94 VARRO ON FARMING [bk. 



their term bring forth fruits, or the ear, etc. And 

 the seed returns whence it came. So if you pluck 

 off a blossom or unripe pear, or anything else of 

 the kind, nothing grows again in that same place 

 the same year, for it is impossible for the same 

 thing to have two pregnancies ^ in one year. For 

 just as women have fixed times for parturition, so 

 too do trees and the fruits of the earth. 



CHAPTER XLV 



OF THE GROWTH OF PLANTS 



1 Barley generally comes up first in seven days, 

 wheat a little later; leguminous plants in about 

 four or five days, with the exception of the bean, 

 for it comes up a good deal later; millet, sesame, 

 and other similar crops appear in about the same 

 number of days, save when peculiarity of district or 

 weather produces some defect which prevents this 

 from happening. 



2 Plants of a delicate nature, which are raised in a 

 nursery, should, if the climate be chilly, be covered 

 during the winter with leaves or straw. If rains 

 follow, see that there may be no stagnant water 

 anywhere ; for frost is poison to the delicate roots. 



Plants do not grow equally in the same time 



^ Quodpraegnattones. Cf. Theophrastus (Caus. Plant., i, 14) : 

 **Nor yet if you remove fruit or flower can the plant bring 

 forth others, as it has not the time necessary for pregnancy. " 



