BOOK XVIII. lA-. 225-Lxi. 228 



fine weather setting it foretells a hard winter, and 

 they screw up the prices of all other clothes. But 

 our friend the farmer, not learned in astronomy, may 

 find this sign of the weather among his hedgerows 

 and merely by looking at his own land, when he has 

 seen the leaves fall : in that way the year's wcathcr 

 can be estimated, as they fall latcr in some cases and 

 earher in others, for the weather is perceived as it is 

 affected by the nature of the climate and the locaUtv, 

 and this method contains the advantage that while 

 it is universal and world-wide it is also at the same 

 time pecuUar to each particular locahty. This may 

 surprise anyone who does not remember that the 

 pennyroyal hung up in our larders blossoms exactly 

 on midwinter day : so fully has Nature willed tliat 

 nothing shall be hidden ; consequently she has also 

 given us this signal for sowing. This is the true 

 account of the situation, bringing with it Nature's 

 own proofs, inasmuch as she actually advises this 

 mode of approaching the land and promises it will 

 serve as a substitute for manure, and tells us that 

 the land and the crops are shielded by herself 

 against the rigours of frost, and warns us to make 

 haste. 



LXI. Varro has advised keeping this rule " at all /e.fi. 1.34,2. 

 events in sowing beans. Others say that beans 

 should be sown at a full moon, but lentils betwecn 

 the 25th and 30th day of the lunar month, and also 

 vetch on the sanie days, that being the only way to 

 keep them free from slugs. Some people advise that 

 date for sowing for fodder, but recommend sowing 

 in the spring to obtain seed. 



There is also another more obvious method due othermies 

 to still more remarkable foresight on the part ,,f /'"■""""!'• 



2,2,2> 



