BOOK XIII. xLvii. 130-134 



all diseases. He also recommends a potion made of 

 cytisus dried and boiled in water to be given with 

 wine to nursing women when their milk fails, and 

 he says this will make the infants stronger and 

 taller ; also he advises giving it while in the green 

 state to fowls, or if it has dried, after being steeped. 

 Moreover, Democritus and Aristomachus promise 

 that bees will never fail if there is cytisus available 

 for them to feed on. No other fodder is less expen- 

 sive. It is sown when barley is, or in the spring, 

 like leek, if the seed is used ; or else the stalk is 

 planted in autumn before the winter solstice. If 

 sown the seed is soaked, or, if there is a shortage of 

 rain, it is watered after sowing. When the plants 

 are 18 inches high they are replanted in a trench a 

 foot deep. This planting is done through the 

 equinoxes, while the shrub is still tender ; it takes 

 three years to mature, and it is cut at the spring 

 equinox, when it has done flowering — a job that 

 can be done very cheaply even by a boy or an old 

 woman. It is of a whitish colour to look at, and 

 its appearance may be briefly described by saying 

 that it looks hke a trifohated plant with a rather 

 narrow leaf. It is always fed to stock only once in 

 two days, but in winter as it has got dry it is moistened 

 first ; ten pounds make a sufficient feed for a horse, 

 and for smaller animals in proportion. Incidentally, 

 good results are got by sowing garhc and onions 

 as catch-crops between the rows of cytisus. 



The cytisus shrub was discovered in the island of 

 Cythnus, and from there was transplanted to all the 

 Cyclades and later to the Greek cities, greatly increas- 

 ing the supply of cheese. Moreover — a fact that 

 makes me very much surprised that it is rare in Italy — 



177 



