard against the storm and the tem- 

 pest ; and yet, here we have man sowing with his own hand, 

 man racking his invention how best to gather, an object the 

 only aspirations of which upon the deep are the winds of 

 heaven ! And then, too, as if to let us understand all the better 

 how highly favoured is this instrument of our punishment, 

 there is no vegetable production that grows with greater fa- 

 cility ; 10 and, to prove to us that it is in despite of Mature her- 

 self that it exists, it has the property of scorching 11 the ground 

 where it is grown, and of deteriorating the quality of the very 

 soil itself. 



CHAP. 2. (1.) HOW PLAX IS SOWN I TWENTY- SEVEN PKINCIPAL 

 VARIETIES OF IT. 



Flax is mostly sown in sandy 12 soils, and after a single 

 ploughing only. There is no plant that grows more rapidly n 



7 In B. vii. c. 57. He alludes to Daedalus. 



8 He probably has in view here the imprecation uttered by Horace : 



< k Illi robur, et ses triplex 



Circa pectus erat, qui fragilem truci 



Commisit pelago ratem. t> Odes, i. 3. 



At the present day hemp forms a material part in the manufacture of 

 sails. In addition to flax, the ancients employed broom, rushes, leather, 

 and various skins of animals for the purpose. 



9 In c. 76. 



10 On the contrary, as Fee observes, the cultivation of flax is attended 

 with the greatest difficulties. 



11 See B. xvii. c. 7. Virgil says, Georg. i. 77, "Urit enim lini campum 

 seges" but in the sense, as Fee remarks, of exhausting, not scorching the 

 soil. 



12 A light soil, and well manured, is usually employed for the purpose. 

 Columella, B. ii. c. 10, recommends a rich, moist soil. It is sown in March 

 or April, and is gathered, according to the season, from June to September. 



13 Though rapid in its growth, there are many vegetable productions 

 that grow more rapidly. 



K 2 



