BOOK XVIII. XII. 68-.\in. 71 



kinds we have stated is steeped to make beer the §§ 62, 67. 

 foam that forms on the sm-face in the process is used 

 for leaven, in consequence of which those races have 

 a Hghter kind of bread than others. There is also a 

 (lifFerence in the stalk, that of the better sort of grain 

 being thicker. Thracian wheat is clothed witli a 

 great many husks, which is necessary for that region 

 because of the excessive frosts. The same reason 

 has also led to the discovery of a three-month wheat, 

 because the snow holds back the ground ; it is 

 reaped about three months " after sowing, at the 

 same time as wheat is harvested in the rest of 

 the world. This wheat is known all over the Alps, 

 and in the provinces with cold climates no corn 

 flourishes better than this ; moreover it has a single 

 stem and in no region liolds much grain, and it is 

 never sown except in a thin soil. There is actually 

 a two-month variety in the neighbourhood of Aenus 

 in Thrace, which begins to ripen six weeks after it is 

 sown ; and it is surprising that no corn weighs heavier, 

 and that it produces no bran. It is also used in 

 Sicily and Achaia, in both c;ises in mountain dis- 

 tricts, and in Euboea in the neighbourhood of 

 Carystus. So greatly is Columella mistaken in his 11. 9. 8. 

 (ipinion that even three-month wheat is not a 

 ciistinct variety, although it is of extrcme antiquity. 

 The Greeks call it setanion.'' It is said that in 

 Bactria the grains of wheat grow so large that a 

 single grain is as big as our ears of corn."^ 



XIII. The one sown first of all the cereals is barley. nari^y. 

 After explaining the nature of each variety we will 

 also give the date for sowing. India has both culti- 

 vated and wild barley, and from it the natives make 

 their bcst brcad niul also porridgc' Their favourite 



235 



