BOOK XVIII. Lxxii. 300-Lxxiii. 304 



this plan is to burn up the seed of weeds. The size 

 of the crops and scarcity of labour cause various 

 procedures to be adopted. 



LXXIII. A connected subject is the method ofstorageoj 

 storing corn. Sonie people recommend building '"'""■ 

 elaborate granaries with brick walls a yard thick, 

 and moreover fiUing theni from above and not 

 letting them admit drauglits of air or have any 

 windows ; others say they shoukl only have windows 

 facing north-east or north, and that they should be 

 built without lime, as lime is very injurious to corn: 

 the recommendations made with regard to the dregs 

 of olive-oil have been pointed out above. In other xv. 33. 

 placeSjOn the contrary, they buikl their granaries of 

 wood and supported on pillars, preferring to let the 

 air blow through them from all sides, and even from 

 below. Others think the grain shrinks in bulk if laid 

 on a floor entirely off the ground, and that if it lies 

 under a tile roof it gets hot. Many moreover for- 

 bid turning over the grain to air it, as the weevil 

 does not penetrate more than four inches down, and 

 beyond that the grain is in no danger. Columelhi H- 20, 6. 

 also advises a west wind when corn is harvested, at 

 whicli I for mv part am surprised, as generally it is 

 a very dry wind. Some people tell us to hang up a 

 toad by one of its longer legs at the threshold of the 

 barn before carrying the corn into it. To us storing 

 the corn at the proper time will seem most im- 

 portant, as if it is got in when insufficiently ripened 

 and firm, or stored while hot, pests are certain to 

 breed in it. 



There are several causes that make grain keep : Meiiwds nj 

 tliey are found either in the husk of the grain when YiweTgriin. 

 this forms several coats, as with millet, or in the 



379 



