BOOK X\'III. xLii. i43-\Liii. 146 



.'■ame of chickling for each aci-e of land and sow this 

 mixture in autunin, preferably with some Greek oats 

 mixed in as well, as this does not drop its secd ; he 

 says that the usual nanie for this mixture was ocinum, 

 and that it used to be growii for cattle. Varro «.«. 1.31. 

 explains thc name as due to its rapid growth, de- 

 riving it from the Greek word for ' quickly '. 



XLIII. Luccrne is foreign even to Greece, having Luceriie. 

 been imported from Mcdia during the Persian inva- 492-490 b.' 

 sions under Darius ; but so great a bounty deserves 

 mention even among the first of thc grains, since 

 from a single sowing it will last more than thirty 

 years. In stalk and leaf it resembles trefoil, being 

 jointed, and as the stalk rises highcr the leaves 

 become narrower. Amphilochus devoted one volume 

 to lucerne and tree-medick. The land for it to be 

 so^^Ti in is broken in autumn after being cleared of 

 stones and weeded, and is afterwards ploughed over 

 and harrowcd and then covered with chalk, the pro- 

 cess bcing repeated a second and a thii-d time at 

 intervals of five days, and after the addition of manure 

 — it requircs a dry and rich soil or elsc a well-watcred 

 one — and after the land has been thus prepared 

 the seed is sown in May, as otherwise it is liable to 

 damage from frost. It is necessary for the whole 

 plot to be occupied with closely sown seed, and for 

 weeds shooting up in between to be debarred — this 

 is secured by sowing three modii to the acre — , and 

 care must bc taken that the sun may not scorch the 

 seed up, and it ought to be covered over with earth 

 immediately. If the soil be damp or weedy, the 

 luceme is overpowered and goes ofF into meadow ; 

 consequently as soon as it is an inch high it must be 

 freed from all weeds, by hand in preference to hocing. 



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