BOOK II. XI. 3-6 



not touch his crop from the sowing until the reaping, 

 for cHmatic conditions and the quality of the soil are 

 such that scarcely any plant comes up except from 

 seed that is sown ; either because of the scarcity of 

 rain or because the character of the soil so lends 

 itself to those who cultivate it.*^ Moreover, in those 4 

 regions where hoeing is desirable, the crops are not 

 to be touched before the growth has covered the 

 furrows, even if the condition of the weather should 

 allow it. It will be proper to hoe wheat and emmer as 

 soon as they have put forth four blades, barley when 

 it has five, and beans and other legumes when they 

 stand four fingers above ground — with the exception, 

 however, of the lupine, as hoeing is hurtful to its 

 seedlings ; for it has a single root, and if this is cut 

 or injured by an iron tool, the whole plant dies. 

 And even if this were not the case, cultivation would 5 

 still be unnecessary, for this one plant is so far from 

 being troubled by weeds as actually to destroy them 

 on its own account. Now other crops which may be 

 worked when wet, are nevertheless hoed with better 

 results when dry, because, when handled in this way, 

 they are not attacked by rust ; but barley must not 

 be touched except when perfectly dry. Many people 6 

 think that beans should not be hoed at all, because, 

 being puUed by hand when ripe, they may be 

 separated from the other growth, and the grass that 

 grows among them may be saved for hay. This is 

 also the opinion of Cornelius Celsus, who counts this 

 too among the other virtues of this legume when he 

 says that after the beans are removed a cutting of 

 hay may be taken from the same spot. But to me 

 it seems the mark of a very poor farmer to allow grass 



• Cf. Pliny, N.H. XVIII. 186. 



x83 



