BOOK XVIII. xLv. 157-160 



be guanled against by taking pi'ecautions. It is 

 believed that seed steeped in wine before sowing is ftw^. l. 

 less liable to disease. \'irgil recommends steeping 

 bcan in native soda and dregs from oil-presses, and 

 also guarantees this as a method of increasing its size. 

 Others however hold the view that it grows specially 

 well if it is kneaded in a mixture of urine and water 

 three days before sowing ; and at all events that if 

 the crop is hoed thrce times it will yield a peck of 

 crushed beans from a peck of whole beans ; and that 

 the other kinds of seeds are not Uable to maggots if 

 mixed with crushed cypress leaves, and also if sown 

 just before a new moon. As a cure for diseases 

 of millet many recommend carrying a toad roimd 

 the fiekl at night before it is hoed and then burying 

 it in the middle of the field, with a pot for a 

 coftin ; it is then prevented from being damaged by a 

 sparrow or by worms ; but it must be dug up before 

 the field is sown, otherwise the land turns sour. 

 They also say that seed is rnade more fertile if it is 

 touched by the forequarters of a mole. Democritus 

 advises soaking all seeds before they are sown in the 

 juice of the plant that grows on roof-tiles, called in 

 (ireek aeizoon " and bv other people ' under-the- 

 eaves ', and in our language ' squat ' or ' httle 

 finger '. But if daniage is being done by bUght and 

 l)y worms adhering to the roots, a common remedy 

 is to sprinkle the plant with pure olive oil lees, not 

 salted, and then to hoe, and if the crop is beginning 

 to shoot out into knots to weed it, so that weeds may 

 not get the upper hand. I know for a fact that 

 flights of starlings or sparrows, the plague of common 

 and ItaHan millets, can be driven away from them by 

 bur}ing aplant, the name of which is unknown to me, 



289 



