BOOK II. IX. 15-18 



this has ripened somewhat it should be harvested 

 with more haste than any other grains, for, ha\'ing 

 brittle straw and grain that has no covering of chaff, 

 it shatters quickly ; and for the same reason it is more 

 easily threshed than other grains. But when you 

 have taken off a crop of it, it is best to let the ground 

 lie fallow for a year ; or if not, to saturate it with 

 manure and drive out all the poison that still remains 

 in the land. There is also a second variety of barley 16 

 which some call distichum " and others Galatian, of 

 extraordinary weight and whiteness, so much so that 

 when mixed with wheat it makes excellent food for 

 the household. It is so\\'n about the month of March 

 in ground that is very rich but cold ; it does better, 

 however, if a mild winter allows it, when sown around 

 the middle of January. One iugerum calls for six 

 modii. 



Panic and millet also should be counted among 17 

 grain crops, even though I have already listed them 

 among the legumes, for in many countries the 

 peasants subsist on food made from them.* They 

 require a light, loose soil, and thrive not only in 

 gravelly ground but also in sand, if only the climate 

 is moist or the ground well watered ; for they have a 

 great dread of drj' and chalky ground. They cannot 18 

 be so^vn before spring, for they are fond of warm 

 weather above all ; but they are intrusted to the earth 

 to best advantage in the latter part of March. They 

 do not burden the farmer's budget with a heavy 

 expense, as about four sextarii are enough for a 

 iugerum ; and yet they demand repeated hoeing and 



the people of Gaul and Aquitania, by the people of Italy 

 beyond the Po, and was held in highest esteem by the nations 

 of Pontus [ibid. 101). 



