BOOK I. VI. 14-17 



or, if these are wanting, of the oUve. Then, when 

 the aforesaid plastering has dried, it is again sprinkled 

 over with oil lees : and when this has dried the grain 

 is brought in. This seems to be the most advan- 15 

 tageous method of protecting stored produce from 

 damage by weevils and like vermin, and if it is not 

 carefully laid away they quickly destroy it. But 

 the type of granary just described, unless it be in a 

 dry section of the steading, causes even the hardest 

 grain to spoil with mustiness ; and if it were not 

 for this, it would be possible to keep grain even 

 buried underground, as in certain districts across 

 the sea " where the earth, dug out in the manner of 

 pits, which they call sin, takes back to itself the 

 fruits which it has produced. But we, living in 16 

 regions which abound in moisture, approve rather 

 the granary that stands on supports above the ground 

 and the attention to pavements and walls as just 

 mentioned, because, as I have said, the floors and 

 sides of storerooms so protected keep out the weevil. 

 Many think that when this kind of pest appears it can 

 be checked if the damaged grain is winnowed in the 

 bin and cooled oif, as it were. But this is a most 17 

 mistaken notion ; for the insects are not driven off 

 by so doing, but are mixed through the whole mass. 

 If left imdistvu'bed, only the upper surfi^ce would be 

 attacked, as the weevil breeds no more than a 

 palm's breadth below ;* and it is far better to en- 

 danger only the part already infested than to subject 

 the whole amount to risk. For it is easy, when 



use of the trench " silo " — a word derived ultimately from situs 

 ■ — is well known, of course, to modern farmers. 



* Similar statements are made by Varro {loc. cit.), Pliny 

 (XVIII. 302), and Palladius (I. 19. 3), who cites Columella. 



73 



