BOOK XVIII. xuv. 150-154 



after the grain has begun to fill out but its growth 

 is not yet mature, before it makes a strong body it 

 becoines hollow and empty owing to some noxious 

 blast and fades away in the ear by a sort of abortion. 



Wind is injurious to wheat and barley at three othercaus» 

 seasons — when they are in flower or directly after "lii^^^HJs^ 

 thev have shed their flower or when they are begin- •'""''' 

 mng to ripen; at the last stage it shnvels up the 

 grain, while in the preceding cases its influence is to 

 prohibit the seed from forming. Successive gleams 

 of sun appearing out of cloud are also injurious. 

 Also maggots breed in the root when after rains 

 following seed-time a sudden spell of heat has en- 

 closed the moisture in the ground. They also grow 

 in the grain when heat following rain causes tlie ear 

 to ferment. There is also a small beetle called the 

 cantharis which gnaws away corn crops. When food 

 fails, all these creatures disappear. OHve oil, pitch 

 and grease are detrimental to seeds, and care must 

 be taken not to let seed come in contact with them 

 before it is sowti. Rain is beneficial to crops while 

 in the stalk from the time of germination, but it 

 damages wheat and barley when in blossom ; al- 

 though it does no harm to legimiinous plants, ex- 

 cepting chick-pca. Corn crops when l)eginning to 

 ripen are damaged by rain, and particularly barley. 

 Also there is a white grass like Italian millet that 

 springs up all over the fields, and is also fatal to 

 cattle. As for darnel, caltrops, thistle and bur, 

 I should not count these any more than brambles 

 among diseases of cereals, but rather among pesti- 

 lences of the soil itself. One of the most hamiful 

 climatic maladies of corn crops and vines is rust. 

 This is most frequent in a district exposed to dew 



285 



