BOOK V. XII. 1-4 



XII. It is very important to have as much shrub- Of the 

 trefoil as possible on your land, because it is most use- shrui> ""^ 

 ful for chickens, bees, sheep, goats, oxen and cattle Trefoil. 

 of every kind, which quickly grow fat upon it and it 

 makes ewes yield a very large quantity of milk ; 

 moreover you could also use it for eight months of the 

 year as green fodder and afterwards as dry. Further- 

 more, on any ground whatsoever, even if it be very 

 lean, it quickly takes root, and it bears any ill- 

 treatment without taking harm. Indeed if women 2 

 suffer from lack of milk, dry shrub-trefoil ought to 

 be steeped in water and, after it has soaked for a 

 whole night, on the following day three heminae of 

 the juice squeezed out of it should be mixed with 

 a little wine and given them to drink ; in this way 

 they themselves will enjoy good health, and the 

 children will grow strong on the abundance of milk 

 provided for them. Shrub-trefoil can be sown either 

 in the autumn about October 15th or in the spring. 



When you have worked the soil thoroughly, make 3 

 little beds and in the autumn sow there the seed of the 

 shrub-trefoil as you would that of basil. Then in 

 the spring set out the plants so that they are dis- 

 tant four feet each way from one another. If you 

 have no seed, plant out tops of shrub-trefoil in the 

 spring and heap well-manured soil round them. If 4 

 rain has not come on, water them on the fifteen 

 following days. As soon as a plant begins to put 

 forth young foliage, hoe the ground. Then after 

 three years cut down the plants and give them to the 

 cattle. Fifteen pounds of shrub-trefoil when it is 

 green is quite enough " for a horse, and twenty pounds 

 for an ox, and it should be given to the other animals 

 according to their strength. Shrub-trefoil can also 



"3 



