BOOK XVIII. xxxvi. 135-xxxvin, 139 



soil musl be turned after every second blossoming. 

 The only kinds of soil it positively dislikes are chalky 

 and muddy soils, and in these it comes to nothing. 

 It is used as a food for mankind as well after being 

 steeped in hot water ; as for cattle, a peck per head 

 of stock makes aniple and strength-giving feed, while 

 it is also used medicinallv for children as a poultice on 

 the stomach. It sixits the seed best to be stored in 

 a smoky place, as in a damp place maggots attack 

 the germ and reduce it to steriUty. if lupine is 

 grazed off by cattle while in leaf, the only thing to 

 be done is to plough it in at once. 



XXXVII. Vetch also enriches the soil, and it too Veteh. 

 entails no labour for the farmer, as it is sown after 

 only one fuiTowing, and it is not hoed or manured, 

 but onlv harrowed in. There are three seasons for 

 sowing it — about the time of the setting of Arcturus, 

 so that it mav provide pasture in December — at that 

 date it is best sown for seed, for it bears seed just as 

 well wlien grazed down ; the second sowing is in 

 January, and the last in March, which is the best 

 crop for providing green fodder. Of all crops sown 

 vetch is the one that is fondest of a dry soil ; it does 

 not disUke even shady localities. If it is picked 

 when ripe, its grain suppHes chaff that is preferred 

 to all others. If sown in a vineyard planted with 

 trees it takes away the juice from the vines and 

 makes them droop. 



XXX\TII. Bitter vetch also is not difficult to cul- Bucer-Veich. 

 tivate. This needs weeding more than the vetch ; 

 and it too has medicinal properties, indeed the fact 

 that his late Majesty Augustus was curcd by it 

 stands on record in his own letters. Five pecks of 

 seed are enough for one voke of oxen in a day. 



277 



