OLIVIER DE SERRES 95 



tides ebb and flow under the influence of the moon ; 

 plants turn towards the sun and are fostered by his 

 rays. Accordingly he would not set at naught the 

 belief that timber-trees must only be felled when the 

 moon is waning, lest he should thereby endanger 

 the safety of his buildings. But he thinks it foolish 

 to wait for a change of the moon when the weather is 

 favourable to the operations of the farm. Diligence to 

 seize opportunity by the forelock is better than all 

 forecasts. 



" Que Fhomme estant par trop lunier 

 De fruicts ne remplit son panier." 



Science, experience and diligence is the motto of the 

 Thedtre, science meaning knowledge, and especially 

 book-knowledge. De Serres is careful to show that 

 while book-learning may be futile, experience may be 

 unenlightened, and he trusts neither alone. Hence, 

 while he enforces Virgil's advice : — " Laudato ingentia 

 rura, exigua colite," or quotes Hesiod upon the difference 

 between the neighbour who rushes barefoot to help a 

 friend in trouble and the neighbour who waits till he has 

 finished dressing, he does not disdain to offer bits of 

 practical advice in homely rhymes, e.g. 



" Celui son bien ruinera 



Qui par autrui le manira ; " or this, 

 " On dit bien vray, qu'en chacune saison 



La femme fait ou d^fait la maison." 



There is set before the reader a pleasing mixture of 

 history, literature and practical good sense. Obsolete 

 phrases often give a rustic flavour to the book, as here : — 

 " Plus rare present ne pourriez-vous faire k vos amis que 

 de fruits exquis : voire les plus grands seigneurs ont 

 a(^coustumd de recevoir humainement le plein panier 

 d'abricots bien choisis, et la douzaine de poires ou prunes 



