BOOK XIX. xLiv. 154-XLV. 157 



XLIV. A cursory description can suffice for the rest othtr piants 

 of the plants. The best tinie for sowing basil is said 

 to be at the Feast of Pales,'' and some say in autumn 

 also, advising that when it is sown for wintcr thc seed 

 should be moistened with vinegar. Also rocket and 

 cress can be grown very easilv either in summer 

 or in winter. Rocket particularly thinks nothing of 

 cold. Its properties are quite dilierent from those of 

 lettuce, and it acts as an aphrodisiac ; consequently 

 it is usually blendcd with lettuce in a salad, so that 

 the excessive chilhness of the lettuce may be tem- 

 pered and counter-baUinced by being mingled with 

 an equal amount of heat. Cress has got its Latin 

 name ^* from the pain that it gi\'es to the nostrils, 

 and owing to this the sense of vigorousness has 

 attached itself to that word in the current ex- 

 pression,"^ as denoting a stimulant. It is said to 

 grow to a remarkably large size in Arabia. 



XL\\ Rue also is sown when the west wind blows nue. 

 in spring, and just after the autumn equinox. It 

 hates cold weather, damp and dung, and Ukes sunny, 

 dry places and a soil containing as much brick-cUxy 

 as possible ; it requires to be manured with ashes, 

 which are also mixed with the seed to banish cater- 

 pillars. Rue was held in special importance in old 

 times : I find that honied wine flavoured with rue 

 was given to the pubUc by CorneUus, Quintus 

 F]amininus's coUeague in the consulship, after the 323 b.o. 

 election had been concluded. Rue is so friendly 

 with the fig that it grows better under this tree 

 than anywhere else. It can also be grown from a 

 sUp, preferably inserted into a hole made in a bean, 

 which holds the sUp firmly and nourishes it with its 

 juice. It also reproduces itself by layering, since if 



521 



