BOOK XVIII. Lxviii. 273-277 



the surprise of those who knew that the things he 

 most valued were poverty and learncd reposc ; and 

 when his motive had been made manifest and they 

 had seen vast wealth accrue to him, he gave back 

 the money paid him for the oUves to the anxious and 

 covetous landlords, now repentant, being content to 

 have given this proof that riches would be easily 

 within his reach when he chose. A similar demon- 

 stration was later given by Sextius, a Roman student 

 of philosophy at Athens. Such is the opportunity 

 afForded by learning, which it is my intention to 

 introduce, in treating of the operations of agriculture, 

 as clearly and convincingly as I am able. 



Most people have stated that rust in corn and Biit/hisdup 

 fflo\\-inff-coal bliffht in vines are caused bv dew '?/'"'"'' "'^ 

 burnt into them by very hot sunshine, but I think ct a78, 293 

 this is partly erroneous, and that all blight is caused 

 by frost onlv, the sun bcing guiltless. Close atten- 

 tion to the facts will make this clear ; for first of all 

 blight is never found to occur except at night and 

 before the sun gives any heat, and it depends entirely 

 on the phases of the moon, since damage of this sort 

 only takesplace at the moon's conjunction or at fuU 

 moon, that is, when the moon's influcnce is powerful 

 — for the moon is at the full at both phases, as we 

 have often said, but at the point of its conjunction 11. 46. 

 it reflects back to the sky all the light it has received 

 from the sun. The difference between the two 

 phases is great, but it is obvious : the moon is hottest 

 in summer and cold in wintcr at the conjunction, 

 whereas on the contrary whcn full it makes thc nights 

 cold in summer and warm in wintcr. The reason is 

 clear, but it is not the one given by Fabianus and the 

 Greek authors. During the moon's conjunetion in 



