LECTURES 
 
 ON 
 
 ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
LECTURES 
 
 ON 
 
 ROMAN HUSBANDRY, 
 
 DELIVERED BEFORE 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD; 
 
 COMPREHENDING SUCH AN 
 
 ACCOUNT OF THE SYSTEM OF AGRICULTURE, 
 
 THE 
 
 TREATMENT OF DOMESTIC ANIMALS, 
 
 THE 
 
 HORTICULTURE &c., PURSUED IN ANCIENT TIMES, 
 
 As may be collected from 
 THE SCRIPTORES REI RUSTICiE, 
 THE GEORGICS OF VIRGIL, AND OTHER CLASSICAL AUTHORITIES, 
 
 WITH NOTICES OF THE PLANTS MENTIONED IN COLUMELLA AND VIRGIL ; 
 
 BY 
 
 CHARLES DAUBENY, M.D., F.R.S., M.R.I.A, &c. 
 
 PROFESSOR OP BOTANY, AND RURAL ECONOMY, 
 IN THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD. 
 
 OXFORD : 
 
 PRINTED BY JAMES WRIGHT, PRINTER TO THE UNIVERSITY. 
 
 SOLD BY J. H. & JAS. PARKER, OXFORD, 
 AND 377, STRAND; 
 
 AND BY 
 
 HENRY BOHN, YORK STREET, COVENT GARDEN. 
 
 M.DCCC.LVII. 
 
SIR WILLIAM JACKSON HOOKER, K.H. D.C.L. OXON. 
 F. E. S. &c. &c. 
 DIRECTOR OF THE ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS AT KEW, 
 THIS WORK, 
 
 INTENDED TO ILLUSTRATE THE STATE OF AGRICULTURE AND 
 HORTICULTURE DURING THE MOST FLOURISHING PERIODS 
 OF THE ANCIENT WORLD, 
 
 IS INSCEIBED, 
 
 NOT ONLY AS AN ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF MANY KIND ATTENTIONS, 
 BUT ALSO AS A TESTIMONY OF RESPECT FROM 
 THE AUTHOE, 
 FOR ATTAINMENTS, WHICH HAVE PLACED THEIR POSSESSOR 
 IN THE FIRST RANK OF EUROPEAN BOTANISTS, 
 AND FOR SERVICES AFFORDED TO SCIENCE 
 BY THE INTRODUCTION AND CULTURE OF EXOTIC PLANTS, 
 WHICH HAVE RENDERED THE ESTABLISHMENT 
 OVER WHICH HE PRESIDES, 
 THE ADMIRATION OF FOREIGN NATIONS, 
 AND THE BEST EVIDENCE OF THAT EXTENSIVE INTERCOURSE 
 WITH EVERY PART OF THE GLOBE, 
 WHICH BINDS GREAT BRITAIN IN FRIENDLY TIES TO 
 THEM ALL. 
 
PKEF ACE. 
 
 THE task of presenting to the English reader a 
 detailed account of the System of Agriculture 
 pursued by the Romans, has been already ex- 
 ecuted in a very creditable manner by a Scotch 
 Clergyman of the last century, in his Work on the 
 " Husbandry of the Ancients," published in the 
 year 1788. 
 
 The Author brought to his undertaking, great 
 diligence of research, a clear and sound judgment, 
 a familiarity, if not with classical literature gene- 
 rally, at least Avith the series of writers which 
 came under his review, and a sufficient acquaint- 
 ance with modern farming, to be enabled to in- 
 stitute a comparison between our practices and 
 those of the ancients, as well as to explain diffi- 
 culties in the writings of the latter, which had 
 baffled previous commentators unprovided with 
 this species of information. 
 
viii PREFACE 
 
 Nevertheless, in spite of these recommendations, 
 experience has shewn that there was something 
 unattractive in his mode of handling the subject, 
 arising in a great degree from a want of due con- 
 densation; for the work in question has never 
 reached a second edition, and is chiefly kept to 
 be appealed to in cases of difficulty or doubt, 
 rather than to be taken up as an agreeable com- 
 panion to occupy a vacant hour. 
 
 And yet the subject which he discusses is by 
 no means devoid of interest, presenting to us, as 
 it does, not merely the results of the sagacity, and 
 practical experience of the Romans with reference 
 to the most important of the practical arts of life, 
 but also glimpses of the manners, sentiments, and 
 social condition, of the most powerful and civilised 
 people of the ancient world. 
 
 Accordingly, the Lectures now offered to the 
 Public have, on several occasions, attracted in 
 the University a greater number of Auditors, 
 than could be calculated upon, in the case of 
 any not belonging to those classes of subjects, 
 out of which the Undergraduates are compell- 
 ed to make their selection, as a preliminary to 
 
PREFACE. ix 
 offering themselvevS as Candidates for the B. A. 
 Degree. 
 
 Whilst therefore freely owning my obligations 
 to Mr. Dickson for much valuable information, 
 I am induced at the same time to hope, that the 
 subject-matter admits of being presented in a 
 someAvhat more inviting form, so as to contribute 
 to a better understanding, not only of the Scrip- 
 tores Rei Rusticse themselves, but also of works 
 which, like the Georgics of Virgil, fall within the 
 compass of ordinary reading. 
 
 Moreover, the present work embraces a wider 
 range than Mr. Dickson's professes to do, embody- 
 ing more completely the idea which the Roman 
 writers entertained of Rural Economy, or Res 
 Rustica, which comprehended, not merely tillage, 
 but also the culture of the vineyard and orchard, 
 the treatment of Domestic Animals of all kinds, 
 the cultivation of a Garden, and other collateral 
 subjects. 
 
 On all these several topics therefore I have 
 entered in the course of these Lectures, and have 
 thus endeavoured to supply the blank which 
 exists in these respects in Mr. Dickson's work ; 
 
X PREFACE. 
 
 whilst it has been my endeavour from time to 
 time to throw some additional light upon the con- 
 dition of Roman Society, by aA^ailing myself of the 
 notices respecting it scattered over the Works 
 under my consideration. 
 
 I have also thought it incumbent upon me to 
 point out, what is known with respect to the 
 nature of the plants mentioned in the Roman 
 writers ; although I have been in general more 
 disposed to bring forward what has been sug- 
 gested by others, than to add any thing of my 
 own; under a sense of the uncertainty which 
 prevails upon this subject, owing to the conflicting 
 statements of ancient authors, and the general 
 vagueness of their descriptions. 
 
 In appending an Index to so small a Work, my 
 principal motive has been, to enable the Classical 
 Student to acquaint himself more readily with 
 the meaning of those technical terms, which are 
 employed by the Latin Writers in connexion with 
 Agriculture, and other branches of Rural Eco- 
 nomy. 
 
C 0 N i E N T S. 
 
 LECTURE I. 
 
 Introductory remarks. — Reasons for confining ourselves 
 chiefly to the system of Agriculture presented in the 
 treatise of Columella. — First work on Roman agriculture 
 extant, that of Cato the Censor — character of that per- 
 sonage — his merits and defects — influence of his hatred 
 of Carthage upon the general interests of humanity — his 
 work on Rural Economy unmethodical — general sketch 
 of its contents — reasons why he places the culture of corn 
 lower in the scale of importance than other descriptions 
 of Husbandry. — Inquiries to be made by the landlord on 
 visiting his farm — why more importance is not attached 
 by him to manuring — other subjects noticed in his work — 
 superstitious usages recommended by him. 
 
 On Varro's work De Re Rustica— notice of the life of the 
 Author — what subjects he includes under the science of 
 Agriculture — inferences as to the salubrity of ancient 
 Italy as gathered from his remarks — his classification of 
 the different kinds of soil, compared with the modern one 
 of Schubler.— On the Farm-house or Villa — different 
 kinds of manure mentioned — rotation of crops hinted 
 at — different kinds of animals kept for domestic pur- 
 poses — instances of Varro's fondness for tracing ety- 
 mologies. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 LECTURE II. 
 
 COMPRISING A SKETCH OF THE IST BOOK OF COLUMELLA. 
 
 Notice of this writer — his introductory remarks in praise of 
 Agriculture — notices of the Agricultural writers that had 
 preceded him — directions as to the purchase of a Farm. — 
 On the Farm or country-house — sketch of what may be 
 collected respecting the arrangements of a Roman villa, 
 from Phny, Columella, and others. — On the modes of cul- 
 tivating land by means of coloni, and by the proprietor 
 himself — cultivation by means of a politor alluded to by 
 Cato, compared to the metairie system now adopted in 
 Italy — why it had gone out in Columella's time — treat- 
 ment of the coloni — requisites for the villicus — treatment 
 of slaves amongst the ancients as compared to that in 
 modern days — quahfications of the various kinds of slaves 
 employed in field labour — comparative value of slave and 
 free labour calculated, by the relative expense of the two, 
 and by the amount of profit obtained in the two instances — 
 balance in both respects shewn to be on the side of free 
 labour. 
 
 LECTURE IIL 
 
 ON THE 2n1) book OF COLUMELLA. 
 Whether the Earth is becoming effete — modern notions on 
 this subject. — Different kinds of soil distinguished. — On 
 draining, as practised by the ancients. — Test of the rich- 
 ness of a soil. — On paring and burning, as practised by 
 the Romans — its advantages stated by Virgil. — On imple- 
 ments used in Roman Husbandry. — The plough derived 
 from the hoe — description of that described by Hesiod 
 — and by Virgil. — Wheeled ploughs mentioned as being 
 introduced into Roman Husbandry at a later period. — 
 The irpex — the rastrum — the sarculum — the ligo or pala 
 — the marra — the bidens — the falx, its different kinds. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 xiii 
 
 LECTURE IV. 
 
 COLUMELLA, BOOK 11. CONCLUDED. 
 
 Crops cultivated by the Romans. — Far or semen adoreum — 
 triticum — arinca — oryza — sesamum — secale — avena — mi- 
 lium — panicum. — Different kinds of far — of triticum. — Of 
 hordeum — used in making beer — and polenta. — faba — 
 medica — vicia — foenum Grsecum — ervum — cicera— canna- 
 bis — linum — rapa — napus. — Operations of Husbandry 
 considered. — Ploughing — number of ploughings directed, 
 and the time of year for each. — Fallowing — sowing — rela- 
 tive quantity of seed to an acre sown in modern and an- 
 cient times — calculation of the labour required for culti- 
 vating the different crops — manuring — marling. Meadow 
 land of two kinds, dry and irrigated — practice of irriga- 
 tion. — Reaping — winnowing — threshing. — What things 
 may be lawfully done on holydays. 
 
 LECTURE V. 
 
 COLUMELLA, BOOKS JIL IV. V. 
 On the culture of vines— choice of situation for a vineyard — 
 choice of a suitable variety — whether vine cultivation is 
 profitable — quantity of wine obtained in ancient and mo- 
 dern times from an acre — pastinatio, or preparation of 
 the ground — planting in trenches, and in furrows — time 
 for planting. On grafting — notions of the ancients on the 
 possibihty of grafting one plant upon another — modern 
 notion, as to the definite duration of the graft, refuted. — 
 Practical directions with respect to vineyards — constant 
 attention necessary in vine culture. The olive, not so de- 
 pendent on assiduous culture as the vine — where it is best 
 grown — great importance attached to the olive in ancient 
 times. Shrubs or arhusta cultivated for the sake of the 
 vine. On the Cytisus of the ancients. 
 
xiv 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 LECTURE VL 
 
 COLUMELLA, BOOKS VI, VII, VIII, AND IX. 
 Doubts amongst the Romans whether Hve stock are profit- 
 able, arising from the fact, that cattle were not much 
 kept for the shambles. — Proofs of this. — Oxen mainly 
 used for the labours of the farm. — Qualities of a good 
 ox ; of a bull ; of a cow. — Feeding of cattle. — Quahties of 
 a good horse. — Treatment of brood mares. — Fables con- 
 cerning them. — Sheep prized chiefly for their wool and 
 milk. — Cheeses made from the latter. — Precautions for 
 obtaining a white fleece. — Migrations of flocks in winter 
 and summer. — Pasturage best adapted, for improving the 
 wool, and for increasing milk. — Feeding and fattening of 
 poultry and other birds used for the table. — Preserves for 
 dormice, snails, and fish. — Extent of their piscinas. — Treat- 
 ment of bees ; more important than at present ; and why. 
 — Fables with respect to the origin of bees. — Situation 
 of the hives. — Plants which supply honey. — Method of 
 discovering the haunts of wild bees ; similar to that prac- 
 tised in America. — Knowledge of the ancients, with re- 
 spect to the domestic economy of bees ; to the royal bee ; 
 to the drones ; to the mode of their reproduction. — Fables 
 on this latter subject. 
 
 LECTURE VIL 
 
 COLUMELLA, BOOK X. 
 
 On the gardens of the ancients. — lloman gardens in early 
 times — in later ones. — Description given by the younger 
 Phny of his garden, shewing, that Roman Gardening 
 resembled the Dutch method, formerly in vogue in this 
 country. — Hence gardening called Ars topiaria. — In the 
 present day we perhaps go to the opposite extreme. — 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 XV 
 
 Gardens of Nineveh — of Egypt — of Alcinous. Analysis 
 of Columella's poem " De Cultii Hortorum." — Notices of 
 tlie plants therein mentioned, divisible into three classes — 
 ornamental ones, those used for food, and those which 
 subserved some medicinal purpose. — Additions to the list 
 of ornamental plants from Virgil, from Theophrastus, from 
 Nicander. — Pot-herbs mentioned by Columella. 
 
 LECTURE VIII. 
 
 COLUMELLA, BOOK X, CONCLUDED. 
 
 Fruits mentioned by Columella and others. — Medicinal 
 plants enumerated. — General catalogue of plants noticed 
 by these writers, why so small. — Exotic plants do not 
 appear to have been cultivated in conservatories ; owing, 
 in part, to the want of glass adapted for the purpose — 
 proofs of this. — How far greenhouses and forcing-pits 
 appear to have been employed. Reasons for the inferi- 
 ority in the useful arts of the ancients, although they were 
 so distinguished in the ornamental. — Why agriculture 
 suffered less from the causes, which interfered with the 
 development of other arts that minister to our material 
 enjoyments. — Feehng of the Romans on this subject. 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 Catalogue of plants noticed by Dioscorides, with their 
 modern names, arranged according to the Natural 
 System. 
 
ARRANGEMENT OF PLATES. 
 
 Oijposite 
 page 
 
 Plate 1. Ideal plan of Pliny's Laurentine Villa 47 
 
 — 2. Arrangement of the Villa Urbana, Kustica, 
 
 and Fructuaria, according to Columella. 54 
 
 — 3. Transition from the hoe to the plough, from 
 
 a Theban tomb 96 
 
 — 4. Ancient and modern ploughs 98 
 
 — 5. Plan of a mimic garden, found at Pompeii. 213 
 
 — 6. Plan of an Egyptian garden, from Rosellini. 221 
 
 — 7- Delphinium Ajacis, from the Fl. Gr 236 
 
 — 8. Hyacinthus, vuKivdos, from V. MS. of Diosc. 238 
 
 — 9. Cheiranthus cuspidatus, XfVKoiov daXdaa-wu, 
 
 from V.MS 240 
 
 — 10. Elaterium, o-Ikvs aypws, from V. MS 262 
 
 — 11. Amaracus, djidpaKos, of Diosc, from V. MS. 272 
 
 — 12. The Goddess of Discovery presenting 
 
 Dioscorides with the mandrake root, 
 from V. MS 275 
 
LECTUEES 
 
 ON ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 LECTURE I. 
 
 1 N the Lectures which I have hitherto delivered 
 on the subject of Rural Economy in this place, 
 it has been my intention to put you in possession 
 of so much of the practical rules of farming as 
 appeared capable of receiving elucidation from 
 the principles of modern science — explaining by 
 means of the latter the rationale of those methods 
 which experience had shewn to be successful, 
 and suggesting such improvements as the Art 
 might appear to admit of, when these principles 
 were followed out into their proper and legiti- 
 mate consequences. 
 
 Such are the subjects that seem to fall in 
 general within the province of a Scientific Lec- 
 turer on Agriculture : but in addressing an Aca- 
 demic Audience, there is a branch of the in- 
 quiry of a nature distinct from the rest, which 
 requires at some time or other to be adverted to, 
 especially by one, like myself, desirous of acting 
 
 B 
 
2 
 
 LECTURES ON 
 
 [lect. I. 
 
 in tlie spirit of the distinguished Founder of tlie 
 professorship which I have enjoyed, and of car- 
 rying out, so far as I am able, the enlightened 
 views, which led that eminent individual to de- 
 vote a portion of his property to the advancement 
 of the general interests of learning in this place. 
 
 Those views had reference to the elucidation 
 of the writings of the Ancients by means of the 
 discoveries of the Moderns, in furtherance of 
 which design Professor Sibthorp occupied a con- 
 siderable part of his life, and at last prematurely 
 sacrificed it, in distant and laborious herborisa- 
 tions, undertaken for the purpose of determining 
 the plants noticed by ancient Greek writers, and 
 more especially by Dioscorides. 
 
 To these labours we are indebted for that un- 
 rivalled botanical work, the Flora Grseca, as well 
 as for his other posthumous Publication, the Pro- 
 dromus to the same, in which are preserved some 
 of the fruits of his two arduous journeys in the 
 Levant, undertaken, be it recollected, before steam 
 navigation and the ascendency of European ideas 
 had so freely opened the regions of the East to 
 scientific investigation. 
 
 In the same spirit, although not in the least 
 pretending to an equal acquaintance with the 
 principles of modern husbandry, as that which 
 my eminent predecessor might fairly claim with 
 the botanical science of the period in which he 
 flourished, and moreover fully aware, that there 
 are many in this Univei'sity well able to set me 
 
LECT. I.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 3 
 
 right with respect to the economy of an ancient 
 farm, as well as to all other subjects connected 
 with ancient literature, I deem it incumbent upon 
 me nevertheless to lay before you such fragments 
 of information, as I may have gathered from a 
 cursory perusal of the Treatises on Roman Agri- 
 culture which have come down to us. 
 
 The prose writers on this subject are Cato, 
 Varro, Columella, and Palladius, to which must 
 be added Pliny, who in the course of his 17th, 
 18th and 19th books enters upon many questions 
 connected with agriculture and forestry. 
 
 I do not include in my enumeration Vegetius, 
 as his treatise relates merely to the veterinary 
 art, but must by no means forget the most per- 
 fect didactic poem extant in any language, or 
 that which Addison has somewhere styled the 
 most complete, elaborate, and finished piece of 
 all antiquity. 
 
 I allude of course to the Georgics of Virgil, 
 a poet whose directions, concise as they may be, 
 and limited as it might seem to subjects that 
 admitted of some embellishment from language 
 and imagery, are nevertheless so sagacious and 
 exact, so indicative of that happy balance of 
 mental endowments which is more conspicuous 
 in his writings than perhaps in those of any other 
 person eminently gifted with genius and imagi- 
 nation, that we are almost inclined to grudge the 
 large proportion of the poem diverted to episodes, 
 
 B 2 
 
4 
 
 LECTURES ON 
 
 [lect. I. 
 
 which, although scarcely ever inappropriate, and 
 always calculated to afford the most refined plea- 
 sure which poetry can impart, do not neverthe- 
 less contribute to the professed design of impart- 
 ing agricultural instruction. 
 
 All that can be said in their justification, re- 
 garding the whole in an utilitarian point of view 
 merely, is, that the correct taste displayed in this 
 portion of it is as remarkable as the good sense 
 shewn in the other; and that as the confidence 
 which the Roman farmer must have entertained 
 in the soundness of the author's remarks in mat- 
 ters of husbandry may have often induced him 
 to refine and recreate his mind with the beauties 
 of the poetry, so the latter may have often in- 
 spired the mere amateur with an interest in the 
 pursuit from its being presented to him in so 
 attractive a form'^. 
 
 a " Still let us do no wrong to the memory of him, who, as he 
 bore the sacred vessels of the Muses, thrilled with an immeasur- 
 able love, and who has received so unequivocally the seal of that 
 approbation of mankind, prolonged throughout ages, which comes 
 near to an infallible award. It is but fair to admit, that we must 
 not measure the relative ranks of Homer and Virgil simply by 
 the comparative merits of their epic works. Homer lived in the 
 genial and joyous youth of a poetic nation and a poetic religion, 
 and amidst the influences of the soul of freedom ; Virgil amongst 
 a people always matter of fact rather than poetical, in an age, and 
 in a court, where the heart and its emotions were chilled, where 
 liberty was dead, where religion was a mockery, and the whole 
 higher material of his art had passed from freshness into the sear 
 and yellow leaf. Whether Virgil, if he had lived the life of Homer, 
 in Homer's country, and Homer's time, could have composed the 
 Iliad and Odyssey, may be doubtful ; but it is pretty clear that 
 
LECT. I.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 5 
 
 Well indeed may Columella speak of the ora- 
 cular precepts of this great poet, " hsec autem 
 consequemur, si verissimo Vati, velut oraculo, cre- 
 diderimus," — well might he regard it as the 
 strongest confirmation of the correctness of the 
 rules he lays down, when he is able to quote 
 some lines from Virgil of a similar import. 
 
 Nor must we forget those vivid pictures of ru- 
 ral scenery which the Georgics contain, calculated 
 as they are to draw his more refined countrymen 
 to the enjoyments and pursuits of agriculture, in 
 which, by the way, a profound feeling of nature 
 often speaks forth, such as affords an exception 
 to the truth of the remark of Schiller's, quoted 
 
 Homer could not have produced them, if it had been his misfoi-- 
 tune to live at the date and in the sphere of Virgil." 
 
 Such are the concluding sentences of a critique on the com- 
 parative merits of Homer and Virgil contained in an article of 
 the Quarterly, attributed to the masterly pen of Mr. Gladstone ; 
 and I am the more anxious to bring them forward, because a 
 superficial reader on glancing over the preceding portions of the 
 Essay, in which the defects and inaccuracies of the Mantuan 
 bard are dwelt upon at considerable length, might rise from them 
 under an impression, that the reviewer had taken a lower esti- 
 mate of this great poet's genius than the context warrants. 
 Doubtless in the ^neid the wings of his Pegasus were weighed 
 down by the leaden influence of an unromantic hero, and were 
 but feebly sustained by faith in the mythology which he bor- 
 rowed from his Greek model. 
 
 But if his epic poetry be inferior to that of the great original 
 in whose footsteps he attempted to tread, the same cannot be said 
 of his Eclogues, or of his Georgics, in the former of which he will 
 Ijy most persons be allowed to have surpassed Theocritus, while 
 the latter is beyond all dispute immeasurably superior to the 
 Works and Days of Hesiod. 
 
6 
 
 LECTURES ON [lect. i. 
 
 by Humboldt in his Kosmos, that the classical 
 writers exhibit but little trace of tliat sentimental 
 interest with which we moderns attach ourselves 
 to natural scenes and objects. 
 
 I appeal, for instance, to the well known pas- 
 sage, beginning 
 
 " 0 fortunatos nimiam, sua si bona norint 
 Agricolas ! quibus ipsa, procul discordibus armis, 
 Fundit humo facilem victum justissima tellus." 
 
 When, after describing the 
 
 " latis otia fundis, 
 Speluncse, vivique lacus ;" 
 
 after reminding us, that the 
 
 " frigida Tempe, 
 Mugitusque boum, mollesque sub arbore somni, 
 Non absunt," &c., 
 
 he goes on to say, that if unable to soar to the 
 
 higher walks of philosophy, 
 
 " Rura mihi et rigui placeant in vallibus amnes ; 
 Flumina amem, silvasque inglorius," 
 
 and then exclaims, in a burst of poetical enthu- 
 siasm, 
 
 " 0 ubi campi, 
 Sperchiusque, et virginibus bacchata LacaBnis, 
 Taygeta ! o qui me gelidis in vallibus Haemi 
 Sistat, et ingenti ramorum protegat umbra !" 
 
 Surely this is not a picture of natural scenery, 
 so cold and unimpassioned, as Schiller will have 
 it to be common amongst the writers of anti- 
 quity, but rather that deep affection for its beau- 
 ties which he represents as characteristic of the 
 moderns. 
 
LECT. I.] 
 
 ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 7 
 
 But indeed it would not be difficult to point 
 out in other classical authors passages of a simi- 
 lar description, as Humboldt himself is compelled 
 to acknowledge. 
 
 With regard to the five Treatises comprehended 
 under the title of the " Rei Rusticse Scriptores," 
 it might be expected from their bulk that they 
 would include many distinct systems of agricul- 
 ture, and that we might have to detail one 
 routine of operations as in vogue at the time of 
 Cato, another at that of Varro, and a third 
 during the period in which Pliny and Columella 
 flourished. 
 
 Such undoubtedly would be the case, if in 
 some future age, amidst the wreck of the agri- 
 cultural literature of Great Britain, three works, 
 as distant one from the other, in point of date, 
 as those above alluded to, were to float down the 
 stream of time ; as, for instance, the Treatise of 
 Old Tusser, of the age of Henry VHI ; that of sir 
 John Sinclair, who belongs to the last century; and 
 any of those compendiums of recent date, which 
 are designed to convey to their readers an abstract 
 of the principles of Liebig or of Boussingault. 
 
 But the Roman writers alluded to were not 
 theorists ; the practical good sense which they 
 possessed made them feel, that their systems of 
 philosophy were much too crude to justify their 
 deducing from them any conclusions which 
 might be useful in Husbandry, so that, barring 
 
8 
 
 LECTURES ON 
 
 [lect. 1. 
 
 a few usages founded on superstitious rites and 
 observances, agriculture with them was simply 
 an empirical art, founded upon long continued 
 observation and experience. 
 
 Knowledge indeed is at all times a tree of 
 slow growth, and late in arriving at maturity ; 
 in the early stage of its existence it may produce 
 flowers, delightful to the eye, refreshing to the 
 senses, and containing the germs of future de- 
 velopment; but what fruits it then affords are 
 sure to disappoint, and prove abortive ; nor until 
 it has become fairly established in the soil, and 
 until its branches have become widely expanded, 
 does the period arrive, at which it can be ex- 
 pected to bring forth any thing substantially 
 serviceable, or can vindicate its pretensions to 
 be regarded as useful as well as ornamental 
 to society. 
 
 Thus long as chemistry has been known to 
 us as a branch of philosophical inquiry, forty 
 years have not elapsed since sir Humphry Davy 
 accomplished the first great practical application 
 of its principles to the purposes of humanity by 
 his invention of the Miner's Lamp ; and it was 
 only the other day that Liebig made the first 
 successful attempt to improve agriculture by the 
 aid of the same science, when he suggested, on 
 theoretical grounds alone, the addition of sul- 
 phuric acid to bones, as a means of rendering 
 them, when used as a manure, more soluble in 
 the juices of plants. 
 
LECT. I.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 9 
 
 No wonder then that in the backward con- 
 dition in which the physical sciences existed at 
 the period to which I allude, no aid could be 
 obtained from them towards the improvement 
 of the arts of life ; and hence that the most 
 modern treatises on Roman agriculture which 
 have come down to us should be in the main 
 little more than the mere developments of the 
 system recommended in the older ones, whilst, 
 though much may have been added, nothing is 
 to be found contradictory, to the plan inculcated 
 by the former. 
 
 It seems to me therefore that it would be an 
 unnecessary waste of time, were I to present you 
 with a separate abstract of the precepts con- 
 tained in the treatises of Cato and of Varro. 
 Without meaning to institute any comparison 
 between the intrinsic merits of these several 
 treatises, or pretending to say which is the most 
 original or the most accurate, I deem it best to 
 take as my text-book the book which had the 
 advantage at least of being the latest, and there- 
 fore of embodying in itself what was most 
 worthy of note in the writings that had pre- 
 ceded it. I shall therefore bring before you 
 principally the system of agriculture recom- 
 mended in the treatise of Columella, only pro- 
 posing to point out such differences in detail 
 as may exist between him and the other authors 
 who can be appealed to, together with so much 
 of the subject-matter of each as is calculated to 
 
10 
 
 LECTURES ON 
 
 [lect, 1. 
 
 convey to you some idea of the general tenor of 
 their respective productions. 
 
 The oldest of the writers on Husbandry whose 
 works have survived to the present day is Marcus 
 Fortius Cato the Censor, who flourished during the 
 period of the second Punic war, and died in the 
 first or second year of the third, at the age of 85.'' 
 
 He is often represented to us as the beau ideal 
 of the old Roman ; and he certainly may be re- 
 garded as a type, of the virtues which that nation 
 prized most highly, as well as of the defects 
 which clouded their great qualities in the estima- 
 tion of all except themselves. 
 
 Lamartine, in his work on the French Revolu- 
 tion, has happily remarked — " Les poetes disent, 
 que les nuages prennent la forme des pays qu'ils 
 out traverses, et se moulant sur les vallees, sur 
 les plaines, ou sur les montagnes, en gardent 
 I'empreinte, et la promenent dans les cieux. 
 C'est I'image de certains hommes, dont le genie 
 pour ainsi dire collectif se modele sur leur epoque, 
 et incarne en eux toute I'individualite d'une na- 
 tion." — " That, as the poets say, the clouds assume 
 the form of the countries which they have tra- 
 versed ; and that, modelling themselves upon its 
 valleys, plains, or mountains, they preserve the 
 impression of each, and display it in the skies. 
 This may be regarded as the type of certain men, 
 whose genius is modelled upon the age in which 
 
 ^ He nourished from I'M to 14<» B. C. 
 
LECT. I.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 11 
 
 they live, and embodies in itself all the national 
 peculiarities." 
 
 Now these are precisely the persons who hold 
 the highest place in the estimate of their re- 
 spective nations, or, at least, most completely 
 command their sympathies. 
 
 Thus Alcibiades or Alexander in Greece ; Cato 
 in Rome ; Henry IV. or Louis XIV. in the mon- 
 archical days of France; Cardinal Ximenes in 
 Spain ; Dr. Johnson in the literary, or Wellington 
 in the military line in England ; were objects of 
 hero-worship amongst their countrymen ; not only 
 on account of their great talents, and the services 
 they have rendered; but likewise as embodying 
 those national characteristics which each member 
 of the community takes a personal pride in see- 
 ing associated with acknowledged excellence, and 
 which, he is willing to flatter himself, are con- 
 nected with its possession. 
 
 The levity of the Greek— the Frenchman's fond- 
 ness for pleasure and display — the superstition 
 and austerity of the Spaniard — the contempt of 
 theory, and exclusive attention to practical ob- 
 jects which distinguish the Englishman — and the 
 aversion or indifference to all beyond the narrow 
 pale of his native city, which rendered Roman 
 patriotism only a somewhat more expanded form 
 of selfishness — are each exemplified in the indi- 
 viduals I have mentioned, who may be regarded 
 as amongst the most generally renowned, at least, 
 in their respective countries. 
 
12 
 
 LECTURES ON 
 
 [lect. I. 
 
 Hence it may have been in consequence rather 
 than in spite q/" these defects in his character that 
 Cato became the idol of popular admiration; since, 
 as we have already seen, the popular hero in each 
 country is the individual who most completely 
 bears the impress of the national character. 
 
 Nevertheless, with respect to the personage al- 
 luded to, it must, I think, be admitted, that his 
 chief virtue was a love of his country ; and that 
 even this did not prevent him from thwarting 
 Scipio in his career of glory ; whilst amongst his 
 vices must be reckoned, avarice, selfishness, mean- 
 ness, and want of humanity. 
 
 Even Plutarch condemns as barbarous his con- 
 duct in selling off his old and diseased slaves, to 
 save the cost of maintaining them ; and his in- 
 veterate hostility to Carthage indicated less per- 
 haps the depth of his patriotism, than the mo- 
 roseness and implacability of his temper. 
 
 Nor,* with all deference to persons of higher 
 authority upon such matters, who have expressed 
 an opposite opinion, can I bring myself to admit, 
 that the catastrophe which Cato's persevering 
 enmity to Carthage mainly tended to produce, or 
 at least to accelerate, was one calculated, so far 
 as we can see, to promote the advancement of 
 civilization, or that, by the destruction of that 
 great commercial emporium, a benefit, as some 
 have contended, was conferred on the human 
 race. 
 
 Let us consider for a moment Avliat would have 
 
LECT. I.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 13 
 
 ])een the condition of the ancient world, if Car- 
 thage and Rome in ancient times, like France 
 and England at the present, had each preserved 
 for a longer period their separate existence. 
 
 Under such circumstances the very differences 
 of national character belonging to the two lead- 
 ing people of the ancient world might have been 
 expected to contribute to the mutual well being 
 of each. The commercial genius of the one would 
 have tempered the harsh military propensities of 
 the other; and the other European states, in- 
 stead of becoming the slaves of the conqueror, 
 would have been, as circumstances or inclination 
 prompted, the allies of one or other of the two 
 rival powers, retaining their freedom and self- 
 respect, and holding on their own independent 
 course in the career of improvement. 
 
 Without therefore presuming to deny, that the 
 destruction of Carthage was ordained or per- 
 mitted for purposes which may have ultimately 
 promoted the great ends of Providence, I cannot 
 trace, in the establishment of an universal empire 
 which followed as its consequence, a condition of 
 things favourable in itself to humanity, or regard 
 the narrow and exclusive policy which many ad- 
 mire in Cato, as one which can be justified by 
 considering the state of civil society which it 
 tended to bring about. 
 
 As to the work on rural and domestic economy 
 which this remarkable man has left to posterity, 
 
14 LECTURES Ox\ [lect. i. 
 
 it is in truth of a most miscellaneous description, 
 very unmethodical, and altogether fragmentary. 
 The greater part indeed is taken up by a collec- 
 tion of receipts, some of them medicinal, others 
 culinary; and the purely agricultural portion is 
 comprised within the smallest compass of any. 
 
 Agriculture, Cato begins by remarking, is pre- 
 ferable to merchandise, as being a less hazardous, 
 and to usury, as being a more honourable occupa- 
 tion. 
 
 Whilst our ancestors regarded a usurer as more 
 degraded even than a robber, they considered it 
 the highest honour that could be paid to a citizen 
 to call him a good farmer, and indeed the best 
 soldiers and the bravest citizens have ever been 
 taken from the cultivators of the soil. 
 
 In no other profession are the profits attended 
 with so little risk, or so little liable to excite 
 jealousy ; and nowhere is there such an absence 
 of evil thoughts and dispositions as amongst 
 those engaged in this pursuit. 
 
 He then proceeds to consider the qualities that 
 are to be looked for in the selection of a farm. 
 
 It should combine the advantages of health- 
 fulness and of fertility — be situated, if possible, 
 at the foot of a mountain, pointing to the south — 
 with land and water communication contiguous — 
 with an abundant supply of labourers, and with 
 good water. It should lie in a country which is not 
 apt to change its masters, and from which those 
 who have migrated are apt to regret the change. 
 
LECT. l] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 15 
 
 Beware," he says, " of rashly contemning the 
 usages adopted by others. Take care to adapt 
 the number of your implements to the extent of 
 your property ; and recollect that the same rule 
 applies to a farm as to a man, namely, that if it 
 costs us a great deal, it will bring us but a small 
 balance of profit, however much it may produce 
 for us." 
 
 The extent of the farm may be about 100 ju- 
 gera^; and here, if it produce good wine, the 
 vineyard stands first in the scale of importance ; 
 next, the garden; then, the osier-bed; fourthly, 
 the olive plantation; fifthly, the meadow-land; 
 sixthly, the arable ; seventhly, the timber ; 
 eighthly, the shrubbery ; and ninthly, the oaks, on 
 account of the acorns they yield for the suste- 
 nance of the swine. 
 
 It may appear at first remarkable, that Cato 
 should rank so low in his estimate the culture 
 of corn ; for whether we interpret the pas- 
 sage alluded to as I have done, or adopt the 
 meaning ascribed to it by Varro, who supposes 
 Cato to have meant, that a farm is to be prized 
 highest when it possesses a vineyard in a good 
 soil, next when it has a garden which can be 
 irrigated, and so on, the inference is still the 
 same, namely, that the cultivation of the cerealia 
 was placed by Cato lower in the scale of im- 
 
 c The jugerum comprehended 28,800 square feet, whilst an 
 English acre contains 43,560. Hence a jugerum was about two- 
 thirds of an English acre. 
 
16 
 
 LECTURES ON 
 
 [lkct. I. 
 
 portance than either that of the vine, the olive, 
 domestic vegetables, or the rearing of cattle. 
 
 Undonbtedly snch is not the opinion of farmers 
 in modern times. Wine countries, except in a 
 few favoured spots, where the superior sorts can 
 be obtained, are generally poor ; the olive is for 
 the most part confined to districts not remark- 
 able for their fertility; and we generally con- 
 sider the conversion of pasture land into arable, 
 where the nature of the soil is such as to secure 
 abundant crops of corn, as a profitable specula- 
 tion. 
 
 But two circumstances must be taken into 
 account, which might alter materially the rela- 
 tive value of these several productions of the soil 
 in the estimation of the Romans at the time of 
 Cato. 
 
 In all countries exposed to predatory excur- 
 sions from hostile neighbours the prospects of 
 the corn harvest are most precarious. On the 
 first approach of danger the sheep and cattle can 
 be hurried off", and placed under the protection of 
 the walls of some fortress, initil the invading 
 force is repelled ; in many cases indeed, as in the 
 ancient city of the Aurunci which I have de- 
 scribed in my Memoir on Rocca Monfina'', the 
 site was selected by the first founders with evi- 
 dent reference to its proximity to a rich pas- 
 
 d Transactions of the Ashmolean Society. See also my Work 
 on Volcanos, page 175. et seq. 
 
LECT. I.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 17 
 
 turage into which their livestock might find a 
 safe retreat ; nor was it so easy for the enemy in 
 the midst of the hm-ry of their advance to find 
 time for destroying the olive plantations, or the 
 vineyards that lay on their way. 
 
 But the corn-fields, even if not intentionally 
 destroyed, would be trampled over both by friend 
 and foe during the continuance of a campaign, 
 and being for the most part in plains, would be 
 just the spots most likely to be ravaged by an 
 invading force. 
 
 Xenophon, in his Anabasis, has drawn a pic- 
 ture of the insecure life of a husbandman in 
 Thessaly, when describing the entertainment 
 given by the officers of the army of Cyrus, 
 during their encampment near Cotyora, to the 
 ministers of Cory las, prince of Paphlagonia ^. 
 
 After the meal was concluded, some ^nians and 
 Magnesians, people from the Thessalian borders, 
 stepped forwards, and in the full armour of the 
 phalanx exhibited the dance called the Carpsean. 
 The manner of it, says Xenophon, was this. 
 " While the pantomimic dance was proceeding to 
 the music of the flute, one of the performers ad- 
 vances as a husbandman. Grounding his arms, 
 he sows and drives his oxen, often looking 
 around as if in fear. Another next approaches 
 as a robber. The husbandman seeing him runs 
 to his arms, and a combat ensues. The robber 
 prevails, binds the farmer, and drives off the 
 
 « Anabasis, lib. vi. c. i. 
 
 C 
 
18 
 
 LECTURES ON [lect. i. 
 
 cattle. Then the dance is varied, the husband- 
 man now is victorious, binds the robber's hands 
 behind him, yokes him with the oxen, and drives 
 them off all together." 
 
 No doubt the condition of Italy in the time of 
 Cato was less insecure than that of certain parts 
 of Greece at the period alluded to; yet even 
 here, what with foreign invasions and domestic 
 strife, the agriculturist hardly obtained an in- 
 terval of repose sufficiently long to give him 
 confidence in the security of his crops ; and in 
 these stirring times, as Virgil feelingly laments : 
 " non ullus aratro 
 Dignus honos ; squalent abductis arva colonis, 
 Et curvas rigidum falces conflantur in ensem." 
 
 Another circumstance which might contribute 
 to render vineyards a more profitable kind of 
 culture than it is thought to be at present, was 
 the employment of slaves, which, as will be 
 shewn in a subsequent Lecture, would be un- 
 favourable to the culture of the Cerealia ; whilst 
 that of vineyards was more under the control of 
 a task-master, and required a more uniform 
 routine of operations, such as could be superin- 
 tended by a single individual, and executed by 
 constrained labour. 
 
 Cato next proceeds to point out what the pro- 
 prietor ought to inquire into when he visits his 
 country domain. 
 
 Having paid his respects to the household gods, 
 
LECT. I.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 19 
 
 he should go over the farm, if possible, on the day 
 of his arrival, or at least on the one subsequent. 
 
 He should then demand of his bailiif, or villi- 
 cus, a strict report of all that has been done and 
 expended during his absence, and if the result 
 does not turn out satisfactory, should compare 
 the work performed with the number of days 
 spent upon it. 
 
 The bailiff may say, that he has been very dili- 
 gent, that the weather has been bad, that some 
 of the slaves have been sick, or have absconded, 
 or been taken off to public works; but having 
 listened to these excuses, he should bring his 
 superintendent to book, by going into the actual 
 details of the work done. 
 
 If for instance the badness of the weather be 
 alleged, he should ascertain how many days 
 the rain lasted, and what other tasks suitable 
 for wet weather, of which a long string is enu- 
 merated, were executed during its continuance. 
 If the illness of the slaves be pleaded for neglect 
 of work, he ought to examine whether the usual 
 allowance of food had been reduced in proportion. 
 When these matters have been gone into, let him 
 take effectual care that the work which remains 
 to be done, shall be done. 
 
 Next he should go into the money account, and 
 the corn account; inquire into what has been 
 bought in the way of food, and what amount of wine 
 and oil has been brought into store or been sold. 
 
 Let him also look over the cattle with a view 
 
20 
 
 LECTURES ON 
 
 [lect. 1. 
 
 to a sale ; and as a thrifty farmer ought to be 
 fonder of selling than of buying, he should dispose 
 of all useless articles, such as decayed implements, 
 aged oxen, diseased or superannuated slaves. 
 
 Amongst those who in succeeding times have 
 commented upon the work of Cato, no one, I 
 believe, before Plutarch, has reflected upon the 
 inhumanity displayed in the latter injunction, 
 the more startling to our minds, because un- 
 accompanied on the part of the author, with any 
 apology, or any apparent consciousness of having 
 suggested what was at variance with sentiments 
 of humanity ; and even the amiable writer just 
 alluded to, seems to have revolted as much from 
 the idea of disposing of a horse that had become 
 worn out in his master's service, as of getting rid 
 of an aged slave. 
 
 How much more benevolent, and, considered 
 on the large scale, how much more wise, are the 
 remarks of Xenophon in his Economics on this 
 subject ^. 
 
 After remarking that a generous spirit in the 
 master creates a hearty good will on the part of 
 his servants, he concludes, that the talent for 
 thus conciliating the affections of the persons 
 under his authority, which is of equal import- 
 ance in agriculture, as in every other profession, 
 seems to be a special gift of the gods, conferred 
 as the reward of diligent training, and of a good 
 natural disposition. 
 
 f Cap. XXI. sub fin. 
 
LECT. I. ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 2t 
 
 For to rule over those who are wilhiig to obey, 
 is rather a divine than an earthly blessing - 
 whereas, to tyrannize over unwilling subjects, is 
 the punishment inflicted by the gods upon thosoj 
 whom they regard as deserving the fate of Tan- 
 talus, as suffering under the continual dread of 
 impending destruction. 
 
 Few, if any, remarks of this tenor are to be 
 found in the works of Cato, who seems, from 
 this and other passages, to have been, what is 
 called, a hard master, and to have treated his 
 slaves with as little consideration, as the beasts 
 of burden, or inanimate machines, with which he 
 associates them. 
 
 After these instructions as to the duties of the 
 proprietor, Cato next points out the land fitted 
 for each kind of culture, and gives an inventory 
 of whatever he considers necessary for an olive 
 plantation and for a vineyard. He enumerates 
 the necessary parts of a wine press, and the 
 requisites for erecting a country house, and for 
 constructing an oil press. 
 
 He gives directions also for making wine, for 
 sowing, and for manuring. He recommends that 
 a large manure heap should be got together, that 
 the dung should be carefully preserved, and that 
 it be spread over the fields in autumn. 
 
 Nevertheless, in estimating the value of manur- 
 ing, he places it in the scale of importance far 
 below ploughing. 
 
22 
 
 LECTURES ON [lect. i. 
 
 " If I am asked," he says, " what is the first 
 point in good husbandry, I answer, good plough- 
 ing; what the second, ploughing of any kind; 
 what the third, manuring;" thus placing the 
 advantage of manuring below that of even ordi- 
 nary ploughing. 
 
 Now if by this is merely intended, that 
 ploughing is the foundation of all agriculture; 
 that without stirring up the soil all other modes 
 of improving it are thrown away ; there is no- 
 thing to which the modern farmer would not 
 assent ; but perhaps we may collect from his 
 mode of expression indications, that in the time 
 of Cato the land of Italy had not arrived at that 
 condition, in which the addition to it of manure 
 may be regarded as essential. 
 
 Much indeed with regard to the density of the 
 population, and the length of time during which 
 it has supported an agricultural peasantry, may 
 be learnt by this simple circumstance, whether 
 manure was held in estimation, or not. 
 
 In the newly settled states of America, where, 
 as in the golden age described by Hesiod, 
 
 ndpTTOv €(pepe (etdcopos apovpa 
 AvToix6.Tri TToWov T€ Koi a(p6ovov, 
 
 as well as at present in some of the inland parts 
 of Russia, we know that the farmer is only too 
 glad to get rid of it by committing it to the near- 
 est stream ; and the story of king Mgeas, which 
 is quoted by Pliny as a proof that the Greeks of 
 that epoch valued manure, is to me rather an 
 
LECT.i ] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 23 
 
 evidence that they were then anxious to free 
 themselves from the incumbrance of it. 
 
 Hercules, according to the fable, cleared the 
 Augean stable by turning into it a river. A 
 modern mythologist would have represented him 
 employing his superhuman power in spreading 
 the fertilising material over the whole extent 
 of the royal domain; and a farmer at the pre- 
 sent day would have known too well the value 
 of manure to have allowed it to accumulate, 
 until it required a Hercules to eject it from the 
 premises. 
 
 No notice, it is also observed by Cicero, is taken 
 of manuring by Hesiod, although it is mentioned 
 in the Odyssey, since Homer describes the faith- 
 ful dog, who alone recognises his master on his 
 return to Ithaca, lying neglected on a heap of 
 dung, with which the labourers were about to 
 manure the farm. 
 
 Arj t6t€ k€lt' airoOecrTos anoi-j^pixivoio avuKTOs, 
 'Ey TToXXfj KOTTpcp, rj ol Trpoirdpoide Ovpdoiv 
 'HjJitovcov re (3oS)V re aAts Kix^r, o^p av ayouv 
 Aju,(3es '08vcrcr?yos re'ju.ei'os /le'ya K0i:pri(7 avres- 
 
 Theophrastus also cursorily alludes to the value 
 of manure, confounding however under the same 
 general term applications of various mixtures of 
 earths to soils, with the use of stable dung, and 
 not appearing to distinguish the characteristic 
 uses of each. 
 
 But for full instructions with respect to apply- 
 ing manure we must refer to writers of the age 
 
24 
 
 LECTURES ON [lect. i. 
 
 of Augustus or of Claudius, and especially to 
 Varro and Columella. 
 
 Virgil indeed notices it but very sliglitl}^ merely 
 saying, 
 
 " arida tantum 
 Ne saturare fimo pingui pudeat sola :" 
 
 but this omission may be attributed to the rich 
 alluvial soil near Mantua where he passed his 
 early years, and the still more luxuriant and fer- 
 tile country about Naples where he resided at a 
 later period, both of which may therefore be 
 regarded as exceptional cases. 
 
 If indeed, as Varro boasts, of all the countries 
 which he had visited none was so universally 
 brought under cultivation as Italy, the time for 
 the advantageous application of manure had 
 surely by that time arrived, and accordingly we 
 shall find it sufficiently insisted upon in Colu- 
 mella. 
 
 Such then are the principal contents of that 
 portion of Cato's treatise which relates to agri- 
 culture, for the rest of it, and indeed the largest 
 part, is taken up with receipts and prescriptions : 
 as for oxen when ill; for making sweet-cakes, 
 cheese-cakes, &:cJ; for preserving garments from 
 the moth ; for pickling legs of pork ; and for sun- 
 dry other homely purposes. 
 
 f Libum, a cake made of cheese, flonr, eggs, and oil ; placenta, 
 one made of these same ingredients with the addition of honey ; 
 spira, scriblita, globi, encytum, erneum, &c., were other kinds 
 of cuke composed chiefly of the same ingredients. 
 
LECT. I.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 25 
 
 He places great faith in cabbage as a medicine 
 both raw and cooked, and although he does not 
 appear to be aware of the mode of converting it 
 into sour kraut, which the Germans value so 
 highly, yet recommends it to be eaten raw with 
 vinegar before a feast as a sovereign remedy ; for 
 if you wish to eat and drink freely, it removes, he 
 says, all the evil consequences of excess. 
 
 Such appears to have been the general opinion 
 of the ancients. Thus Galen tells us, that there 
 is a natural antipathy between wine and cabbage, 
 so that the one will die in places where the other 
 has grown. 
 
 Boiled in water, it acts, Cato says, as a purga- 
 tive, and macerated in the same, alone if there 
 be fever, or with wine if there be none, it is a 
 cure for the colic. Similar statements may be 
 found amongst the writings of the old herbalists, 
 although we moderns do not attach much im- 
 portance to it as a remedy. 
 
 He then details the several rites to be observed 
 on various occasions, as at a banquet, before har- 
 vest, &c. ; and seems to have had great faith in 
 charms, recommending for a broken limb a kind 
 of incantation, namely, the saying over and over 
 again the words " daries, dardaries, astataries, dis- 
 sunapiter" till the parts are united ; or the using 
 another form of gibberish equally nonsensical. 
 
 But why should we be surprised at this, when 
 we find within two centuries from the present 
 time persons of high reputation for philosophy, 
 
26 LECTURES ON [lect. i. 
 
 like sir Kenelm Digby, professing a belief in the 
 virtues of the sympathetic powder, by which 
 wounds were to be cured by applying it to the 
 weapons which occasioned them ; or when " the 
 ingeniously learned and excellent herbalist Mr. 
 William Coles" appropriates to each part of the 
 body its respective herbs or plants, according to 
 the theory of signatures then so much in vogue. 
 (See Southey's Doctor, Chap. 24, p. 7.) 
 
 Cato, although in common with others of his 
 own epoch given to superstitious observances, 
 discountenanced them nevertheless amongst his 
 household, not permitting religious ceremonies 
 to be practised by any one but the master, from 
 a feeling in which I have myself found the slave- 
 holders of the United States also to partake, and 
 in both cases serving to shew, that the slaves 
 were looked upon as the mere goods and chattels 
 of the proprietor. 
 
 Perhaps too, in the case of the Roman, it was 
 a precaution against similar influences, to those 
 which the Obi enchanters are said to exert upon 
 the minds of the negroes in the West Indies. 
 
 The extracts that I have given may serve to 
 convey to you a sufficient idea of the work of 
 Cato, the oldest of the Roman writers on hus- 
 bandry that has come down to us, and one who 
 has treated much more fully of other branches 
 of rural and domestic economy than of agricul- 
 ture properly so called. 
 
LECT.i ] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 27 
 
 I perceive in it no reference to the rotation of 
 crops, such as occurs in Virgil or in later authors, 
 although at the same time some discrimination 
 is shewn in destining particular kinds of soil to 
 certain vegetables. 
 
 Its chief interest indeed appears to consist in 
 the picture it conveys of the manners and usages 
 of the times, as well as of the sentiments of an old 
 senator of the age of the second and third Punic 
 war ; who, as already observed, is often brought 
 forward as the beau ideal of his race and order, 
 before the genuine Roman character had become 
 modified through the introduction of foreign 
 manners. 
 
 VARRO. 
 
 The next writer on agriculture in the order of 
 time is Varro, who died three years after the 
 battle of Actium, and twenty-eight years B. C, at 
 the advanced age of eighty- eights. He distin- 
 guished himself in early life under Pompey, and 
 gained a naval victory over the Pirates, which is 
 commemorated on the obverse of the only medal 
 extant, on which his features are preserved. 
 
 After the fall of his Chief, he devoted himself 
 to literature, and was reputed the most learned 
 man of his time, having written on an incredible- 
 variety of subjects, according to the testimony of 
 
 g According to Scaliger, boru ii8 B.C., died 26 B.C., and 
 thei-efox'e lived 91 years. 
 
28 LECTURES ON [lect. i. 
 
 Aulus Gellius. The only productions of his pen, 
 however, that have actually come down to us, are, 
 that De Lingua Romana, a Grammatical Trea- 
 tise, of which six hooks only out of twenty-four 
 have been preserved; and that De Re Rustica, 
 which I am about to notice. 
 
 This latter work, written, as he says, in his 
 80th year, is addressed to his wife Fundania, 
 with the professed object of enabling her, after 
 his death, to cultivate with profit the estate she 
 had purchased, but had hitherto confided to the 
 care of her husband. 
 
 The treatise, however, is drawn up in the form 
 of a dialogue between Varro and some of his 
 friends ; but nevertheless is far more methodical 
 and systematic than the work of Cato which pre- 
 ceded it; whilst the directions given appear to 
 have been, in many instances, the result of actual 
 experience and sound reflection. 
 
 He begins by pointing out the absurdity of in- 
 cluding in a treatise on Agriculture those various 
 topics which had been introduced by former 
 writers, as, for instance, by Cato, on no better 
 plea than because they relate to subjects which 
 interest the farmer. 
 
 For the same reason he objects to including 
 amongst books on Agriculture such writings as 
 those of Theophrastus, which relate to the history 
 and physiology of plants merely. " Isti quidam 
 libri," he says, " non tam idonei sunt iis qui 
 
LECT. I.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 29 
 
 agrum colere volunt, quam qui scholas philoso- 
 pliorum." 
 
 The science of Husbandry, properly so called, is 
 limited to instructions as to the nature of the 
 crops to be sown, and the things to be done on 
 each of the several kinds of soil ; together with 
 rules for determining what description of land 
 will yield the largest amount of produce for the 
 longest period of time. 
 
 Hence the science of Agriculture may be di- 
 vided into the four following departments : the 
 1st, a knowledge of the nature of a farm, both 
 w^ith regard to its soil, and all its other parts: 
 the 2nd, an acquaintance with what things are 
 necessary to be procured for the purpose of cul- 
 tivating it ; which may be distinguished into ani- 
 mate and inanimate; the first including slaves 
 and cattle ; the second, implements and machines 
 of various sorts ; the 3rd, relating to the various 
 operations required for extracting the greatest 
 amount of nourishment from the soil; and the 
 4th, having reference to the period of the year 
 when each operation is best performed. 
 
 Now with regard to the first of these depart- 
 ments, namely, the nature of the farm itself, the 
 two material points to be inquired into relate to 
 its powers of productiveness, and its salubrity. 
 
 If either of these be found wanting, the person 
 who fixes upon the land for cultivation is a mad- 
 man, and "ad agnatos et gentiles est deducendus." 
 For whilst no sane person would spend money 
 
30 LECTURES ON [lect. i. 
 
 upon a farm which would bring him no return, 
 it would be an equal mark of folly to invest it 
 upon one, hoAvever productive, where the former 
 occupants have been observed to be carried off 
 by disease. 
 
 " Where the air is bad, husbandry, indeed, is 
 nothing better than a species of gambling, in 
 which the life of the tenant is the stake." 
 
 But what am I to do (says one of the speakers 
 in the work) if I already possess a farm in an 
 unhealthy situation ? " Vendas quot assibus pos- 
 sis (replies another of the interlocutors), vel si 
 nequeas, relinquas." 
 
 These remarks, together with others of a similar 
 kind which occur in Cato, and all the other Ro- 
 man writers on Husbandry, tend to shew that 
 malaria was an object of dread in ancient times, 
 as it is in modern, throughout Italy; and that 
 many spots otherwise eligible were even then 
 condemned in consequence of its prevalence. 
 
 But can it be supposed that the insalubrity of 
 the climate was then so general or so well 
 marked as it is found to be at present? The 
 desolate condition of the Pontine marshes, once 
 the seat of numerous and flourishing towns, seems 
 to shew the reverse ; and although Strabo admits 
 that a few spots near the coast of Latium were 
 marshy and unhealthy, he speaks of the country 
 in general as being flourishing and productive. 
 
 The truth of the matter I take to be, that al- 
 though certain local changes have taken place 
 
LECT. I.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 31 
 
 since the period alluded to, from the cutting 
 down of woods, or the removal, by war or other 
 political causes, of the population, by which tracts 
 of land have become neglected and marshy ; yet 
 that the general character of the climate has not 
 materially changed. 
 
 Livy describes the Campagna of Rome as " a 
 parched and pestilential soil;" a character very 
 applicable to it at present. Horace alludes to 
 the month of July as a period, which 
 
 " Adducit febres, et testamenta resignat ;" 
 
 and speaks of his country seat as preserving him 
 in health during the sickly season of September, 
 
 " Has latebrse dulces, etiam (si credis) amoence 
 Incolumem tibi me prasstant Septembribus horis :" 
 
 whilst other writers, such as Cicero and Pliny, 
 state that Romulus selected for the site of Rome 
 an healthy spot in an unwholesome country. 
 
 We must also not forget the mode in which the 
 land was cultivated, namely, by large families 
 of slaves, w^hose lives were probably only valued 
 in proportion to the difficulty of replacing them, 
 which, in the flourishing periods of the Republic, 
 amidst continual wars, does not appear to have 
 been great. 
 
 Nor, as Dr. Arnold observes, does an unhealthy 
 climate necessarily cause a country to be unin- 
 habited, when the land is sufficiently rich to sup- 
 port a numerous population ; although this very 
 description of soil, if abandoned for some time to 
 
32 
 
 LECTURES ON 
 
 [lect. I. 
 
 itself, may acquire such malignaut properties, as 
 to induce the almost inevitable death of those 
 who attempt to settle on it afterwards, and thus 
 may continue untenanted. 
 
 Situations, says Varro, may be distinguished 
 into those on a champaign, a hilly, and a moun- 
 tainous country, each best adapted for certain 
 kinds of culture ; corn being most suited for the 
 plain, vines for the hills, and trees for the moun- 
 tains. 
 
 In opposition to Cato, he considers pasturage 
 more profitable than vineyards, and instances 
 the rich meadow land in Umbria, called the 
 Campi Rosese, watered by the Velino ; where it 
 is said that a pole put into the ground one day 
 would be concealed by the herbage on the next. 
 
 Various descriptions of soil may be distinguished 
 according to the predominance of one or other of 
 the ingredients which compose the earth. 
 
 Of these he enumerates the following — lapis, 
 marmor, rudus, arena, sabulo, argilla, rubrica, 
 pulvis, creta, glarea, carbunculus ; which I ven- 
 ture to interpret, stone, marble, rubble, sand, 
 gravel, clay, red-ochre, dust, chalk, grit, and 
 puzzolana Accordingly, a calcareous soil (cre- 
 tosa) will be one in which lime predominates, a 
 gritty one (glariosa) where grit or gravel. 
 
 ^ The meaning of some of these terms has much puzzled the 
 commentators : glarea would seem to be applied to the sand or 
 minute pebbles of the shoi'e or of rivers ; sabulo to gravel ; 
 
1.ECT. I.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 33 
 
 These may be again subdivided according to 
 the degree in which the ingredient in question 
 is found ; as into very stony, moderately so, and 
 not at all. Also with reference to its affinity 
 for moisture the soil may be distinguished into 
 dry, moist, and intermediate. Wheat (far ado- 
 reum), he considers best fitted for moist land, 
 barley for dry. 
 
 Sandy soils again admit of a subdivision into 
 white, red, and black, according to the prevailing 
 colour. 
 
 Soils again are distinguished into fat, lean, and 
 intermediate, of which properties the test is the 
 manner in which particular plants thrive in 
 them. 
 
 Thus in lean or shallow soil the meadows are 
 parched and mossy, the trees stunted, the vines 
 unproductive. In fat soil the reverse of this 
 holds good in all respects, and in the interme- 
 diate description of soil the appearance of the 
 crops will fluctuate between the two former. 
 
 As Schiibler's classification of soils bears some 
 analogy to this of Varro's, I give it in the next 
 pages, although not adopting his theory of soluble 
 humus, against which I have protested in another 
 place. 
 
 carbunculus to the puzzolana or tuflP, with which the volcanic 
 districts of Rome and Campania rendered the Italians so fami- 
 liar. See Schneider's Note on the passage in Varro, lib. i. cap. ix. 
 Rubrica would seem to have been a red kind of clay, perhaps 
 ochre ; and creta seems not to have been always distinguished 
 from clay, as bricks are said to be made of it. Pliny 35 C 49. 
 
 D 
 
34 LECTURES ON [lect. i 
 
 CLASSIFICATION OF SOILS 
 
 BY 
 
 PinOFESSOR SCHliBLER OF TUBINGEN, 
 
 FROM HIS 
 
 GRUNDSATZE DER AGRICULTUR-CHEMIE, 1 838. 
 
 Names of the different descriptions of Soil. 
 
 Proportions of ingredients in every 100 parts. 
 
 CLASSES. 
 
 OEDERS. 
 
 species. 
 
 CLAY. 
 
 lime. 
 
 HUMUS. 
 
 SAND. 
 
 1. Argillaceous 
 Soils. 
 
 Above 50 per cent. - 
 of Clay. 
 More than 5 per 
 cent, of Lime. 
 
 "Without liiiriG | 
 
 Poor 
 
 Intermediate 
 Rich 
 
 Above 50 
 ■■ 50 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 0 
 
 0. to 0.5 
 0.5 to i.s 
 1.5 to 5.0 
 
 The 
 
 remainder 
 
 With Lime 
 
 1 
 
 Poor 
 
 Intermediate 
 Eich 
 
 Above 50 
 .. 50 
 .. 50 
 
 0.5 to 5.0 
 0.5 to 5.0 
 0.5 to 5.0 
 
 0. to 0.5 
 0.5 to 1.5 
 1.5 to 5.0 
 
 
 2. Loamy Soils. 
 
 Not more than 50 
 nor less than 30 - 
 per cent, of Clay. 
 
 Not more than 5 
 of Lime. 
 
 ( 
 
 Without Lime ■ 
 
 Poor 
 
 Intermediate 
 Rich 
 
 30 to 50 
 30 to 50 
 30 to 50 
 
 0 
 0 
 0 
 
 0. to 0.5 
 
 0. 5 to 1.5 
 
 1. s to 5.0 
 
 
 With Lime 
 
 Poor 
 
 Intermediate 
 Rich 
 
 30 to 50 
 30 to 50 
 30 to 50 
 
 0.5 to s.o 
 0.5 to 5.0 
 0.5 to 5.0 
 
 0. to 0.5 
 o.s to 1.5 
 1.5 to 5.0 
 
 
 3. Sandy Loams. 
 
 Not more than 30 
 nor less than 20 ^ 
 percent, of Clay. 
 
 Not more than 5 
 of Lime. 
 
 Without Lime 
 
 Poor 
 
 Intermediate 
 Rich 
 
 20 to 30 
 20 to 30 
 20 to 30 
 
 0 
 0 
 0 
 
 0. to 0.5 
 0.5 to 1.5 
 1.5 to 5.0 
 
 
 With Lime 
 
 Poor 
 ' Intermediate 
 ' Rich 
 
 20 to 30 
 20 to 30 
 20 to 30 
 
 0.5 to 5.0 
 0.5 to 5.0 
 0.5 to s.o 
 
 0. to 0.5 
 
 0. s to I.s 
 
 1. s to s.o 
 
 
 4. Loamy Sands. 
 
 Not more than 20 
 nor less than 10 - 
 percent. ofClay. 
 
 Less than 5 per 
 cent of Lime. 
 
 Without Lime 
 
 , Poor 
 
 Intermediate 
 ' Rich 
 
 10 to 20 
 10 to 20 
 10 to 20 
 
 0 
 0 
 0 
 
 0. to 0.5 
 
 0. 5 to 1.5 
 
 1. s to 5.0 
 
 
 With Lime 
 
 : Poor 
 
 \ Intermediate 
 ( Rich 
 
 10 to 20 
 10 to 20 
 10 to 20 
 
 0.5 to S-o 
 o.s to 5.0 
 0.5 to 5.0 
 
 0. to 0.5 
 
 0. 5 to 1.5 
 
 1. s to 5.0 
 
 
 5. Sandy Soils. 
 
 Not more than 10 
 per cent, of Clay. 
 Less than 5 per 
 cent, of Lime. 
 
 Without Lime 
 
 ( Poor 
 
 < Intermediate 
 ( Rich 
 
 0. to 10 
 0. to 10 
 0. to 10 
 
 0 
 0 
 0 
 
 0. to 0.5 
 
 0. s to I.s 
 
 1. s to s-o 
 
 
 - 
 
 With Lime 
 
 ( Poor 
 
 < Intermediate 
 ( Rich 
 
 0. to 10 
 0. to 10 
 0. to 10 
 
 0.5 to 5.0 
 0.5 to 5.0 
 0.5 to 5.0 
 
 0. to 0.5 
 
 0. s to 1.5 
 
 1. s to 5.0 
 
 
icT. 1.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 35 
 
 Names of the different descriptions of Soil. 
 
 Proportions of ingredients in every 100 parts. 
 
 CLASSES. 
 
 orders. 
 
 j species. 
 
 CLAY. 
 
 lime. 
 
 HUMUS. 
 
 SAND. 
 
 
 A,rgillaceoiis 
 
 I Poor 
 
 ^ IntGrniGdisii/G 
 ( Rich 
 
 Above 50 
 50 
 
 ■• 50 
 
 5 to 20 
 5 to 20 
 5 to 20 
 
 0. to 0.5 
 0.5 to 1.5 
 1-5 to 5.0 
 
 The 
 remainder 
 
 i Marly Soils. 
 
 Ijoamy 
 
 ( Poor 
 
 \ Intermediate 
 ( Rich 
 
 30 to 50 
 
 on iri cr\ 
 
 30 to 50 
 
 5 to 20 
 5 to 20 
 5 to 20 
 
 0. to 0.5 
 0.5 to 1.5 
 1.5 to 5.0 
 
 
 [ore than 5, not 
 more than 20 per 
 cent, of Lime. 
 
 Belonging to 
 the 
 
 Sandy Loams. 
 
 ( Poor 
 
 \ IntGrniGdiftt© 
 ( Rich 
 
 20 to 30 
 20 to 
 20 to 30 
 
 5 to 20 
 5 to 20 
 5 to 20 
 
 0. to 0.5 
 0.5 to 1.5 
 1.5 to 5.0 
 
 
 Belonging to 
 the 
 
 Loamy Sands. 
 
 ( Poor 
 
 \ IntGnnGdiOitG 
 ( Rich 
 
 10 to 20 
 
 l.\J \J\J £i\J 
 
 10 to 20 
 
 5 to 20 
 5 to 20 
 5 to 20 
 
 0. to 0.5 
 0.5 to 1.5 
 1.5 to 5.0 
 
 
 
 Clayey 
 Sandy 
 
 1 Humous. 
 
 Above 50 
 30 to 50 
 20 to 30 
 
 5 to 20 
 5 to 20 
 5 to 20 
 
 Above 5.0 
 ■ • 5-0 
 • • 5-0 
 
 
 
 r 
 
 Argillaceous 
 
 j Poor 
 IntGmiGdiate 
 Rich 
 
 ; Above 50 
 ••50 
 
 Above 20 
 20 
 20 
 
 0. to 0.5 
 0.5 to 1.5 
 1.5 to 5.0 
 
 
 
 Loamy 
 
 Poor 
 
 IntGrmediatG 
 Rich 
 
 30 to 50 
 30 to 50 
 30 to 50 
 
 20 
 20 
 20 
 
 0. to 0.5 
 0.5 to 1.5 
 1.5 to 5.0 
 
 
 . Calcareous 
 Soils. 
 
 )ntammg more 
 an 20 per cent, 
 of Lime. 
 
 Belonging to 
 
 the < 
 Sandy Loams 
 
 Poor 
 
 Intermediate 
 Rich 
 
 20 to 30 
 20 to 30 
 20 to 30 
 
 20 
 20 
 20 
 
 0. to 0.5 
 0.5 to 1.5 
 1.5 to 5.0 
 
 
 Belonging to 
 ine 
 
 Loamy Sands 1 
 
 Poor 
 
 Intermediate 
 Rich 
 
 10 to 20 
 10 to 20 
 10 to 20 
 
 20 
 20 
 20 
 
 0. to 0.5 
 0.5 to 1.5 
 1.5 to 5.0 
 
 
 
 Poor 
 
 IntiGrixiGdiSitG 
 Rich 
 
 0 to 10 
 0 to 10 
 
 20 
 20 
 20 
 
 0. to 0.5 
 0.5 to 1.5 
 1-5 to 5.0 
 
 Any portion 
 less than 80 
 per cent. 
 
 
 
 Poor 
 
 I n t Grrn, GdiflitG 
 Rich 
 
 0 
 0 
 
 ■• 99 
 ■ ■ 9=> 
 •• 94 
 
 0. to 0.5 
 0.5 to 1.5 
 1.5 to 5.0 
 
 None 
 
 1 
 
 Humous 1 
 
 Clayey 
 Loamy 
 Sandy 
 
 Above 50 
 30 to 50 
 20 to 30 
 
 20 
 
 . . 20 
 20 
 
 Above 5.0 
 t; 0 
 ■ ■ 5-0 
 
 
 ( 
 1 
 
 Humous Soils. 
 
 Soluble mild j 
 Humus 1 
 
 Clayey i 
 
 Loamy 
 
 Sandy 
 
 Above 50 
 30 to 50 
 20 to 30 
 
 With or 
 without 
 Lime 
 
 • • 5-0 
 •• 5-0 
 
 • • 5-0 
 
 
 Sntaining more ■{ 
 aan 5 per cent, 
 of Lime. 
 
 I 
 
 Insoluble car- i 
 bonized or acid < 
 Humus ( 
 
 Clayey : 
 
 Loamy 
 
 Sandy 
 
 Above 50 
 30 to 50 
 20 to 30 
 
 With or 
 without 
 Lime 
 
 .. s.o 
 • • 50 
 
 
 Insoluble fibrous ( 
 Vegetable < 
 Matter ( 
 
 Bog and 
 Peat 
 Earth 
 
 With 
 Without 
 
 Lime 
 Lime 
 
 .. 50 
 • • 5-0 
 
 
36 
 
 LECTURES ON 
 
 [lect. I. 
 
 VaiTO then describes the proper arrangement 
 of a farm-house, or villa. 
 
 As the healthiness of the situation is the first 
 point to be attended to, it should have an eastern 
 aspect, be placed at the foot of a mountain, but a 
 little elevated, rather than lying in the hollow, 
 not look towards any spot from which an un- 
 wholesome wind is wont to blow, and not border 
 upon a marsh, a locality which not only is un- 
 wholesome, but is apt to abound with insects. 
 
 In short, his directions agree with the account 
 which Horace gives of his villa \ for Varro also 
 lays great stress upon its being warmed the 
 whole day by the sun. 
 
 The directions for the farm-house itself are 
 given so much more circumstantially by Colu- 
 mella, that I shall merely say, our author pro- 
 tests against the luxury of those built in his 
 time, which had more reference to the comfort of 
 the proprietor, than to their convenience and 
 efficiency for agricultural purposes. 
 
 Amongst the arrangements connected with the 
 farm-buildings, he particularises two manure 
 heaps, the one for the fresh, the other for the 
 old or rotten dung, or if two distinct ones cannot 
 be made, at least one with a partition, so that 
 the old and recent dung may be kept distinct, — 
 directions which imply a greater attention to this 
 
 ' Continui montes, nisi dissocientur opaca 
 Valle : sed ut veniens dextrum latus adspiciat sol ; 
 Leevum discedens curru fugiente vaporet. 
 
LECT. i ] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 37 
 
 important part of husbandry than existed in the 
 time of Cato. 
 
 He distinguishes three different kinds of dung, 
 1st, that of birds, of which pigeons' dung is the 
 most efficacious, but requires to be scattered 
 over the ground as seed is. He excepts curi- 
 ously enongh the dung of sea-birds, which we 
 are accustomed to regard, under the name of 
 guano, the most fertilising of any. 
 
 Next to the dung of birds is that of man, and 
 thirdly, that of goats, sheep, and asses. Horse- 
 dung stands last in the order with reference to 
 corn crops, for on meadows this, as well as the 
 dung of other beasts of burden fed on barley, pro- 
 duces much grass. 
 
 In speaking of granaries, he remarks that 
 wheat can be preserved in them for 50, and 
 millet for 100 years. 
 
 Beans and legumes are kept safely for a long 
 time in oil-jars, if the latter are besmeared with 
 oil. 
 
 There are also glimpses in his work of the doc- 
 trine now admitted as to the rotation of crops. 
 
 " Certain things," he says, " are to be sown, not 
 with the hope of any immediate profit being de- 
 rived from them, but with a view to the follow- 
 ing year, because being ploughed in and then left 
 in the ground, they render the soil afterwards 
 more fruitful." For this reason, if the land be 
 unproductive, it is customary to plough in for 
 manure lupine, before it begins to ripen its seed, 
 and sometimes even beans, care being taken that 
 
38 
 
 LECTURES ON 
 
 [lect. I, 
 
 the pods are not far enough advanced to be fitted 
 
 for food. In the same spirit Virgil remarks : 
 
 Aut ibi flava seres, mutato sidere, farra, 
 Unde prius Isetiim siliqua quassante, leguraen, 
 Aut tenuis fcetus viciaB, tristisque lupini 
 Sustuleris fragiles calamos, sylvamque sonantem. 
 
 These are all the remarks appertaining espe- 
 cially to agriculture which I have gleaned from a 
 cursory perusal of the first Book of Varro's Work. 
 
 The second is taken up vrith a description of 
 the live-stock kept upon the farm, including oxen, 
 sheep, goats, swine, asses, dogs, and hares. 
 
 The third and last Book, entitled " De villaticis 
 pastionibus," relates to the management of the va- 
 rious kinds of poultry and domestic fowls which 
 a well-stocked Roman villa usually comprehended 
 within its precincts, together with the wild ani- 
 mals destined for the chase which were kept 
 within its parks or inclosures. 
 
 Even snails and dormice, which ministered to 
 the gratification of Roman luxury, find a place 
 in this enumeration ; and fish-ponds, both of fresh 
 and salt water, are noticed as a common ap- 
 pendage; the former formed and maintained at 
 a moderate cost, and with a view to profit : but 
 the latter chiefly made for ostentation, being both 
 constructed and stocked at an immense expense, 
 and the sea often admitted through sluices or 
 canals, so as to replenish the reservoir with a 
 constant supply of salt water. Equally elaborate 
 and extensive were the houses for the reception 
 of birds, " ornithones," which Varro alludes to ; 
 
LECT.i.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 but, to avoid repetition, it will be better to post- 
 pone any notice of these, until we come to refer 
 to the buildings for the same purpose which are 
 described by Columella. 
 
 Indeed, as the Rural Economy of the ancients 
 can be collected more fully from the works of this 
 latter writer, than from others of an earlier date, 
 it seems unnecessary to detain you by any further 
 mention of an author, whose contributions to our 
 knowledge are chiefly valuable, as exhibiting the 
 progress which the Art had made since the first 
 rude attempts at cultivation, which we see pic- 
 tured in the writings of the oldest author on such 
 subjects extant — I mean Cato. 
 
 I must not however omit to notice the fondness 
 for tracing etymologies with which Varro's lite- 
 rary habits appear to have inspired him. 
 
 Many indeed of these attempts are truly mi- 
 serable, and have served to excite as much ridi- 
 cule in the minds of subsequent authors, as the 
 opinions of Cato with regard to the virtues of 
 cabbage, &c. did in Varro's. 
 
 Thus "arista" is so called "quod arescit primum" 
 — spica or speca, a spe, from the hope it holds out 
 of a future harvest — and villa (vella) from " veho" 
 because things are carried to it ; and so on. 
 
 Passing over these puerilities, I shall proceed 
 to lay before you in my succeeding Lectures an 
 account of Roman Husbandry in its most im- 
 proved state, as we find it exhibited to us in the 
 Works of Columella. 
 
40 
 
 LECTURES ON 
 
 [lect. II. 
 
 LECTURE II. 
 
 In the last Lecture I brought before you what 
 may be regarded rather as the antiquities of 
 Roman farming, than the results of that matured 
 experience which were collected by those writers 
 of later date, who enjoyed the advantage of a 
 period of greater civilisation, and more continued 
 tranquillity. 
 
 In the present, it is my intention to report to 
 you some of the precepts of that author, who is 
 at once the most full and the most comprehen- 
 sive of them all ; introducing, at the same time, 
 some notices from the Roman bard, who has so 
 embellished the subject of Agriculture, by making 
 it the theme of his most finished poem ; as well 
 as from that great Encyclopedist, whose work, 
 " as varied as nature itself," to use the expression 
 by which his nephew, the younger Pliny, has 
 happily described it, stands forth unrivalled for 
 the extent of the information which it affords, 
 and for the number of curious particulars it has 
 transmitted to us, on this as well as on all other 
 subjects connected with the arts of the ancient 
 world. 
 
 It is indeed a pleasant thing, to pass from the 
 difficult and crabbed style of Cato and Varro to 
 
LECT. II.] 
 
 ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 41 
 
 the eloquent flow of Latinity poured forth by 
 Columella. 
 
 Of this writer we know nothing, except what 
 may be gleaned from his own works, and from 
 the mention made of him by the elder Pliny. 
 From thence it appears, that he wrote about the 
 time of Seneca and Celsus, both of whom he 
 names as his cotemporaries ; that he resided at 
 Rome, but had an estate called Ceretanum, which 
 some commentators place in Sardinia, others in 
 Spain ; that his birthplace was Gades in Spain ; 
 and that he appears to have died at Tarentum, 
 from an inscription found in that place. 
 
 His Treatise is divided into thirteen books, 
 which, however, include every topic connected 
 with rural economy ; such as bees, fish-ponds, 
 gardens, wine-making, &c.; and therefore embraces 
 a much wider field than any modern Treatise on 
 Agriculture. 
 
 The Preface is an eloquent eulogium of Agri- 
 culture, and an announcement of the various 
 acquirements which its pursuit demands. 
 
 It is remarkable, perhaps, as the first recogni- 
 tion of the importance of Science to Agriculture ; 
 for the author sums up his remarks by observing, 
 that Agriculture "potest nec subtihssima, nee 
 rursus, quod aiunt, pingui Minerv4 administrari 
 since, as he states, it is far from true, as most 
 people believe, that husbandry is a very easy art, 
 and one requiring no acuteness. 
 
42 
 
 LECTURES ON 
 
 [lt::ct. ii. 
 
 On the contrary, as Cicero said of the perfect 
 Orator, so we may say of the perfect Farmer, that 
 all the Sciences and Arts minister to his improve- 
 ment : " Nam qui se in hac scientia perfectum 
 volet profiteri, sit oportet rerum naturae sagacis- 
 simus, declinationum mundi non ignarus : ut ex- 
 ploratum habeat, quid cuique plagse conveniat, 
 quid repugnet: siderum ortus et occasus memo- 
 ria repetat, ne imbribus ventisque imminentibus 
 opera inchoet, laboremque frustretur. Cseli et 
 anni prsesentis mores intueatur, neque enim sem- 
 per eundem velut ex prsescripto habitum gerunt : 
 nec omnibus annis eodem vultu venit sestas aut 
 hiems : nec pluvium semper est ver, aut humidus 
 autumnus. Quae prsenoscere sine lumine animi 
 et sine exquisitissimis disciplinis non quemquam 
 posse crediderim." 
 
 COLUMELLA. 
 
 BOOK I. 
 
 In his first Book, he treats of the choice of a 
 farm, the duties of the master, the position of 
 the country-house (villa), and the management of 
 the domestic servants. 
 
 For successful farming three conditions are re- 
 quired ; viz. knowledge, capital, and fondness for 
 the pursuit. 
 
 To attain the first of these requisites, the hus- 
 bandman should be attentive to the instructions 
 of those who have gone before him. 
 
LECT. II.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 43 
 
 Amongst the Greek writers, there is a large 
 number who have made Agriculture their subject 
 matter ; the earliest of whom was the poet Hesiod. 
 
 Columella enumerates a long list of these, no- 
 ticing, as the most voluminous, the Greek who 
 translated and abridged the Treatise composed 
 by Mago the Carthaginian, which, even when so 
 epitomised, filled six volumes^. 
 
 Amongst the Latin writers upon this Art, he 
 enumerates, as the most distinguished, Cato ; the 
 two Sasernse, father and son ; Tremellius Scrofa, 
 who, he says, rendered it even eloquent ; Teren- 
 tius Varro, who made it refined ; and Virgil, who 
 imparted to it the charms of poetry. 
 
 These then are to be the counsellors whose 
 advice the farmer has to solicit; not however 
 with the disposition to adhere servilely to their 
 precepts, since the monuments of such writers 
 serve rather to initiate the workman in his task, 
 than to render him expert in it. 
 
 For experience is the cardinal point in all 
 practical matters, and in this, as in other cases, 
 knowledge is to be acquired even by our very 
 failures. " Usus et experientia dominatur in arti- 
 bus, iieque est uUa disciplina in qua non peccando 
 discatur." 
 
 ^ The entire Treatise, we read, consisted of twenty-eight books, 
 and was considered so valuable, that on the destruction of Car- 
 thage, it was excepted from the general fate which attended the 
 books which the city contained, and was conveyed to Kome, to 
 be translated at the public expense. 
 
44 LECTURES ON [lect. ii. 
 
 But after all, the main thing necessary is the 
 actual presence of the master, whose duties, like 
 those of a general in the army, can never be well 
 performed by deputy. Hence those citizens whose 
 affairs detain them in town should only pur- 
 chase a suburban farm, for they who acquire a 
 distant one might as well make over their pa- 
 trimony at once to their heirs, if not to their 
 slaves, since the latter, for want of due super- 
 intendence, are sure to pillage, rather than to 
 cultivate it. 
 
 The other requisites for a farm, besides conti- 
 guity, are a healthy situation, fertile soil, partly 
 champaign, partly hilly, the hills inclined to the 
 east or south, and not far distant from the sea or 
 from some navigable river. 
 
 The buildings should stand in the midst of 
 meadows, cornfields, osier beds, and reeds. Some 
 of the hills should be free from trees, so as to 
 produce nothing but corn, for which purpose how- 
 ever they ought not to be very steep. 
 
 Other hills should be clothed with olives and 
 vines, and ought to aiford building stones in case 
 of need, as well as rivulets, which can be directed 
 at pleasure over the meadows, gardens and osier- 
 beds ; nor should there be wanting pasturage for 
 herds of oxen and for flocks of sheep. 
 
 These qualities can indeed be seldom found all 
 united, but Cato justly remarked that the two 
 points of the greatest moment were healthiness 
 of situation and fertility of soil, without which 
 
lect.il] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 45 
 
 two requisites the purchase is nothing less than 
 an act of madness. 
 
 To these requisites he added, good roads, good 
 water, and a good neighbour. 
 
 It is moreover of great importance not to buy 
 a larger farm than you have capital to cultivate, 
 for as the Carthaginians said, " imbecilliorem 
 agrum, quam agricolam esse debere." Hence the 
 wise old Roman rule limited the possessions of 
 each citizen to seven jugera; and even after the 
 power of the state had been advanced by con- 
 quests, C. Licinius was condemned by a law which 
 he had himself originated, for appropriating more 
 than fifty to his own share. 
 
 Whilst however great circumspection is neces- 
 sary in purchasing a farm, it may be well to en- 
 courage those who possess one which is either 
 unhealthy or barren, to try what can be done 
 towards remedying such defects. There are ex- 
 pedients for mitigating the noxious qualities of 
 the air, and skill and diligence may do much to 
 conquer the defects of the soil. 
 
 We must attend to the oracular precepts of the 
 great Georgical poet, where he says : 
 
 " Ventos et proprium coeli prsediscere morem 
 Cura sit, ac patrios cultusque habitusque locorum, 
 Et quid qnseque ferat regio, et quid quaeque recuset :" 
 
 and accordingly we should persevere in our expe- 
 riments on culture, until we have ascertained for 
 what our land is most fit. 
 
 Columella attaches great importance also to 
 
46 LECTURES ON [lect. ii. 
 
 the position of the country-house, as well as to 
 its size with reference to the extent of the pro- 
 perty, as it ought not to be too large, so as to in- 
 volve useless expense, nor yet too small, so as to 
 be deficient in room for stowing away the pro- 
 duce of the farm. 
 
 It should be built also with an eye to elegance 
 and comfort as well as utility, in order to hold 
 out inducements not only to the owner himself, 
 but also to his wife, for passing her time there. 
 
 " Quamobrem amoenitate aliqua demerenda erit, 
 uti patientius moretur cum viro." 
 
 What the Romans understood by these expres- 
 sions, may be in some degree gathered from the 
 descriptions which other writers have given us 
 of the country-houses about the same period. 
 
 In the time of Valerius Maximus, the mansions 
 themselves are said to have covered more ground 
 than was on the estates of some of the ancient 
 Patricians. " In the present age," that writer says, 
 " men think themselves crampt for room, whose 
 houses are not more extensive than the whole 
 property of Cincinnatus." 
 
 Lucullus, Pliny informs us, fell under the 
 chastisement of the censors, because the ampli- 
 tude of his villa was such, as, compared with the 
 size of the estate annexed, " that he had more 
 ground to sweep than to plough." 
 
 And Pliny the younger, in describing his Lau- 
 rentine villa which he praises as being well 
 
 b Lib. 2. Ep. xvii. 
 
PL.AN OF PLINY'S LAURENTINE VILLA. ^tr^, ^Jr. Z ^j^ i]- 
 
LECT. II.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 47 
 
 adapted for all purposes of use and convenience, 
 but, according to the ideas of that period, as 
 neither sumptuous nor extravagant, details a 
 suite of apartments of such extent as impresses 
 us with an exalted notion of Roman luxury in 
 this respect. 
 
 The following are a few of the principal de- 
 tails. 
 
 On entering, he says, you find yourself in a 
 plain but not a mean hall (Atrium) ; and from 
 this you proceed through ranges of porticos of an 
 oval form inclosing a small but cheerful court 
 (area), which affords a pleasant retreat in bad 
 weather, being screened by windows of tale or 
 glass (specularibus), and still more effectually by 
 the projection of the roof. 
 
 In the centre is a pleasant inner-court (cavse- 
 dium) ; beyond which is a handsome banqueting 
 room (triclinium) that advances out upon the 
 shore, so that when the wind blows from the 
 S. W. it is gently washed by the spent waves. 
 
 Having windows or doors on all its sides, it 
 affords a view of the inner court, the portico, and 
 the area, with the woods and distant mountains 
 beyond. 
 
 To the left of this room is a large cubiculum, 
 or sleeping-room, with a smaller one beyond, 
 having one window looking to the rising, and 
 another to the setting sun. 
 
 The angle which the projection of the hall 
 makes with this apartment causes the warmth 
 
48 
 
 LECTURES ON [lect. ii. 
 
 of the sun to be retained, so that it constitutes in 
 winter the retreat of the family, and their place 
 of exercise (gymnasium), being sheltered from all 
 winds except the south. 
 
 To this angle of the building there is annexed 
 a cubiculum of an elliptic form, with the win- 
 dows so placed as to receive the sun throughout 
 the day, and furnished with cases containing 
 those books which are of constant reference. 
 
 Contiguous to this lies the sleeping-room^' (dor- 
 mitorium membrum), with a passage to it, which 
 is suspended over a stove by means of which it is 
 warmed. The remainder of this side of the house 
 was set apart for the slaves and freedmen. 
 
 On the opposite wing he tells us is a very 
 elegant cubiculum, having adjoining it a room 
 which, though small for a dining-room (coenatio), 
 would be spacious for a cubiculum, and which is 
 lighted up both by the sun and by the reflection 
 from the sea. 
 
 Beyond it is a cubiculum with an ante- 
 chamber (procoeton), lofty enough for summer 
 use, but so sheltered as to serve also for a, winter 
 apartment. Adjoining it is another of the same 
 description. 
 
 Thence you enter the bathing-room, containing 
 provisions both for hot and for cold baths ; and 
 amongst the rest two basons of water (baptisteria 
 duo) large enough to swim in. 
 
 c The Romans appear to have had separate sleeping-rooms for 
 the night and day ; the former were called dormitoria. 
 
LECT, u.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 49 
 
 At a short distance off" is the tennis court 
 (sphgeristerium), which lies open to the warmth 
 of the afternoon sun. 
 
 On this side of the liouse also were two turrets 
 for catching a view of the country, and a kind of 
 museum where curiosities were laid up. Under 
 this was a banqueting-room (triclinium), where 
 the roaring of the sea was heard but faintly ; 
 adjoining to which was the garden and exercise 
 ground (gestatio), surrounded by box or rose- 
 mary. 
 
 Within this garden was a summer-house, con- 
 sisting of a banqueting-room, two suits of apart- 
 ments, or disetse, and an enclosed portico (crypto- 
 porticus), with a range of windows on each side, 
 which could be thrown open in fair weather and 
 close in cold. 
 
 Before this portico was a terrace (xystus), per- 
 fumed with violets, and warmed by the reflection 
 of the sun from the portico, whilst on the upper 
 end was a detached building, in which the pro- 
 prietor could enjoy privacy and quiet, even amidst 
 the noise and tumult of the saturnalia''. 
 
 c The ingenious Mr. Castel, in his Treatise on the Villas of the 
 Ancients, has given designs of what he imagines to have been 
 the arrangement of Pliny's Laurentine Villa, collected from the 
 description above given, which may be seen in a reduced form 
 represented on the opposite plate. The following are the apart- 
 ments to which the letters refer : — 
 
 A. Atrium, 
 
 B. Hortus, 
 
 Entrance hall. 
 Flower-garden. 
 
 E 
 
50 
 
 LECTURES ON [lect. ii. 
 
 A deep feeling for nature breaks forth in the 
 concluding sentences of a letter to his friend 
 
 C. Gestatio, 
 
 D. Vinea, 
 
 E. Xystus 
 
 F. Hortus pinguis et rusticus, 
 
 G. Mare, 
 
 H. Littus, 
 
 /. GjTiinasium, 
 K. Sylva et montes, 
 L. Villa vicina, 
 a. Equilia, 
 h. Tecta vehiculis, 
 
 c. Lignarium, 
 
 d. Foenile, 
 
 e. Piscinae duse, 
 
 f. Cellee servorum, 
 
 a. Cellse libertorum, 
 
 /3. Culina, 
 
 y. Cortinale, 
 
 5. Furnus, 
 
 f. Carnarium, 
 
 f. Ergastulum, 
 
 T). Cella vinaria, 
 
 6. Cella olearia, 
 
 a. Vestibulum, 
 h. Porticus, 
 
 c. Area, 
 
 d. Cavsedium, 
 
 e. Triclinium, 
 
 f. Cubiculum amplum, 
 
 g. Cubiculum minus, 
 
 h. Cubiculum in aspide cur- 
 
 vatum, 
 
 i. Transitus, 
 
 Airing ground. 
 
 Vineyard. 
 
 Terrace. 
 
 Kitchen-garden. 
 
 Sea. 
 
 Shore. 
 
 Room for athletic exercises. 
 
 Wood and mountains. 
 
 A neighbouring country house. 
 
 Stables. 
 
 Coach houses. 
 
 Wood-house. 
 
 Hayloft. 
 
 Fishponds. 
 
 Slaves' apartments. 
 
 Freedmen's apartments. 
 
 Kitchen. 
 
 Scullery. 
 
 Bakehouse. 
 
 Larder. 
 
 House of correction. 
 
 Wine-cellar. 
 
 Oil-cellar. 
 
 Vestible. 
 Porch. 
 Court. 
 Hall. 
 
 Dining-room. 
 Spacious sleeping-room. 
 Smaller ditto. 
 Semicircular ditto. 
 
 Passage. 
 
LECT. II.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 51 
 
 Minutius Fundanus, in which Pliny describes 
 this his favourite retreat. 
 
 " Mecum tantum et cum libellis loquor. O rec- 
 tam sinceramque vitam : o dulce otium, hones- 
 tumque, ac pene omni negotio pulcrius : o mare, 
 o littus, verum secretumque fiova-elov, quam multa 
 invenitis, quam multa dictatis !" Ep. lib. i. 9. 
 
 Such were the personal conveniences of a 
 wealthy Roman at the most flourishing period 
 of the empire, as reported by Pliny, whose de- 
 scription will serve to supply what was wanting 
 in the Treatise of Columella, as this author con- 
 tents himself with merely pointing out what the 
 position of the villa ought to be, and what are 
 its requisites with a view to the proper cultiva- 
 tion of the farm of which it constitutes a part. 
 
 k. Dormitorium, 
 
 I. Cubiculum politissimum, 
 
 m. Coenatio, 
 n. Cubiculum, 
 o. Procoeton, 
 p. Cubiculum aliud, 
 q. Procoeton, 
 r. Cella frigidaria, 
 s. Unctuarium, 
 t. Hypocauston, 
 u. Propnigeon, 
 w. Baptisteria duo, 
 X. Cellse duse, 
 y. Sphaeristerium, 
 z. Triclinium, 
 
 Dormitory. 
 
 Sleeping-room, very elegantly 
 
 fitted up. 
 Supper room. 
 Sleeping-room. 
 Antechamber. 
 Another sleeping-room. 
 Antechamber. 
 Cooling-room. 
 Perfuming room. 
 Sweating room. 
 Furnace to heat the baths. 
 Basons large enough to swim in. 
 Bathing rooms. 
 Tennis-court. 
 Dining room. 
 
 E 2 
 
52 
 
 LECTURES ON [lect. ii. 
 
 With regard to position, it sliould be situated 
 in the midst of, or embosomed in hills, so as to 
 be sheltered from the winds, but it should at the 
 same time be itself placed upon a little emi- 
 nence. 
 
 There ought to be a perennial spring some- 
 where within the compass of the domain, or if 
 not, water must be brought from a distance, and 
 there should be wood, and pasturage near. 
 
 Stagnant water above all things is to be 
 avoided, but running brooks are of great efficacy 
 in moderating the heats of summer, and in ren- 
 dering the locality more agreeable. 
 
 In healthful situations, the country-house 
 should face the east or the south, in cloudy 
 climates the north. The vicinity of a marsh 
 should be avoided, both on account of the pesti- 
 lential vapours it exhales in hot weather, and 
 from the swarms of insects and other pests 
 which it engenders. 
 
 Such is the general advice which Columella 
 gives us as to the proper site of a country resi- 
 dence, many particulars of which accord very 
 well with the account given by Horace of his 
 own summer retreat. 
 
 Continui montes, nisi dissocientur opaca 
 Valle : sed ut veniens dextrum latus adspiciat sol ; 
 Lsevum decedsns curru fugiente vaporet. 
 Temperiem laudes. Quid, si rubicunda benigni 
 Corna vepres et pruna ferant ? si quercus et ilex 
 Multa fruge pecus, multa dominum juvet umbra? 
 Dicas adductum propius froiidere Tarentura. 
 
LECT. il] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 53 
 
 Fons etiam rivo dare nomen idoneus, ut nec 
 Frigidior Thracam nec purior ambiat Hebrus^ 
 Infirmo capiti fluit iitilis, utilis alvo d. " 
 
 But it is time to proceed to the description 
 which Columella gives us of the several parts 
 combined under a complete or well appointed 
 villa 
 
 ^ The farm-house which Sismondi describes as his dwelling- 
 place in his work on Tuscan Agriculture, seems to have borne in 
 many respects a resemblance to this retreat of Horace's. 
 
 He represents it as placed in a hollow, in which meanders a 
 brook which the heats of summer never dry up, and the most 
 violent rains never render dangerous. The deep bank to the 
 right of the rivulet is exposed full to the north, and thus affords 
 a refreshing breeze every evening. It is clothed with olives, 
 vines, cherry-trees, and fig-trees. 
 
 The opposite bank having a southern aspect is at least a month 
 earlier in its vegetation, violets and anemones blowing in January, 
 and winter being scarcely felt. 
 
 It is on the slope of this hillock that the humble dwelling of 
 the proprietor was situated, sheltered above by an olive planta- 
 tion which extended to the summit, and having in front three 
 terraces, at three several elevations, on which lemon-trees, jujubes, 
 acacias, and other garden shrubs were crowded together. 
 
 From these the eye discovered a succession of thick orchards, 
 the commencement of the great plain of Lombardy, the smiling 
 gardens of Pescia, and its various public edifices. 
 
 « Here also I have borrowed from Mr. Castel the annexed 
 plate, which may convey an idea of the probable disposition of 
 the apartments, in the villa urbana, rustica, et fructuaria of a 
 wealthy Roman. 
 
 The following letters and numbers indicate the several parts 
 of the country house and its appendages — 
 
 A. — The Villa Urbana. 
 
 a. The inner court of the master's part. 
 
 b. The summer dining room. 
 
54 
 
 LECTURES ON 
 
 [lect. II. 
 
 It may be divided, he says, into three parts, 
 viz. the urbana, containing the apartments for 
 
 c. The winter dining room. 
 
 d. Withdrawing rooms. 
 
 e. Winter apartments. 
 
 f. Summer apartments. 
 
 g. The library. 
 
 h. The sei"vants' hall. 
 
 i. Undressing room of the baths. 
 k. The bathing room. 
 
 I. The warm cell. 
 
 m. The sweating room. 
 
 n. The furnace. 
 
 o. The porter's lodges. 
 
 B. — ^The Villa Rustica and Fructuaria. 
 
 1. The inner farm yard. 
 
 2. The pond in the yard. 
 
 3. The outer farm yard. 
 
 4. The kitchen. 
 
 5. The room to put new wines in. 
 
 6. The cellar for old wine. 
 
 7. Housekeepers' lodge. 
 
 8. Spinning room. 
 
 9. Stairs to the infirmary. 
 
 10. Husbandman's lodge and three rooms. 
 
 I I . Stairs to the bailiffs' and meedman's lodsrinirs. 
 
 1 2. Room for the keeper of the stoves. 
 
 13. Stairs leading to the workhouse and some of the granaries. 
 
 14. Wine-press and cellar. 
 
 15. Oil-press and cellar. 
 
 1 6. Granaries. 
 
 17. Oporotheca or fruit-chamber. 
 
 18. Room for the master of the cattle. 
 
 1 9. Oxstalls. 
 
 20. Herdsmen's rooms. 
 
 2 1 . Stables. 
 
Plabe.H. 
 
 i 
 
LECT.ii.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 55 
 
 the proprietor ; the rustica, for the field labourers, 
 &c. ; the fructuaria, for the produce of the farm, 
 including the oil-press, wine-cellar, &c. 
 
 The urbana should be divided into winter and 
 summer apartments ; the winter having their 
 bedrooms fronting the east, their dining-rooms 
 the west ; whilst the summer ones have their 
 bedrooms to the south-east. 
 
 The walks should face the south, so as to com- 
 mand as much as possible of the sun in winter, 
 and as little as possible in summer. 
 
 2 2. Rooms for servants belonging to the stables. 
 
 23. Sheepfold. 
 
 24. Shepherds' lodges. 
 
 25. Goat pens. 
 
 26. Goat-herds' lodges. 
 
 27. Dog kennels. 
 
 28. Carthouses. 
 
 29. Hogstyes. 
 
 30. Swineherds' lodges. 
 
 31. Bakehouse. 
 
 32. The mill. 
 
 33. Pond in the outer farm yard. 
 
 34. Dunghills. 
 
 35. Storehouses for wood, reeds, and fodder. 
 
 36. Hen yard. 
 
 37. Dove-houses. 
 
 38. House for turtle-doves. 
 
 39. House for thrushes. 
 
 40. House for poultry. 
 
 41. Poulterer's lodge. 
 
 42. Porter's lodges. 
 
 43. Dog-kennels. 
 
 44. Orchard. 
 
 45. Kitchen-garden. 
 
56 LECTURES ON [lect.il 
 
 Dickson explains this by supposing that the 
 walk was covered over, so that the sun, being in 
 summer high, did not shine into it. 
 
 The pars rustica consisted, first, of a kitchen, 
 which, being the general resort of the slaves, 
 must be spacious, and likewise, as a security 
 against fire, should be lofty. 
 
 The necessity for this latter injunction will be 
 perceived from the absence of chimneys from 
 Roman houses ; for, according to Beckman, who 
 has displayed much learning on this subject, the 
 smoke ascended through apertures in the sides 
 of the rooms, and was not carried off" by any 
 contrivance analogous to the modern chimney. 
 Hence the lines in Horace — 
 
 •'nisi uos vicina Irivici 
 Villa rece[)issct, lacrymoso noii sine funio, 
 Udos cum I'oliis rainos urente camino," 
 
 (Sat. i. 5. 79)— 
 
 seem to imply, that, the hearth being without a 
 chimney, the room at the inn where he lodged 
 became filled with wood smoke, proceeding from 
 the moist fagots and leaves used for fuel. 
 
 Owing to the lowness of the kitchen, Horace's 
 landlord at Beneventum nearly set fire to the 
 house in roasting some birds for supper : 
 
 " ubi sedulus hospes 
 Pene ai'sit, macros dum turdos vcrsat in igne : 
 Nam vaga per veterem dilapso flamma culinam 
 Volcano, sumraum properabat lambere tectum." 
 
 (8at. i. 4. 71.) 
 
LECT. II.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 57 
 
 The slaves who are at liberty should have their 
 respective cells looking towards the south ; those 
 who are kept chained ought to be provided for 
 their prison (ergastulum) with a room as healthy 
 as possible, underground, and with numerous but 
 narrow windows, so high above the floor as to be 
 out of reach. 
 
 The cattle are to be kept in stalls protected 
 alike from cold and heat. Those intended for 
 field labour should have distinct ones for summer 
 and winter. The rest should be either in covered 
 stalls, or in enclosures so constructed that beasts 
 of prey cannot enter. 
 
 The villicus, or bailiff, should have his dwelling 
 near the gate leading into the house, the procu- 
 rator above it. In this manner, the villicus will 
 be able to overlook the common slaves, and the 
 procurator to be a check upon the villicus. 
 
 It would appear from this, that the procurator 
 was a kind of steward or general overseer of the 
 property. The term however does not again occur 
 in Columella; and consequently it may be in- 
 ferred, that he was not one of the constant and 
 permanent officers of a farm, but only occasion- 
 ally and in particular cases employed on it. 
 
 The storehouse, in which are to be placed all 
 the implements of farming, should be contiguous 
 to the apartments of the villicus. 
 
 As for the cells of the ploughmen and shep- 
 herds, they should be situated near their re- 
 spective cattle. 
 
58 LECTURES ON [lect.il 
 
 The pars fructuaria contains the granary for 
 corn, the wine-press, the oil-press, the wine-cellar, 
 the place for boiling down the wine (defruta- 
 rium), &c. 
 
 Here too is the fumarium, where the wood is 
 dried by the smoke conducted over it from the 
 fires of the building ; and the baths for the slaves, 
 who, however, are only to use them on holy-days, 
 as the frequent use of the bath is apt to render 
 them effeminate. 
 
 Storehouses for the new wine are likewise to 
 be placed in the upper stories, so that the liquor 
 may receive the influence of the smoke issuing 
 from the dwelling. — All this tends to shew that 
 there were no chimneys. 
 
 Outside the premises should be the bakehouse 
 and mill ; together with at least two ponds — one 
 for geese and cattle, — the other for steeping 
 osiers, lupines, &c. 
 
 Two manure heaps — one for the fresh dung, 
 the other for the old — both paved and covered 
 over, so as to be dried up by the wind, are re- 
 quired. Here also is the threshing-floor ; here the 
 orchards and gardens; the two latter so placed 
 as to receive the refuse from the farm-yard, oil- 
 press, &c., by which their fertilising quality will 
 be much enhanced. 
 
 The next point to be attended to relates to the 
 treatment of the persons employed upon the farm. 
 Columella distinguishes two modes of cultivat- 
 
LECT. II.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 59 
 
 ing land as in use in his time ; namely, that by 
 means of coloni or tenants, and that by the pro- 
 prietor himself. In both cases it is probable that 
 slaves were commonly the operatives ; for al- 
 though Cicero and others mention mercenarii, or 
 hired servants, yet, from the omission of all allu- 
 sion to them in Columella, it would seem that 
 they were rarely resorted to. 
 
 This employment of slaves, with all the repul- 
 sive features associated in our minds with such a 
 system, may indeed strike us as being but little 
 in harmony with the picture of rural felicity so 
 beautifully pourtrayed by Virgil : 
 
 " Illic saltus ac lustra ferarum, 
 Et patiens operiim, parvoque assueta juventus, 
 Sacra Deum, sanctique patres : extrema per illos 
 Justitia excedens terris vestigia fecit f." 
 
 But the poet contemplated a state of things, when, 
 as in the times of Cincinnatus and of Curius Den- 
 tatus, each father of a family cultivated with his 
 own hands his paternal estate, and gave at once 
 dignity and importance to the occupation. 
 
 " sic fortis Etruria crevit 
 Scilicet, et rerum facta est pulcherrima Roma." 
 
 No doubt too the more opulent and more refined 
 Romans endeavoured as much as possible to 
 banish from their estates the most repulsive fea- 
 tures of slavery — the clanking of chains, the 
 underground prison or ergastulum, the lash, and 
 the brand. 
 
 ^ Georg. ii. 47 1. 
 
60 
 
 LECTURES ON [lect. ii. 
 
 Pliny, in writing to a friend respecting the 
 purchase of an estate, says, that as the former 
 possessor had greatly diminished the stock, " in- 
 struendi sunt complures frugi mancipes, nam nec 
 ipse usquam vinctos habeo, nec ibi quisquam 
 superest." Nevertheless it is certain, that where- 
 ever slave labour is introduced, free citizens deem 
 it dishonourable to engage in similar tasks for 
 hire ; and to such an extent, as is well knoAvn, 
 does this prejudice extend in America, that in the 
 slave states the whites will endure the most ab- 
 ject poverty rather than undertake those labours 
 in which negroes are employed. Hence the term 
 " a poor white" is used to express the most irre- 
 mediable state of destitution that can exist in 
 the southern parts of the United States. 
 
 A similar feeling must have prevailed in an- 
 cient times, and hence from the moment that the 
 land was cultivated by slaves, the labours of hus- 
 bandry ceased to be honourable amongst the free 
 citizens of Rome. Thus Pliny, in describing the 
 decline of agriculture, complains, " at nunc eadem 
 ilia," (that is, these same labours of husbandry,) 
 " vincti pedes, damnati manus, inscriptique vul- 
 tus exercent ;" and remarks in another place, 
 " coli rura ab ergastulis s pessimum est, et quid- 
 quid agitur a desperantibus." 
 
 g See in Apuleius, Metamorph. lib. ix. c. 12, a vivid picture of 
 the horrid condition of the unhappy inmates of these ergastula : 
 " Dii boni ! quales illic homunculi vibicibus lividis totam cutem 
 depicti, dorsumque plagosuni scissili ccntunculo magis inumbrati 
 
LECT. iL] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 Gl 
 
 The same writer eloquently describes the con- 
 trary case of a Roman, who obtained so much 
 ampler returns from a small farm than his neigh- 
 bours did from their large ones, that he was ac- 
 cused of witchcraft ; when being cited before the 
 tribunal, he brought forwards his whole stock 
 of implements, his thriving, well clothed, and 
 well fed family of menials, his vigorous stock of 
 oxen, &c., and observed to the judges. These are 
 my weapons of enchantment, " Veneficia mea, 
 Quirites, hsec sunt," but these are not all, for I 
 cannot bring before you my watches, my labours, 
 and my nocturnal calculations. He was thus 
 unanimously acquitted. 
 
 Now the necessity which existed in the later 
 periods of the Republic, and probably throughout 
 that of the empire, of employing slaves for the 
 performance of the acts of husbandry, must have 
 increased the difficulty of finding tenants for 
 large tracts of land, since in addition to the capi- 
 tal required for stocking a farm, a large sum 
 would have to be expended in the purchase of 
 slaves to cultivate it. 
 
 Hence it seems probable, that the coloni of whom 
 Columella speaks were for the most part small 
 holders, perhaps little better than the Irish cot- 
 tiers, renting small plots of land which they 
 could cultivate by their own labour, and that of 
 
 quam obtecti, nonnulli exiguo tegili tantummodo pubem injecti, 
 cuncti tamen sic tuuicati, ut essent per pannulos manifesti, fi'ontes 
 litterati, et capillum semirasi, et pedes annulati," &c. 
 
62 LECTURES ON [lect. ii. 
 
 a few household slaves ; whilst the larger farms 
 were usually in the hands of the landlord, tended 
 by means of a bailiff or villicus. 
 
 There is however a different system of cultiva- 
 tion alluded to by Cato, of which we find no men- 
 tion in Columella, namely, that by means of a 
 politor, or partiarius, who, as his name implies, 
 appears to have entered into a kind of co-part- 
 nership with the landlord, and to have received, 
 in return for the labour he performed or got 
 done, a part of the produce of the farm. 
 
 This proportion however was so small, that it 
 can hardly be imagined that the politor could 
 have purchased or hired slaves to perform the 
 acts of husbandry, although he may perhaps 
 have maintained them ; and it is probable that 
 the system came into disuse, in proportion as the 
 number of slaves used in rustic occupations in- 
 creased, and that of free labourers diminished. 
 
 The remuneration of the polito7' is said to have 
 varied with the goodness of the land. In land of 
 the first quality, as at Casinum and Venefrum, 
 he received every eighth or ninth basket ; in 
 that of the second quality, the seventh ; and on 
 the third, the sixth, as his share. This small 
 proportion of the produce received by the politor, 
 shews that he was at no expense in cultivating 
 the land, and may make us suspect, that he is to 
 be regarded as a kind of bailiff, who obtained his 
 wages in kind instead of money. 
 
 But the coloni to whom Columella alludes seem 
 
LECT. II.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 63 
 
 to have paid rent like modern tenants, and hence 
 were probably upon the same footing in this re- 
 spect with the farmers of our own country; 
 whilst the politores of Cato resembled, in some 
 points, the metayers of France and Italy, except- 
 ing that the latter obtain a larger proportion of 
 the produce, in return for a greater amount of 
 labour and capital expended. 
 
 The metairie system, as it is called, was in use 
 in France before the Revolution, and is continued 
 in Italy even to the present time. 
 
 In France, the landlord usually found half the 
 cattle and half the seed, and the metayer, labour, 
 implements, and taxes ; but in some instances 
 the landlord himself bore a share of these 
 charges. 
 
 In Tuscany, according to Sismondi, the metayer 
 contracts, to perform all the labours of the farm ; 
 to furnish props for the vines ; to supply half the 
 seed and half the manure ; to hand over to the 
 landlord half of all the crops ; to share with him 
 in the profit from the cattle; to make over to 
 him a portion of the eggs, pullets, and capons; 
 and to wash a part of his linen : whilst the land- 
 lord engages to supply the other half of the ma- 
 nure, and to be at all the expense of repairs. 
 
 Arthur Young with reason condemns this sys- 
 tem as injurious both to the landlord and the 
 tenant — to the landlord, because the class of 
 persons to whom he intrusts the management 
 of his property are poor, ignorant, and often 
 
64 
 
 LECTURES ON 
 
 [LECT. II. 
 
 careless and improvident — to the tenant, because 
 the competition which it occasions lowers the 
 rate of profits to the lowest possible scale at 
 which subsistence can be obtained, and produces 
 a slovenly mode of farming, from the want of 
 method arising from the low condition and in- 
 telligence of the cultivators. Hence in France, 
 before the revolution, as in the north of Italy 
 now, the metayers were poor, and generally in 
 debt to the landlord, although the latter received 
 but little rent. In Tuscany alone the system 
 seems to work well, but this arises from various 
 counteracting causes, one of the principal of 
 which is the thriftiness of the people, and the 
 practice of only the elder brother who holds the 
 farm marrying, so that population is kept down, 
 and excessive competition prevented. 
 
 Nevertheless, it must be admitted, that in a 
 country, not abounding in capital like England, 
 and not subdivided into minute portions as France 
 has become since the revolution, but in the 
 hands generally of large proprietors, and these 
 proprietors too indolent or unpractised in hus- 
 bandry to take the land into their own hands, 
 the metairie system is the only feasible one ; since 
 in such a state of things it would be impossible 
 to find responsible tenants, possessing capital to 
 stock the land, and credit sufficient to enable 
 them to take the lease of an extensive pro- 
 perty 
 
 » LuUin de Chateauvieiix, in his Lettei's on the Agriculture of 
 
LECT. ir.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 65 
 
 But in ancient Rome, the raetairie system 
 could hardly have prevailed from the time the 
 labour of the farm began to be executed by 
 slaves, because the metayer could never have had 
 the capital requisite for bringing the number 
 needed, and the landlord would not have chosen 
 to place those belonging to him under the control 
 and management of a stranger. 
 
 Hence, as I observed before, it is probable that 
 the modification of the metairie system, which 
 Cato described under the name of poUtio, died 
 out, as estates become larger, and slaves became 
 more numerous. 
 
 In Columella's time the two intermediate 
 functionaries, or middlemen, from whom the 
 landlord was to look for his rent, were either 
 the colonus or the villicus. 
 
 With respect to the coloni, he directs that they 
 are to be treated with courtesy, and that the 
 landlord should be less solicitous to exact rent 
 from them, than to require good cultivation ; the 
 latter being on the long run that which is most 
 important to the estate. 
 
 Italy, p. 295, Eng. trans., points out the increase of industry and 
 public wealth, which has taken place in that country since the 
 adoption of the present system of husbandry, which he traces 
 back to the time of the Crusades, although one part of it, the 
 introduction of maize, now made to alternate with wheat, must 
 have dated from a later period than this. He supposes that the 
 mode of cultivation followed had been introduced from Palestine, 
 where the natural fertility of the country was at that time deve- 
 loped by spade-husbandry, conducted by free labour, which con- 
 verted the poorest soils into rich gardens. 
 
 F 
 
66 
 
 LECTURES ON 
 
 [lect. II. 
 
 He should not be too tenacious of his rights in 
 small matters, although on the other hand too 
 great lenity is unadvisable, often converting good 
 debts into bad, as the usurer Alpheus used to 
 say. He should be averse to a frequent change 
 of tenants, those born and bred on the soil being 
 the most to be depended on. 
 
 Letting farms is however a practice not to be 
 recommended, except where the land is unwhole- 
 some or sterile. In general, it is best cultivated 
 by the proprietor himself, or by his bailiff (villi- 
 cus), unless the latter be remarkably indolent or 
 knavish. 
 
 Not so however with farms so distant as to be 
 beyond the inspection of the landlord — these 
 should be let rather than left to a bailiff, espe- 
 cially if they consist in corn land, which allows 
 more opportunities than any other for fraud and 
 embezzlement. 
 
 As to the villicus or bailiff, he should be selected 
 from the slaves, not for those personal qualifica- 
 tions which would recommend him in the city, 
 but on account of his hardy and robust tempera- 
 ment. 
 
 He should be of middle age, and sufficiently at 
 home in husbandry not to require constant direc- 
 tions. He need not be able even to read and 
 write, provided only he has a tenacious memory, 
 and indeed in the opinion of Cornelius Celsus he 
 is likely to be a better servant for being wholly 
 illiterate. He should have a wife, " contubernalis 
 
LECT. II.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 67 
 
 mulier," assigned him, to prevent him from ram- 
 bling from home ; and should never mess with a 
 fellow slave, much less with any one not attached 
 to the farm. 
 
 He should never leave the premises but on his 
 master's business; should never sacrifice to the 
 Gods but at his master's order ; should have no- 
 thing to do with diviners, conjurors, and other 
 practisers of idle superstitions. 
 
 He should be attentive to the preservation of 
 the implements, and to the clothing of the 
 slaves, who are to be dressed in such a way as to 
 be able to pursue their work even in the coldest 
 weather. He should be neither negligent nor 
 cruel in his treatment of those placed under him, 
 feared for his severe, but not detested for his 
 savage temper. 
 
 It was a good rule of our ancestors, says Colu- 
 mella, though it be now obsolete, that the villicus 
 should have his meals with the slaves, and par- 
 take of the same fare, so as to ascertain that their 
 food is of good quality. 
 
 He should never purchase any thing for the 
 farm without first consulting his master, but 
 make a rule of bringing in his entire receipts in 
 hard cash, and not in goods. 
 
 This one thing holds good in all rustic work — 
 to do but once what the cultivation requires ; be- 
 cause when imprudence or negligence in working 
 is to be set to rights, the time already spent upon 
 it is thrown away ; and the results of the improve- 
 
 F 2 
 
68 
 
 LECTURES ON [lect. n. 
 
 ment are never sufficient to make up for the loss 
 of labour, or to reimburse us for the expense of 
 the time that had been wasted. 
 
 The villicus should not pretend to be more 
 knowing than he really is, but be always seeking 
 to acquire fresh information on the points on 
 which he is ignorant. 
 
 By way of encouragement, the landlord should 
 occasionally invite him to his own table on holi- 
 days, if he find him assiduous and active. 
 
 In these directions we may trace a difference 
 between the modern and the ancient slave, the 
 former of whom, taken from an inferior race and 
 in a lower grade of civilisation, is only trusted 
 to execute the tasks imposed upon him by the 
 master ; whilst in the ancient world, being 
 drawn by the accidents of war from nations as 
 high in intellect, and nearly as far advanced in 
 civilisation as their conquerors, he was often quite 
 capable of fulfilling those duties which required 
 forethought and calculation. 
 
 In Rome and Greece abundant instances occur 
 of freedmen, and even of slaves, who attained to 
 the highest eminence, as poets, statesmen, and phi- 
 losophers ; and it was the vanity of some of the 
 wealthy to shine vicariously, by procuring a large 
 family of learned slaves. 
 
 Yet this very superiority of intellect may only 
 have rendered slavery in ancient times more 
 galling, since it would make those subject to 
 
LECT. II.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 69 
 
 it feel more intensely their own humiliation, 
 and the hardships of the lot which captivity 
 involved. 
 
 The only attenuating circumstance in the Afri- 
 can slave trade is the miserable and oppressed 
 condition of the negro in his native country ; but 
 the ancient slave might have been torn from 
 cities like Capua, as polished at least as Rome 
 itself, or from nations like those of Gaul or Bri- 
 taiUj which though ruder, were not less intellect- 
 ual, and belonged at least to the same family of 
 mankind. 
 
 Add to which that the slave in ancient times 
 was more completely under the control of his 
 master than the modern, less under the protec- 
 tion of the law, more distinctly recognised as a 
 portion of the live stock of the estate, and amen- 
 able to similar treatment. 
 
 It is true, Cicero in his Offices declares, that 
 justice is to be maintained even with the lowest 
 of mankind, and that slaves should be treated 
 like hired servants, fair treatment being given in 
 return for the work exacted of them. 
 
 This however he delivers, as a moral precept to 
 the master, not as a legal claim on the part of 
 the slave : and to shew how little his rights and 
 feelings were really respected, it may be sufficient 
 to remark, that when tortured without reason, 
 with a view of extracting from him evidence of 
 any crime under judicial investigation, the only 
 compensation considered due, was to the master 
 
70 
 
 LECTURES ON 
 
 [lect. II. 
 
 for the injury done to his property, not to the 
 
 unfortunate slave for the pain inflicted ; when 
 
 old or diseased he mi^ht be abandoned or sold 
 
 with as little compunction as is felt in disposing- 
 
 of a worn out horse or dog ; and if rebellious, the 
 
 most refined cruelty might be practised upon him 
 
 without the interference either of the law or of 
 
 public opinion. 
 
 0 demens, ita servus homo est, nil fecerit, esto, 
 Hoc volo, sic jubeo, slat pro ratione voluntas." 
 
 There was however a redeeming point in his 
 position as com]3ared to that of a modern slave, 
 in the prospect that was open to him of obtain- 
 ing that influence which intellect always com- 
 mands, and thus of gradually acquiring, if not 
 his manumission, at least some higher post 
 amongst his brethren in misfortune, such as that 
 of villicus which I have just alluded to. 
 
 Thus Plutarch mentions that the Athenian 
 captives, after the siege of Syracuse, were re- 
 leased from slavery, in recompense for having 
 taught their masters such passages as they could 
 remember out of the plays of Euripides. 
 
 Nor must we forget the greater mildness of 
 manners, which the influence of Christianity more 
 especially has infused into the conduct of na- 
 tions and individuals in modern days, and which 
 would render the same conduct, as that adopted 
 towards the slaves of antiquity, more revolting, 
 because relatively worse, than it was at the time 
 when it was practised. 
 
LECT.ii.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 71 
 
 In Apuleius we have the description of a rob- 
 ber's cave, and of the attempted escape of a 
 maiden from the ruffians who inhabited it, which 
 evidently furnished Le Sage with his model for 
 a similar adventure in Gil Bias — in both pro- 
 bably the narration is a true picture of the man- 
 ners of the times; but the modern novelist has 
 been obliged to soften some of the worst features 
 of the bandits he describes, which in the original 
 are represented as too atrocious and revolting, to 
 have borne the impress of truth even with refer- 
 ence to Spain two centuries ago. 
 
 Thus ancient slavery, bad as it may seem, was 
 in keeping with the general manners of the 
 times ; whilst modern, though somewhat softened 
 in some of its lineaments, stands out in hideous 
 contrast with the existing civilization. 
 
 We may moreover trace in the directions given 
 by Columella relative to the treatment of the 
 slaves in general, some improvement in their 
 condition since the period at which Cato wrote, 
 unfavourable as the age of Nero may appear to 
 the development of sentiments of humanity^ 
 
 With respect to the other slaves who are under 
 the direction of the villicus, the landlord, he 
 says, will do well to treat them with more fami- 
 liarity than he would do those in the town, and 
 even allow them sometimes to joke with him, as 
 a means of lightening their constant toil. 
 
 He should consult with some of the most intel- 
 
72 LECTURES ON [lect. ii. 
 
 ligent, and thus learn their respective genius and 
 disposition. He should observe whether the bailiff 
 has enforced his orders in imposing fetters on 
 the refractory, or has taken upon himself to do 
 so upon others without authority ; and he should 
 be more particular in inspecting this class of 
 slaves, in order to see that they are not de- 
 frauded in their clothes and the things afforded 
 them, inasmuch as they are subject to many 
 masters, such as bailiffs, masters of works, and 
 gaolers ; and the more liable they are to receive 
 injury, the more danger there is that they will 
 find means for revenging themselves. 
 
 He should therefore taste their food, and ex- 
 amine their clothes, shoes, &c., in order to satisfy 
 himself as to their being of a proper quality. 
 
 In the above directions Columella evidently 
 had in his eye those instances of servile revenge 
 which are common in all countries where slavery 
 prevails, and which even the most rigorous and 
 indiscriminate punishments could not always 
 prevent. 
 
 Cicero mentions, rather with approbation than 
 otherwise, the conduct of a Roman praetor, in 
 crucifying a Sicilian slave for violating the law, 
 by merely having a hunting spear in his pos- 
 session with which he had killed a wild boar; 
 yet these extreme punishments could not prevent 
 such occurrences, as the murder of the Prefect 
 of the city at Rome in the reign of Nero, re- 
 venged by the execution of the whole of his 
 
LECT. II.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 73 
 
 slaves, to the number of 400, although confess- 
 edly innocent of the transaction^. 
 
 And as it seems to have been the practice to 
 send the worst disposed slaves to the country, a 
 master might reasonably tremble at the effects 
 which he would entail upon his own person, by 
 any cruelty or ill usage practised upon them in 
 remote places by his underlings, through his neg- 
 lect or connivance. 
 
 With respect to the distribution of the labours 
 of the farm, the foremen or masters of the works 
 in each case should be selected not from the 
 strongest but the steadiest. The ploughman 
 ought to have a loud voice, and a manner cal- 
 culated to terrify the oxen into obedience, with- 
 out requiring the use of the whip, tallness and 
 strength, which are of very little importance in 
 the master of the works, being in his case 
 valuable. 
 
 As to the mediastinus (the common labourer) 
 he may be of any size, provided he is able to 
 endure fatigue. Vineyards chiefly require strength 
 for digging, pruning, and the other culture neces- 
 sary to them. For this work the worst disposed 
 slaves are often selected, because they are 
 under the eye of a task -master ; and hence 
 vineyards are often cultivated by slaves in 
 chains, not of course that these are preferable^ 
 but only that they are less objectionable than 
 they would be in other occupations. 
 
 S Tacitus, Ann. xiv. 42. 
 
74 
 
 LECTURES ON 
 
 [LECT. II. 
 
 This may explain the epithet of " diirus et in- 
 victus" applied to the vinedresser in Horace, as 
 being notorious for his insolent and stubborn 
 manners, 
 
 " Turn Praenestinus salso multumque fluenti 
 Expressa arbusto regerit convicia, durus 
 Vindemiator, et invictus, cui ssepe viator 
 Cessisset, magna compellans voce cuculum." 
 
 (Sat. lib.i. §. 7.) 
 
 What is of most importance however is, that 
 the several departments of rural labour should 
 be kept as much as possible distinct, so that 
 the work done by each gang may be separately 
 noted. 
 
 Such are the principal points that seem worthy 
 of notice in the 1st Book of Columella's Treatise; 
 but before I conclude this Lecture it may be 
 worth while to consider the relative value of 
 slave and free labour in a country like Italy, so 
 far as can be gathered from the statements of 
 ancient writers. 
 
 Columella states, that the ordinary price of a 
 slave employed as a vine-dresser was 8000 ses- 
 terces, equal to £66 13*. id., and as it is men- 
 tioned as a proof of Cato's frugality, that he never 
 gave more than 1500 drachmas for a slave, which 
 is about equal to £50^, the price of the slaves 
 
 h According to Dr. Arbutlinot, who states the drachma to be 
 equal to the denarius, and rates the latter at 7^(/. Hussey how- 
 ever reckons the drachma at gicl, so that in this case, the price 
 
LECT.ii.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 75 
 
 employed in rural labours may be supposed to 
 have varied from £50 to £70, or taking the 
 average £60. 
 
 The interest of money at Rome being as high 
 as 6 per cent, we must calculate £3 10s. for the 
 annual value of the original purchase money ; but 
 as a slave is a perishable commodity, this should 
 at least be doubled. 
 
 About £7 a year must therefore be set down 
 as the interest of the money spent. 
 
 Each slave was allowed in winter 4 pounds of 
 bread a day, in summer 5 ; so that, if the Roman 
 libra was 4 of ours, we may reckon the first 
 equal to 3, and the latter to about 31b. 12 ounces 
 avoirdupois. They were also allowed I4 pints of 
 a weak wine per day, and during the vintage 
 they had moreover an allowance of pulmenta- 
 rium, made of olives that had dropt from the 
 tree, and when this was consumed, an allowance 
 of salt-fish and oil. To this must be added the 
 expense of their clothes and dwelling places. 
 
 It is stated by Pliny that a modius of wheat 
 weighed 24 lb., but that by the addition to it of 
 other matters which cost little, such as bran, it 
 made 32 lbs. of bread. Now Columella states 
 that a modius of flour cost 2s. 8d., so that we 
 may reckon the 4-^ pounds of bread which formed 
 the average consumption of a Roman slave at 4- 
 a day, or £6 17s. a year. If we add to this £3 Ss. 
 
 given for a slave hj Cato would be somewhat more than £60 
 sterling. 
 
76 LECTURES ON [lect. ii. 
 
 more for the other demands, mcluding clothes and 
 dwelling, each slave will have cost his master 
 about ()^d. a day or 2s. lOd. a week. This it is 
 true is little more than the third of an English 
 labourer's wages ; but after adding about 2s. Sd. a 
 week for the interest of the cost price of the slave, 
 and the wear and tear, together making 6s. 6d. 
 per week, I suspect that the balance of economy 
 lies on the side of free labour, especially consi- 
 dering that the former has to support a wife and 
 family out of his wages. 
 
 But a more accurate mode of calculating will 
 perhaps be to ascertain how much bread the 
 English labourer with 10^. a week could com- 
 mand. This at present prices would purchase 
 about 60 lbs. avoirdupois, whilst the Roman slave 
 received on an average a quantity' of bread per 
 week equivalent to 24 of the same lb., which I 
 have reckoned at less than lialf of the whole cost 
 of his maintenance, together with the interest of 
 money, &c. Hence the entire expense of a slave 
 would be equivalent to the cost of 59 lbs. of 
 bread ^, which, as we have seen, approaches very 
 nearly to the amount which an English labourer's 
 wages would procure. 
 
 ' 45 librae on an average per day, or 31^ librae per week, which 
 deducting ^d. for the difference between the English and Roman 
 pound would give about 24 lbs. = 4 shillings worth at the present 
 prices. 
 
 ^ Viz. 96'. I Of/, at the present price. 
 
LECT. II.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 77 
 
 According to this calculation then, the advan- 
 tage would be much greater in favour of free la- 
 bour; for the master must maintain the family 
 of the slave, and the slave himself when ill or 
 superannuated, unless indeed he resorted to the 
 unfeeling practice of selling him off when he be- 
 came old or diseased. 
 
 But this is only a part of the question ; for it 
 remains still to be determined, what might be the 
 relative value of the work of the slave as com- 
 pared to that of a free labourer : and in the cli- 
 mate of Italy, there can be but little doubt that, 
 in this respect, the balance would be much in 
 favour of the latter. 
 
 At any rate, the amount of produce obtained 
 by field-labour does not seem to have been so 
 great as it is with us ; for Columella states, that 
 5 modii of wheat being sown, 50 was the usual 
 return, and the largest 75, the first equal to 13 
 bushels, the latter to 18 ; the Roman acre being 
 to ours as 32 to 48. 
 
 Hence as 32 : 48 : : 13 : 19.5, and as 
 32 : 48 : : 18 : 27.0. 
 So that 19.5 bushels to an English acre would 
 be about the mean return, and 27 the largest. 
 
 Now I believe that 30 bushels of wheat to an 
 acre is regarded by no means an uncommon re- 
 turn with us, and that the average on good land 
 rates perhaps as high as 25 bushels K 
 
 1 Fifty-six bushels to the acre have been in some cases ob- 
 tained. 
 
78 
 
 LECTURES ON 
 
 [LFXT. II. 
 
 Hence whilst the expense of slave-labour was 
 scarcely less, its productiveness fell considerably 
 short of that by means of freemen ; and indeed, 
 as we have seen, the declension of Agriculture in 
 Italy dates from the time when slaves became 
 abundant. It is therefore perhaps not wonderful 
 that, in spite of the fertility of the greater part 
 of Italy, the culture of the Cerealia did not flou- 
 rish, and that the Romans were accustomed to 
 depend for their supply of corn on Sicily, Africa, 
 and other regions ; the very opposite system being 
 pursued from that, which, till within the last 
 changes in politics, has prevailed with us, and 
 this staple of life being actually provided to the 
 citizens of Rome at a lower sum than the cost of 
 production, instead of having its price enhanced 
 by artificial regulations. 
 
 In my two next Lectures, I shall present you 
 with an analysis of the second Book of Colu- 
 mella, in which the different kinds of soil, the 
 varieties of crop cultivated, and the modes of con- 
 ducting the various acts of husbandry amongst 
 the Romans, are severally described. 
 
LECT. III.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 79 
 
 LECTURE III. 
 
 COLUMELLA. 
 BOOK IL 
 
 Before proceeding, in his second Book, to the 
 consideration of the different kinds of soil, and 
 the modes of amending them, Columella takes 
 the trouble of refuting the vulgar notion, that 
 the ground itself is becoming effete, and worn 
 out, like a female, from old age. The analogy, he 
 observes, does not hold good : for in the latter 
 case the animal does not become less prolific, but 
 ceases to bear children altogether; whereas, in 
 the case of the ground, complete barrenness never 
 takes place, and the decrease in its fertility may 
 be corrected by manuring. 
 
 " It is true," he observes, " that the ground, 
 after it has been brought into cultivation, seems 
 to fall back in the scale of fertility; but the fruit- 
 fulness which it first possessed was owing to its 
 having been fattened, as it were, by the residue 
 from so many former crops which it had sponta- 
 neously brought forth." 
 
 Thus Virgil, who might seem to have in his eye 
 the clearings of a North American forest, remarks, 
 
80 
 
 LECTURES ON 
 
 [lect. iti. 
 
 " Aut, unde iratus silvam devexit arator, 
 Et neraora evertit miiltos ignava per annos, 
 Antiquasque domos avium cum stirpibus imis 
 Eruit : illae altum nidis peti^re relictis ; 
 At rudis enituit impulso vomere campus." 
 
 (Georg. ii. 207.) 
 
 This store of exuberance being gradually used 
 up by a succession of harvests, the soil becomes 
 poor in consequence : — " Non igitur fatigatione, 
 quern admodum plurimi crediderunt, sed nostra 
 scilicet inertia, minus benigne nobis arva re- 
 spondent." 
 
 The notion of the soil being worn out by 
 fatigue may appear to us too absurd to require 
 the trouble of refuting, but modern farmers are 
 guilty of a similar absurdity, when they talk of 
 land being tired of a particular crop. In both 
 instances the error is committed of attributing 
 to inert matter properties belonging only to 
 living substances ; and it must be admitted that 
 of the two the modern notion is the most extra- 
 vagant, inasmuch as it assigns to an inanimate 
 body, not merely a decay in certain of its proper- 
 ties, which is at least conceivable, but even voli- 
 tion, inclinations, and affections, which are the 
 attributes not only of organization, but even of 
 vitality. 
 
 It may indeed appear an affront to attribute to 
 any man of intelligence such a notion, but the 
 degree in which our views are imperceptibly 
 warped by the adoption of a particular phrase- 
 ology, may be seen from the prevalent notion, 
 
LECT. III.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 81 
 
 that as manures are said to act as stimulants to 
 vegetation, they lose their effect by frequent repe- 
 tition ; a theory which implies, either that an 
 inorganic substance, like the soil, can be affected 
 by exciting influences, like a living or organized 
 body, or that the crop of the succeeding year 
 may be rendered less susceptible, by stimuli ap- 
 plied to that which had preceded it. 
 
 Our author next proceeds to distinguish the 
 several kinds of land. This may in the first 
 place be divided into champaign, hilly, and 
 mountainous. 
 
 The first of these should not be quite level, 
 but possess a gentle slope in one direction; the 
 second should rise gently and gradually ; the 
 third should not consist of abrupt precipices, but 
 be suited for trees and herbage. 
 
 In each of these kinds we may distinguish six 
 species of soil, namely, fat and lean, loose and 
 dense, moist and dry; and of course these pro- 
 perties may be combined in all manner of ways, 
 so as to create a much greater number of sub- 
 species. In a treatise of this kind however our 
 business is to confine ourselves to generic dis- 
 tinctions, and not to bewilder the mind by stat- 
 ing minute differences. 
 
 By a fat soil Columella seems to express 
 merely the fact of its yielding abundantly with- 
 out much labour — a soil, in short, naturally rich 
 and fertile. 
 
 Q 
 
82 
 
 LECTURES ON [lect. hi. 
 
 By a lean soil the reverse is implied. 
 
 By a loose soil he intends one that is light and 
 easily worked. 
 
 By a heavy soil, one which requires to be 
 much worked, but which, when labour is spent 
 upon it, produces an abundant return. 
 
 This is known to be the case with many of the 
 stiff soils of this country. They contain all the 
 elements of fertility, bat in a state of combina- 
 tion, which renders it not easy to extract them 
 by water ; and hence frequent and long exposure 
 to atmospheric agents is necessary to effect their 
 decomposition. This is done by ploughing, and 
 the other operations of husbandry ; and when so 
 prepared, not only is their mechanical condition 
 improved, but their chemical constituents, their 
 alkalies, &c., in which they are often rich, are 
 rendered soluble, and consequently available for 
 the uses of plants. Of this fact Columella was 
 quite aware, although chemistry was not then 
 sufliciently advanced to enable him to point out 
 the reason of it. 
 
 Virgil, too, after remarking, that coldness of 
 the soil is scarcely to be discovered but by the 
 nature of the trees that grow upon it ; the pre- 
 sence of the pine, the yew, and the ivy affording 
 indications of this property; goes on to recom- 
 mend, that the ground should be prepared by 
 trenching, and the soil exposed to the north 
 wind, before vines are planted ; adding, that the 
 looseness and fertility, which we express by the 
 
LECT. III.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 83 
 
 term putre, is obtained by the winds, the frost, and 
 the continued stirring up and digging of the soiL 
 
 " at sceleratum exquirere frigus 
 Difficile est ; picese tantum, taxique nocentes 
 Interdum, aut hedera? pandunt vestigia nigrae. 
 His animadversis, terram multo ante memento 
 Excoqiiere, et magnos scrobibus concidere montes ; 
 Ante supinatas Aquiloni ostendere glebas, 
 Quam Isetura infodias vitis genus : optima putri 
 Arva solo ; id venti curant, gelidaeque pruinse, 
 Et labefacta movens robustns jiigera fossor." 
 
 (Georg. ii. 2.56.) 
 
 There is one species of soil, called cariosa, men- 
 tioned by Cato, Columella and Pliny, which de- 
 serves a moment's notice. 
 
 Columella describes it, as one which becomes 
 wet with a very little rain, the latter not pene- 
 trating to the lower part of the soil. 
 
 Pliny compares it to the rottenness of wood, 
 being arid, porous, rough, white, worm-eaten, and 
 like pumice. Hardouin says it is the kind which 
 the Lyonnaise farmers call by the opprobrious 
 name of " terre pouilleuse." 
 
 Whatever it may be, Cato regards it with great 
 aversion, and says, that it is neither fit for arable, 
 nor for pasture land. 
 
 The terms of moist and dry, as aj)plied to soils, 
 sufficiently explain themselves. 
 
 It is evident that the above nomenclature is 
 not to be regarded as precise, or as serving to 
 divide soils into six species. It rather corre- 
 sponds with the distinctions made in them by 
 
 G 2 
 
84 
 
 LECTURES ON [lect. ni. 
 
 some modern writers on Agriculture, as may be 
 seen by reference to Schiibler's Classification of 
 Soils, which has been laid before you in the pre- 
 ceding Lecture. 
 
 A soil at once fat and loose answers to the de- 
 scription of that which Virgil terms " putre," 
 
 " Nigra fere, et presso pinguis sub vomere terra, 
 Et cui putre solum (nanique hoc imitaraur arando), 
 Optima frumentis (Georg, ii. 204.) 
 
 being naturally in that condition, which it is our 
 business in other cases to bring about by art. 
 
 This kind, therefore, is the most profitable of 
 any, because it produces most with the least la- 
 bour. It is the same which Columella calls in 
 another place " puUa" or " tenera," and which 
 Pliny, on the authority of Cato, declares to be 
 the best kind that can be had. 
 
 Next to this in point of value is the stiff and 
 fat soil, which when labour is spent upon it 
 brings an ample return. 
 
 After this is soil of any description that admits 
 of being irrigated ; for this is sure to yield a crop 
 without expense. But when a soil is at once 
 dry, stiff, and lean ; requiring much labour to be 
 bestowed upon it, and yielding little in return ; 
 or which, when allowed to rest, is good neither 
 for meadow nor for pasture, it must be shunned 
 as if it harboured a pestilence ; for indeed it is as 
 bad to die of starvation as of disease, if we believe 
 the Greek Muses, when they exclaim X 
 
 davelv. 
 
LECT. III.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 85 
 
 Now if we possess an estate which is yet unre- 
 claimed, we must first ascertain whether it be 
 dry or moist, wooded or stony, covered with grass, 
 with fern, or with rushes. 
 
 Supposing it to be wet, the water must first of 
 all be drawn off by drainage. 
 
 The ancients do not appear to have been ac- 
 quainted with tile-draining, for Cato is the only 
 one who uses the word tegula in connexion with 
 draining ; and the tiles of which he speaks may 
 have been used to prop up the sides of the drain, 
 instead of stones, without supposing them mould- 
 ed for the purpose, as in modern days is the case. 
 Nor indeed, if it had occurred to them to use tiles 
 for that purpose, could they have manufactured 
 them cheaply enough for general use. 
 
 But in other respects Columella's directions ac- 
 cord with modern practice. 
 
 The drains, he says, may either be open or 
 covered in : the latter kind however should be 
 partially adopted in a loose soil, the covered ones 
 communicating with the main drains, which may 
 be open, and made inclined like the eaves of a 
 house, so that they may not fall in. 
 
 It is proper, indeed, to make both the open and 
 covered drains shelving, broad at top and narrow 
 at bottom, like roof-tiles turned upside down ; for 
 those whose sides are perpendicular are soon da- 
 maged by the water, and are stopped up by the 
 falling in of earth from above. Again, the co- 
 vered drains are to be made three feet deep, half 
 
86 
 
 LECTURES ON [lect. iii. 
 
 filled with small stones or clear gravel, the earth 
 that was dug out being thrown over them. 
 
 If neither stones nor gravel are to be got, he 
 advises that twigs should be twisted like a rope, 
 and formed to the exact thickness of the bottom of 
 the drain, so as to be inclosed in it when pressed 
 tightly down ; and then that cypress or pine-leaves 
 should be pressed down upon it, taking care, how- 
 ever, that at both ends of the drain two stones 
 should be placed upright like pillars, having an- 
 other laid over their top, to support the bank, 
 and give a free ingress and egress to the water. 
 
 These two methods of draining, it is well 
 known, are still extensively practised ; and pro- 
 bably better directions could not have been given 
 for setting about them, than those which Colu- 
 mella has handed down to us. 
 
 Many, remarks Columella, who have written 
 on husbandry, consider a certain sweetness of the 
 soil, a luxuriant growth of herbage and of trees, 
 and a black or ashy colour, as sure indications of 
 fertility. 
 
 Without questioning the validity of the two 
 former, it may be fairly disputed, whether black- 
 ness is a certain indication of a rich soil, as 
 Cornelius Celsus asserts, for many marshes and 
 fields impregnated with salt are of this colour. 
 
 We here find a recognition of the diffference 
 between peaty and loamy soil, which, though 
 alike in colour, possess the most opposite quali- 
 
LECT. III.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 87 
 
 ties; the one preventing, the other forwarding 
 decomposition ; the former marl^ed by the exist- 
 ence of the acetic fermentation, which causes it to 
 possess antiseptic properties ; the latter by that 
 process of slow decay, which Liebig calls erema- 
 causis. 
 
 The presence of much salt in the soil is also 
 destructive to most crops, and hence salt marshes 
 produce a rank herbage, but are not fit for grow- 
 ing corn. 
 
 Columella proposes the following as a test of 
 the richness of a soil. If when dug out and ex- 
 posed it shrinks into a smaller compass, it is 
 barren; if it swells out, so that it cannot be 
 returned into the ditch from which it was taken, 
 it is rich. 
 
 Virgil alludes to the same experiment, stating 
 however what is more to the point, that it is a 
 sign whether it be loose or stiff, and that in the 
 former case it is most proper for vines, in the 
 latter for corn. 
 
 " Nunc, quo quaraque modo possis cognoscere, dicam. 
 Rara sit, an supra morem sit densa, requiras ; 
 Altera frumentis quoniam favet, altera Baccho ; 
 Densa magis Cereri, rarissima quaeque Lyseo ; 
 Ante locum capies oculis, alteque jubebis 
 In solido puteum demitti, omnemque repones 
 Rursus humum, et pedibus summas sequabis arenas. 
 Si deerunt ; rarum, pecorique et vitibus almis 
 Aptius, uber erit : sin in sua posse negabunt 
 Ire loca, et scrobibus superabit terra repletis ; 
 Spissus ager ; glebas cunctantes crassaque terga 
 Expecta, et validis terram proscinde juvencis." 
 
 (Georg. ii. 225.) 
 
88 
 
 LECTURES ON 
 
 [lEGT. III. 
 
 Pliny questions the validity of this method, 
 remarking that the earth will never fill the same 
 space as before; nevertheless it is perhaps per- 
 fectly true, that a clayey soil when dug up will 
 swell out by the imbibition of moisture, whilst a 
 sandy one will shrink from the effect of evapo- 
 ration. Hence although Columella's test will not 
 shew whether the soil is rich, yet it may indicate 
 that it contains clay, or is stiff, and stiff soils 
 Avhen worked are more commonly fertile. 
 
 Another indication of fatness is its glutinous 
 quality, sticking like pitch to the hand, which 
 Virgil also has pointed out. 
 
 " Pinguls item quae sit tellus, hoc denique pacto 
 Discimus ; hand unquam manibus jactata fatiscit, 
 Sed picis in morem ad digitos lentescit habendo." 
 
 (Georg. ii. 248.) 
 
 This also affords an indication of the abund- 
 ance of clay in the soil, and is an experiment of a 
 similar kind to that made at present for the same 
 purpose, in the mechanical analysis of soils con- 
 ducted according to Mr. Rham's method''. 
 
 b This consisted in first sifting the soil through a succession of 
 sieves of various degrees of fineness, but only collecting for ex- 
 amination that portion which was minute enough to pass through 
 fine wire gauze. From this the argillaceous portion was separated 
 from the sandy, by allowing the former to subside in a tall jar, 
 and pouring off that remaining in suspension, which contains the 
 clay. This method is indeed wanting in precision, but from its 
 simplicity deserves to be recommended to farmers, as enabling 
 them to arrive at an approximation to the true constitution of 
 the soil. For a full account of the method, see Jour, of the 
 Koy. Agric. Society, Vol. i. 1840. 
 
LECT. III.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 89 
 
 For the same soil, which from its plasticity 
 sticks to the fingers, would be diffused through 
 water, whilst the sand sinks to the bottom. But, 
 as Pliny observes, this is no unerring indication, 
 for pipe-clay, which is barren, will do the same. 
 
 After all, the indications which Virgil points 
 out are the most to be relied upon. 
 
 That quality of soil, he says, which sends forth 
 a thin stream and vapour, which easily absorbs, 
 and as readily parts with its moisture, such land 
 as is seen about Capua and Vesuvius, is good for 
 all purposes of husbandry. 
 
 Quae tenuem exhalat nebulam, fumosque volucres, 
 Et bibit humorem, et, cum vult, ex se ipsa remittit ; 
 Quseque suo viridi semper se gramine vestit, 
 Nec scabie et salsa laedit rubigine ferrum ; 
 Ilia tibi laetis intexet vitibus ulmos ; 
 Ilia ferax oleo est ; illam experiere colendo 
 Et facilem pecori, et patientem vomeris unci : 
 Talem dives arat Capua, et vicina Vesevo 
 Ora jugo, et vacuis Clanius non sequus Acerris." 
 
 (Georg. ii. 217.) 
 
 Those who have seen the luxuriance of the 
 Campagna near Naples will testify to the truth 
 of this description, and allow, that the soil 
 possesses that happy admixture of clay and sand, 
 which renders it a rich and fertile loam, ab- 
 sorbent of moisture, and at the same time giving 
 it out readily enough not to be rendered too 
 tenacious. 
 
 Pliny is the only author who dwells upon the 
 smell of a new turned furrow as indicative of its 
 richness. 
 
90 
 
 LECTURES ON 
 
 [LECT. III. 
 
 He is quite eloquent indeed on this subject, 
 and says that on a calm evening, before sun-set, 
 the soil sends forth a divine savour to which no 
 perfume can compare. 
 
 " Quod si admonendi sumus, qualis est terrse 
 odor ille qui quseretur, contingit ssepe etiam 
 quaerente ea sub occasum solis, in quo arcus 
 cselestis dejecerit capita sua; et cum a siccitate 
 continua immaduit imbre, tunc emittit ilium 
 suum habitum divinum ex sole conceptum, cui 
 comparare suavitas nulla possit." 
 
 The smell of newly turned soil is indeed very 
 perceptible, and if it depend upon a slow vege- 
 table fermentation going on within its substance, 
 it is probable that those soils which are richest 
 may possess it in the most eminent degree. 
 
 The sweetness of a soil is estimated by its 
 communicating no unpleasant taste to water that 
 has filtered through it. 
 
 The presence of this flavour would be occa- 
 sioned by certain salts noxious to vegetation, 
 such for instance as alum or sulphate of iron, 
 which Virgil seems to allude to in the following 
 lines of his Georgics : 
 
 Salsa autem tellus, et qnse perhibetur amara, 
 Frugibus infelix (ea nec mansuescit arando, 
 Nec Baccho genus, aut pomis sua nomina servat). 
 Tale dabit specimen : tu spisso vimine qualos, 
 Colaque praelorum fumosis deripe tectis. 
 Hue ager ille malus, dulcesquc a fontibus undee, 
 Ad plenum calcentur : aqua eluctabitur omnis 
 Scilicet, et grandcs ibunt per vimina guttae ; 
 
LECT. III.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 91 
 
 At sapor indicium faciet manifestus, et ora 
 Tristia tentantura sensu torquebit amaror." 
 
 (Gborg. ii. 237.) 
 
 The presence of these latter salts would be 
 more common in the volcanic soil of Italy than 
 elsewhere, the sulphurous fumes rising through 
 the ground being a constant source of sulphuric 
 acid, which would produce alum and sulphate of 
 iron with the bases with which it came into con- 
 tact. 
 
 Columella and the other prose authors on hus- 
 bandry scarcely allude to the practice of im- 
 proving the soil by burning, which Virgil has so 
 graphically described, pointing out in his subse- 
 quent lines the three principal causes, upon which 
 the advantage of paring and burning is supposed 
 by modern farmers to depend : 
 
 " Saepe etiam steriles incendere profuit agros, 
 Atque levem stipulam crepitantibus urere flammis : 
 Sive inde occultas vires et pabula terrge 
 Pinguia concipiunt ; sive illis omne per ignem 
 Excoquitur vitium, atque exsudat inutilis humor ; 
 Seu plures calor ille vias et caeca relaxat 
 Spiramenta, novas veniat qua succus in herbas ; 
 Seu durat magis, et venas adstringit hiantes, 
 Ne tenues pluvise rapidive potentia solis 
 Acrior, aut Boreae penetrabile frigus adurat." 
 
 (Georg. i. 84.) 
 
 Whether, that is, it communicates rich juices 
 to the land, or corrects bad ones ; opens the 
 pores of the soil to allow the nutritious juices 
 access to the young plants, or renders it more 
 
92 
 
 LECTURES ON 
 
 [LECT. III. 
 
 compact ; so as to prevent its being injured, either 
 by the showers, the excessive heat of summer, or 
 the severe cold of winter. 
 
 Now the advantages recognised at the present 
 day as arising from the practice of burning the 
 soil, and the plants which cover its surface, are 
 very much of the description which Virgil has 
 stated. 
 
 In the first place, when a large amount of 
 slowly decomposing vegetable matter happens to 
 be present, it accelerates the return into the 
 body of the soil of the alkaline and earthly con- 
 stituents which the plants contain, so as to render 
 these essential ingredients immediately available 
 for the ensuing crop. 
 
 In other words — 
 
 Occultas vires et pabula terrse 
 Concipiunt. 
 
 This is the source of the fertility imparted to the 
 soil in America by the combustion of the timber 
 in its extensive forests ; the fire unlocking, as it 
 were, those accumulations of potass, phosphate 
 of lime, and other valuable matters, which the 
 trees in their growth had gradually drawn from 
 the soil, and restoring them at once in a condi- 
 tion in which they can minister to the wants of 
 the forthcoming crops. 
 
 Secondly, when the soil is sour, or contains 
 peaty matter, which generates acetic or other 
 acids prejudicial to the growth of plants, the 
 practice of burning dissipates and destroys the 
 
LECT. iil] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 93 
 
 injurious principle, or, as Virgil says 
 
 " illis omne per ignem 
 Excoquitur vitium, atque exsudat inutilis humor." 
 
 Burning also may do good to the soil, when it is 
 too retentive of moisture, and too adhesive in 
 quality. My friend Mr.Barwick Baker of Hard wick 
 Court in Gloucestershire has by this treatment 
 improved the soil of his garden, which was a 
 tenacious clay, converting it into a kind of brick 
 earth, which possesses much of the mechanical 
 qualities of a sandstone. 
 
 For such a case it may be said in the beautiful 
 language of the Roman Poet — 
 
 " Plures calor ille vias et caeca relaxat 
 Spiramenta, novas veniat qua succus in herbas " 
 
 Whether the process of burning can ever act 
 in the last of the ways hinted at by Virgil, that 
 is, by rendering loose soils more compact, is very 
 problematical ; indeed it is even generally consi- 
 dered by Agriculturists, that light and sandy soils 
 are injured by the operation. 
 
 But although many of the explanations given 
 in the Georgics may apply very well to the 
 practice of burning away the turf, which we see 
 adopted at the present day, yet there is no proof 
 that the Poet contemplated any thing more, than 
 the burning of the stubble which might lay upon 
 the surface of the land, and the probable in- 
 fluence of the heat generated upon the adjacent 
 soil. 
 
 Nor do the older Roman w^riters on agricultvire 
 
94 
 
 LECTURES ON 
 
 [lECT. III. 
 
 seem to allude to the practice, though fully 
 aware of the fertilizing effect arising from the 
 ashes of the timber and stubble, which they re- 
 commend to be burnt, as may be inferred from a 
 passage of Palladius, in which he appears to di- 
 rect, that when the land is covered with trees, a 
 distinction must be made between that which 
 is naturally good and that which is poor, as from 
 the former the timber should be merely removed, 
 and the land ploughed up; whereas in the lat- 
 ter it should be burned, in order that the soil 
 may be enriched with the ashes left behind. 
 
 These directions seem very suitable to a coun- 
 try in the state that Italy was at the period 
 when that author lived, namely, about the 5th 
 century; a period when wood was neither so 
 valutible as it is with us, nor yet of such little 
 account as in the back settlements of America, 
 and consequently where its destruction was to 
 be avoided, except in cases where the land re- 
 quired to be enriched by it. 
 
 The adaptation of the soil to particular pur- 
 poses, Columella remarks, will also depend upon 
 its depth. 
 
 If it do not exceed two feet, it is most fitted 
 for corn ; but if as much as four, it will do best 
 for trees. This is quite true, for when the sub- 
 soil is a stiff clay through which the roots cannot 
 penetrate, the trees are stunted and unhealthy, 
 as we know by our orchards, which therefore 
 thrive best upon the red sandstone. 
 
lect.iil] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 95 
 
 Before proceeding any further in the consider- 
 ation of the various operations of husbandry 
 which Columella notices, it may he well in the 
 first instance to describe the implements used in 
 their performance, seeing that the Roman writers 
 often content themselves with merely naming 
 them, without pointhig out to their readers their 
 form and construction. 
 
 The first of these was the plough (aratrum) ; 
 respecting which, all we learn from the Scrip- 
 tores de Re Rustica is, that according to Cato 
 there were two kinds, the one called the Roman, 
 adapted for heavy ; the other called the Campa- 
 nian, more suited for light soils. 
 
 It is to Virgil then that we must appeal for a 
 detailed description of the parts of the ancient 
 plough as employed in his time, differing, as it 
 would seem, not very materially from that now 
 emploj^ed in the South of France. 
 
 It may not be uninteresting, before explaining 
 Virgil's account, to trace the history of the 
 plough from the earliest known periods ; for an- 
 cient as the art of ploughing is, certain bas-re- 
 liefs which have been brought to light by the 
 researches of modern travellers in the East ap- 
 pear to have shewn, what indeed we might have 
 anticipated to have been the case, that the 
 plough itself is nothing more than a modification 
 of the hoe, which was first dragged along the 
 ground by manual labour, before the force of 
 oxen was substituted. 
 
LECT. III.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 97 
 
 the act of drawing was the next obvious stage in 
 the progress of improvement, and this also we 
 see exhibited in another of the sculptures on this 
 grotto, where the same rude implement as before 
 is represented, dragged along however by two 
 oxen, whilst a man follows, whose business is to 
 force down the point of the instrument into the 
 soil. 
 
 The use of oxen would call for another modifi- 
 cation ii^ the form of the machine, for it now be- 
 came nepessary to direct it, as well as to keep it 
 steadily |ixed in the soil ; and for this purpose 
 the handle was first furnished with a ring, but 
 was afterwards made double; by which latter 
 contrivance the husbandman was enabled to act 
 upon the plough with both his hands, and thus 
 not only to force it more deeply into the soil, but 
 also to direct it in a straight course. 
 
 We have thus come to a plough not very dif- 
 ferent from what is now used in the East, and 
 indeed in some parts of Europe at the present 
 day, consisting of a share, a team, and two horns 
 or handles, crooked at the back, and united 
 solidly together at the further extremity, so as to 
 form one body with the point or beak. 
 
 The kind of plough in use among the early 
 Greeks, so far as we can collect from the descrip- 
 tion given by Hesiod, and from certain drawings 
 which have come down to us, was not materially 
 different from that of the ancient Egyptians. 
 
 H 
 
98 
 
 LECTURES ON [lect. iii. 
 
 It appears to have consisted of three parts — the 
 ploughshare, 'iXvfxa of Hesiod ; the draught-pole 
 to which the horses were attached, the la-rojSoev^ 
 of the same author ; and the ploughtail which the 
 ploughman holds in his hand, the exeVXa. 
 
 Hesiod also distinguishes by a separate name 
 the lower part of the plough, calling it by the 
 name of yvtj. 
 
 It may be interesting perhaps to a classical 
 audience to refer to the lines in which allusion 
 is made to these parts of the plough, translating 
 them consistently with that view of their mean- 
 ing which I have adopted, which moreover will 
 identify the kind of plough alluded to by Hesiod 
 with that employed in Magna Grsecia and in 
 Sicily. 
 
 'H/Aos bri krjyeL fxivos o£eos rjcXCoLO 
 KavfiaTos IbaXtixov, ixeroiraptvov dfxj3pri(Tai>Tos 
 Zrjvbs kpLudiv^os — (Opera et Dies, 414.) 
 
 "When the force of the burning sun remits his 
 oppressive heats, all-powerful Jove pouring down 
 his autumnal rains" — "then" (after enumerating 
 other labours fitted for the season he proceeds) 
 " is the time 
 
 ({)epeiv 8e yvrjv, 6t h,v €vpy]s 
 Ets oIkov, Kar opos bt^'qixevos, t) kut apovpav 
 TlpCvviov' OS yap (3ovcrlv apovv oxvpcoraros karriv. 
 
 (Ibid. 427.) 
 
 Then is the time to carry home the material for 
 the hinder part of your ploughshare, the 7u>/, when- 
 ever you may find one fitted for the purpose, 
 whether amongst the mountains or in the field, 
 
LECT. III.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 99 
 
 formed of the ilex, for this is the strongest wood 
 for oxen to plough with — 
 
 EvT av 'A6r}vairjs S/x&ios iv iKvjxaTi 7r?jfas, 
 r6iJ,<poi(Ti,v TTcKdaas TTpocraprjpeTat ia-rofiorj'i — 
 
 (Ibid. 430.) 
 
 provided only that the ingenious artificer shall 
 have fixed it skilfully to the ploughshare {eXv- 
 fxari), and have nailed it firmly to the draught- 
 pole (larTO^Orji). 
 
 Ad(f)vr]S 8' t) iTTe\4r]s aKiMTaroi loro/SoTjes, 
 
 Apvbs 'ikvp-a, irpivov yvr^v — (Ibid. 435.) 
 
 But the strongest draught-poles are of laurel- 
 wood or of elm, the ploughshare of oak, the hinder 
 part of the ploughshare of ilex. 
 Again — 
 
 ' A p)(^6[JL€V0S TO TTpS)T apoTov, oTav &,Kpov cxeTXrjs 
 Xetpt XajSav opirrjKa jSocav cttI vG>tov tKrjai 
 "Evbpvov kXKOVTOiv jxead^MV. 6 rvrdbs o-nicrO^v 
 Ap.&os, ^\(tiv fxaKeXrjv, movov dpvCdeiTcn Ttdfirj, 
 ^Trepixara KaKKpv-nT<jiv — (Ibid. 467.) 
 
 When you begin to till the ground, taking in 
 your hand the extremity of the plough-tail (e^e- 
 rXi/?), you shall thrust the goad into the backs of 
 the oxen, the thongs drawing along the plough ; 
 whilst the young slave who follows, holding the 
 spade or harrow, shall baffle the birds, by con- 
 cealing from them the seed scattered over the 
 ground." 
 
 Let us now consider how far this view of the 
 kind of plough described by Hesiod corresponds 
 
 H 2 
 
100 
 
 LECTURES ON [lect. iii. 
 
 with what we may gather to have been the form 
 of the one mentioned by Virgil in his Georgics : 
 
 " Oontinuo in silvis magna vi flexa domatur 
 In burim, et curvi formam accipit ulmus aratri : 
 Huic a stirpe pedes temo protentus in octo : 
 Binse aures, duplici aptantur dentalia dorso, 
 Cseditur et tilia ante jugo levis, altaque fagus 
 Stivaque, quae currus a tergo torqueat imos." 
 
 (L169.) 
 
 This passage I would translate as follows, in 
 agreement with the sense put upon it long ago 
 by Salmasius, and confirmed by Heyn^, but from 
 which Professor Martyn, in his notes on the 
 Georgics, has chosen to depart, thus introducing 
 great confusion, as has been pointed out by Dick- 
 son and others. — 
 
 " In the first place, the elm is forcibly bent in 
 the woods into the hinder portion of the pole (the 
 buris, or 'yvri of Hesiod), and receives the form of 
 the crooked plough. To the end of this are joined, 
 a beam (temo) eight feet long, two earth-boards 
 (aures), and share-beams with a double back (du- 
 plici dentalia dorso). The light lime-tree also is 
 cut down beforehand, and the tall beech, as a 
 handle or plough-tail (stiva), which shall turn or 
 direct the carriage from behind." 
 
 Such seems to be the translation; unless we 
 prefer placing the last line in a parenthesis, and 
 regard stim as one of the substances connected 
 with the verb aptantur, reading, "to the end of 
 the plough are joined the beam, the earth-boards, 
 the share-beams, and the stiva or plough-tail." 
 
LECT.iiL] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 10] 
 
 According to tliis interpretation, the Virgilian 
 plough, as well as that described by Hesiod, 
 might be identified with one still used in the 
 south of France under the name of the Herault 
 plough, as Seguier has suggested ^. 
 
 In this latter implement we observe, 1st, a piece 
 of curved wood (A) called in the country basse, 
 which agrees with the buris of Virgil, and, as I 
 consider it, to yvrj of Hesiod : 2dly, a pole (B) eight 
 feet in length, joined by pins to the basse, answer- 
 ing to the temo of Virgil, and to the la-ro^oeh^ of 
 Hesiod : 3dly, a bent handle (C) called esteve,^]i\c\\ 
 is the stiva of Virgil, and the e^^eVXa of Hesiod : 
 4thly, a share of wood (D), the dentate of Virgil, 
 the 'iXvfxa of Hesiod. It is made double by an- 
 other share of iron placed above it so as to realize 
 the double back which the dentate is described as 
 possessing. And lastly, two earth-boards, or la- 
 teral appendages, bince aures, which are called 
 ex'pandideures, because they spread out the earth 
 heaved up by the operation of the share. 
 
 Professor Martyn, on the other hand, translates 
 buris the plough-tail, and stim the staff which di- 
 
 c Cours d' Agriculture, article Charrm. Seguier, however, 
 makes the huris the e\vfia, and the dentale or share to be the 
 yvT) : thus — 
 
 A. the basse, huris of Virgil ; 
 
 B. the pole, teTno of Virgil ; 
 
 C. the estive, stiva of Virgil ; 
 
 D. the shai-e, dentale of Virgil ', 
 
 E. the earth-boards, expanded aui'es of Virgil ; 
 
 F. wedge, or tenons to bind the basse to the dentale. (See 
 
 Plate annexed.) 
 
102 
 
 LECTURES ON 
 
 [LECT. III. 
 
 rects the motion of the plough : in which case 
 hiiris would be nothing more than the lower part 
 of the stiva ; but this, as Mr. Dickson remarks in 
 his Agriculture of the Ancients, is an improbable 
 interpretation, as Virgil distinctly mentions them 
 as separate and independent parts of the plough. 
 
 It has also been a subject of dispute, whether 
 the implement described by Virgil was a swing or 
 a wheel plough. 
 
 Martyn compares it to that seen in use near 
 Mantua, and in the Venetian territory, which is a 
 wheel plough ; no express mention however is 
 made of wheels by Virgil, although the expression 
 " currus a tergo torqueat imos" has been supposed 
 to refer to them% and although we are told by 
 Pliny (lib. xviii. c. 48) that wheels were added to 
 the ploughs used in Cisalpine GauP. 
 
 It is at least probable, that the plough described 
 by Hesiod had no wheels, and perhaps it may be 
 concluded, that this was the commoner form even 
 in Italy at the time when Virgil wrote, since Pliny 
 describes the addition of wheels to have been but 
 recently introduced. 
 
 But of whichever description the Roman or 
 Grecian plough is considered to be, little improve- 
 ment in its construction seems to have been 
 
 ^ See Heyne's excurs. on this passage. 
 
 ^ Count Caylus, Rec. d'Ant. vol. 5. pi. 82. No. 6, has given us 
 a drawing of an ancient gem, on which a wheeled plough is en- 
 graved, very similar to that now used at Mantua, and depicted in 
 Martyn's Georgics. 
 
LECT. III.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 103 
 
 effected since that remote period, till a very recent 
 epoch ; for when we examine the implements em- 
 ployed for ploughing in most nations of modern 
 Europe, we still find them of a construction as 
 rude and clumsy, as those represented in the 
 sculptures and models, that have come down to 
 us, or are described by the writers of antiquity'^. 
 
 I must now briefly notice the other implements 
 employed in the various operations of farming by 
 the Romans. 
 
 The Urpex, or Irpex according to Varro, was a 
 kind of harrow with many teeth, dragged along 
 the soil by oxen, in order to dislodge the roots 
 that might remain entangled in the ground. 
 
 The word does not occur in Columella, who 
 however directs, that a sort of wicker work, or 
 hurdle armed with iron teeth, called crates, should 
 be dragged over the ground, for the purpose of 
 breaking up the clods of earth. So also Virgil 
 speaks of the osier crates which are to be dragged 
 along the soil : 
 
 " Vimineasque trahit crates." 
 
 It is probable therefore, that the harrow or 
 rake, which followed the plough, went by the name 
 of irpe^ in the time of Cato and Varro, and of 
 crates at a later period. 
 
 The Rastrum which Virgil associates with 
 
 See in the annexed Plate a drawing of the plough which I 
 found in use at Rocca Monfina; between Rome and Naples. 
 
104 LECTURES ON [lect. iii. 
 
 Crates in the passage of his first Georgic, where 
 he says, 
 
 " Multum adeo, rastris glebas qui frangit inertes, 
 Vimineasque trahit crates, juvat arva," 
 
 seems to have heen a rake used in manual labour, 
 and not a harrow drawn by cattle. It was em- 
 ployed for mixing dung in dunghills — that re- 
 commended by Cato having four teeth, which 
 were probably often of iron; but when the in- 
 strument was applied to lighter work, as in the 
 culture of medie, they were of wood. 
 
 Sarculus, or Sarculum, was an iron tool used 
 in the mountains for stirring up the ground, in- 
 stead of a plough drawn by oxen. " Certe sine 
 hoc animali montanse gentes sarculis arant*." 
 
 The Biscayan peasantry at the present time 
 employ an instrument of this kind, instead of a 
 plough, for their hilly ground. It seems to have 
 been a heavy description of hoe, used for clean- 
 ing out drains, for cutting furrows in the ground, 
 and other similar operations. Thus Columella 
 directs that the gardener, 
 
 " Trita solo splendentia sarcula sumat, 
 Angustosque foros adverso limite ducens, 
 Rursus in obliquum distinguat tramite parvo." 
 
 (Lib. X. 9 1 .) 
 
 Ligo and Pala seem to have been used for the 
 same purposes ; for Cato mentions only the latter, 
 and Palladius only the former, as used for digging 
 or pulverizing the soil. 
 
 ^ Cato, cap. X. 
 
LECT. TIL] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 105 
 
 Columella associates Ligo with Marra, a term 
 
 still retained in Italy, where it denotes at the 
 
 present time a mattock : 
 
 " bene cum glebis vivacis cespitis herbam, 
 Contundat raarraB, vel fracti dente ligonis." 
 
 It would therefore seem to have been rather a 
 kind of pickaxe, than a spade, as it is more gene- 
 rally interpreted. 
 
 Pala on the contrary was probably a spade^ 
 which accords well enough with the description 
 given by Columella of this instrument, where he 
 says, 
 
 " Turn mihi ferrato versetur robore palse, 
 Dulcis humus." 
 
 Nor does it follow, as Dickson seems to infer, 
 that the ligo and pala, because they were applied 
 to similar uses, were necessarily of the same con- 
 struction. 
 
 The Bidens, as its name implies, was an instru- 
 ment with two prongs, used, we are told, for 
 stirring up the soil, where vineyards were planted, 
 and where therefore the plough could not be so 
 well employed, (Col. lib. xii.) 
 
 Thus, Virgil advises, that in the case of a vine- 
 yard, 
 
 " Omne quotannis 
 
 Terque quaterque solum scindendum, glebaque versis, 
 -Sternum frangenda bidentibus 
 
 and in another place directs, 
 
 " Duros jactare bidentes.'" 
 
 These expressions all seem to apply to a heavy 
 
 mattock with two prongs, which could be em- 
 
106 
 
 LECTURES ON [lect. iii. 
 
 ployed by manual force in breaking up and stirring 
 the soil. 
 
 The Falx simply denoted a knife with a curved 
 edge, and hence was applied to a variety of in- 
 struments, intended for different purposes in hus- 
 bandry, which had this character in common. 
 
 Thus several kinds of Falx are specified by the 
 writers of antiquity, as for instance, foenaria, 
 stramentaria, arboracea, vinitoria, messoria. 
 
 Columella (1. iv. c. 25) describes the several parts 
 of that used in vine-dressing, and points out the 
 separate uses to which each is to be applied. 
 Of course this must have been a very different 
 instrument, from the scythe used in mowing grass, 
 or the pruning hook employed in reaping corn, 
 both of which went under the common name of 
 Falx. 
 
LECT. IV.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 107 
 
 LECTURE IV. 
 
 COLUMELLA. 
 BOOK n. CONCLUDED. 
 
 In my present Lecture I shall rather reverse 
 the order in which Columella has treated the 
 subjects that come before him, as it seems desir- 
 able in the first instance, before speaking of the 
 various operations of husbandry, to settle the 
 true meaning of the terms, by which the Roman 
 writers denoted the crops which they were in 
 the habit of cultivating. 
 
 Of these the first in order and in importance 
 was frumentum, usually translated 'wheat,' of 
 which however there were two distinct kinds, 
 semen adoreum and triticum. What these distinct 
 species of grain were has been a matter of dis- 
 pute, but it appears upon the whole probable, 
 that by triticum was meant ' wheat by semen 
 adoreum, 'spelt.' 
 
 Pliny says, that semen adoreum is the same with 
 far, and he states that in far the grain is with 
 difficulty separated from its husk, and is there- 
 fore sown along with it. 
 
 Now this is the character which distinguishes 
 spelt from wheat, the husk being so adherent to 
 
108 
 
 LECTURES ON [lect. iv. 
 
 the grain, as to require a particular kind of mill- 
 stone to grind it. Far too is said to be a hardier 
 grain than triticum, and to do better in cold soils, 
 which also is the case with spelt. 
 
 As for farrago, it was a mixture of various 
 cereals sown together for pasture ; a soil capable 
 of continued cultivation, and well manured, be- 
 ing selected for the purpose. 
 
 Pliny makes mention also of the following 
 kinds of grain: 
 
 1st of arinca, which seems to have been syno- 
 n3rmous with olyra, an Egyptian wheat as it 
 would appear, perhaps triticum monococcum. 
 
 2nd, of Oryza, which he says is much cultivated 
 in India, and of which the inhabitants make a 
 ptisan, as the Italians do of barley. Its leaves 
 are fleshy, like a leek, but broader ; its height is 
 a cubit ; its flower purple. 
 
 This has been supposed to be rice, but as the 
 above description does not correspond with the 
 characters of this plant, others have considered it 
 the same as the olyra above mentioned. 
 
 3d, of Sesamum, which was also introduced from 
 India into Italy. It is well known in Egypt, and 
 in various parts of the East. Columella ranks it 
 amongst the pulses, Theophrastus amongst grains. 
 It produces an oil called syris. Tournefort ob- 
 served large quantities of it growing in the isles 
 of the Archipelago. Columella says it requires a 
 rich and loose (putre) soil. 
 
 4th, of Secale, a very inferior sort of grain, ac- 
 
LECT. IV.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 109 
 
 cording to Pliny, and very ungrateful to the taste. 
 It was, probably, rye. 
 
 6th, of Avena, ' oats,' of which however Pliny 
 gives but an obscure account, confounding it with 
 avena fatua, a weed which infests most kinds of 
 corn. 
 
 6th, of Milium, ' millet,' of which he praises a 
 newly introduced kind, large in the grain, which 
 was probably the same as the Sorghum now cul- 
 tivated in Italy. 
 
 7th, of Panicmn, the Panicum Italicum. The two 
 latter Columella informs us are to be regarded 
 as species of grain, since in many countries they 
 constitute the food of the population. 
 
 The former of these is now called miglio, the 
 second panico, and they differ, in the former hav- 
 ing its flowers on spikes, the second on panicles. 
 
 Both these kinds of grain are cultivated at 
 present extensively in Italy, where they are used, 
 as in the time of the Romans, for the nourish- 
 ment of man ; whereas in this country they are 
 only employed for feeding poultry. 
 
 A kind of bread. Columella says, may be made 
 of panicum, which is palatable whilst warm, and 
 millet forms with milk a description of porridge 
 not to be despised. 
 
 With regard to the varieties of these grains, 
 beginning with far adoreum, Pliny tells us there 
 are four varieties of it, one of which, a spring 
 wheat, called halicmtum, excels the rest. 
 
110 
 
 LECTURES ON 
 
 [lECT. IV. 
 
 Here however there seems some confusion, for 
 Plmy tells us that far is different from alica, a 
 kind of meal evidently made from the halicastrum 
 of Columella ; and yet he says, that alica is the 
 same with zea, which latter, not being known 
 before the time of Pompey, must have been of 
 later introduction than far. Moreover zea seems 
 to have been the same as the •)(ovSpo<} of the Greeks, 
 which was a species of spelt. 
 
 I may remark by the way, that to the flour of 
 this species of corn the Romans were in the habit 
 of adding chalk, or some other kind of white earth, 
 in order to communicate whiteness; just as in 
 the present day bakers are accustomed to intro- 
 duce pounded felspar or alum. 
 
 Although in modern books on botany the name 
 zea is applied to maize or Indian corn, it certainly 
 could have no relation to that now well known 
 article of food. For there can be no sort of doubt 
 that maize is indigenous in America, and was not 
 known in Europe till after the discovery of the New 
 World. It is thought indeed that it is a native 
 of Paraguay, where a variety is found differing in 
 some respects from the cultivated kind, but not so 
 essentially as to be regarded as a distinct species. 
 Sir Wm. Hooker however relates a curious cir- 
 cumstance, namely, that some grains called 
 mummy wheat were sent him from Egypt, which 
 proved to be maize, and maize of that variety 
 which comes from Paraguay. It was reported to 
 have been taken from the inside of a mummy, on 
 
LECT. IV.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 Ill 
 
 as good authority perhaps as most of the speci- 
 mens of that kind which have been brought over«, 
 a fact that ought to render us cautious in believ- 
 ing the reports of the Arabs in similar cases ; for 
 it seems next to certain, that some fraud must 
 here have been practised, as a valuable plant like 
 maize, if ever known in Egypt, could not fail to 
 have become general in a country so well suited 
 for its cultivation. 
 
 Nevertheless, it is certainly curious, that it 
 should have been, not the commonly cultivated 
 variety, but the one indigenous in Paraguay, 
 which was passed off amongst the contents of an 
 Egyptian tomb. 
 
 Of triticmn, Columella enumerates several kinds; 
 namely, robus, siligo, and trimestre; the latter of 
 which was a kind of spring- wheat : but it is diffi- 
 cult to identify the others with the varieties now 
 cultivated. That called robus was the best in 
 point of weight and brightness. 
 
 Bradley considers robus to be the bearded red 
 wheat of Parkinson's Herbal, triticum aristis muni- 
 tum ; and siligo, triticum spied muticd of the same 
 author. But Gaza supposes it to be the same as 
 oXvpa of the Greeks, or olyra of Pliny, which has 
 been already alluded to. 
 
 In thus enumerating the kinds of grain known 
 to the Romans, it may appear remarkable that 
 no mention should have been hitherto made of 
 
 a Mons. Kifault, a French traveller, reports that he obtained 
 these grains of maize himself from an Egyptian catacomb. 
 
112 
 
 LECTURES ON [lect. iv. 
 
 barley : but the fact is, that Columella classifies 
 this amongst pulses, for no better reason than 
 because it served as a ptisan, barley-water being 
 made from it. 
 
 Of this grain he enumerates two sorts, galati- 
 cum, and cantherinum or liexastichum. The latter 
 is the commoner sort ; and a variety of it, on ac- 
 count of its supposed productiveness, is called by 
 the French orge celeste: but the only sort with 
 six rows cultivated in Great Britain is that called 
 here or higg^ chiefly confined to Scotland, and only 
 valued on account of its hardiness. 
 
 With us the variety most in esteem is the two- 
 rowed, hordeum distichum, of which kind was the 
 galaticum. This mixed with wheat, Columella 
 says, makes excellent bread ; and indeed all the 
 inferior animals thrive upon barley better than 
 they do upon wheat, and even to man it is more 
 nutritious than the inferior kinds of the latter. 
 
 Although Columella takes no notice of the use 
 of barley in making beer, he mentions in one 
 place'' zijthum, a beverage known to be obtained 
 from this species of grain. For zythum is alluded 
 to both by Theophrastus*^ and by Dioscorides, as 
 prepared from barley, and, as we learn from Pliny, 
 was the name by which it was known in Egypt ; 
 whilst similar liquors were called in Spain ccelia 
 and ceria, and in Gaul cervisia, Slc.^ (Lib. xxii.) 
 
 ^ Lib. X. 1 1 6. c In Theophrastus Z^dos, from few, ferveo. 
 
 d Dioscorides mentions a sort of drink called Kovpyn, made of 
 barley. This word bears a close analogy to mirw, the Welsh term 
 for ale. 
 
LECT. IV.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 113 
 
 Pliny in another passage appears to regard 
 these liquors as somewhat distinct in quality, 
 though all inebriating, and states that in Spain 
 they keep good for a considerable time. (Lib. xiv.) 
 
 It is a pity he does not inform us in what way 
 this was effected, as hops do not appear to have 
 been employed in brewing by the Ancients 
 
 The same author even alludes to the use of 
 barm as a ferment for bread, which, he says, is 
 rendered lighter in consequence of this addition : 
 " Gallise et Hispanise frumento in potum resoluto, 
 quibus diximus generibus, spuma ita concrete pro 
 fermento utuntur. Qua de causa levior illis, quam 
 cseteris^ panis est.'' 
 
 The Polenta of the ancients, mentioned by Cato 
 and Columella, was also a preparation of barley^, 
 concerning which directions are given in Pliny. 
 It seems to have formed a kind of water-gruel 
 or porridge 
 
 The Bean mentioned by Columella was pro- 
 bably (Bradley says) the faba sylvestris Grascorum 
 
 * According to Beckmann, we have no certain knowledge of 
 hops being introduced into beer before the Carolingian Dynasty, 
 but Columella, in the passage above alluded to, states, that the 
 Egyptians infused the bitter seeds of the Lupine into their beer 
 to moderate its sweetness. Lib. x. 1 1 6. 
 
 Jam Siser, Assyrioque venit quae semine radix, 
 Sectaque prsebetur madido sociata lupino : 
 Ut Pelusiaci proritet pocula Zj^hi. 
 ^ Lib. xviii. <= See Pliny, and also Galen. 
 
 ^ Being a very strengthening food, the Gladiators were fed 
 upon it, and therefore were called hordearii. (Pliny.) 
 
 I 
 
114 
 
 LECTURES ON 
 
 [LECT. IV. 
 
 of Parkinson, or /ci^Vo? aypio^ of the Greeks. The 
 seed they compared to that of the lotus and tere- 
 binthus, which does not accord with our common 
 garden bean, but agrees with the faba si/lvestris 
 GrcBCorum . 
 
 Modern botanists however (Dec. Prod.) recognise 
 only one species of faba, the vicia faba of Linnseus, 
 of which all our cultivated sorts are varieties ; and 
 the only question therefore is, whether the /a^« of 
 Virgil and Columella corresponds with this plant, 
 or not. 
 
 Martin and most other writers seem indeed to 
 take this for granted ; but Heyne says, that faba 
 was different from our bean, having a round and 
 smaller pod. Dickson however concludes, that, 
 upon the whole, the description given by Theo- 
 phrastus answers better to our small bean than 
 to any other plant cultivated in our fields and 
 gardens^ ; and the present Italian name of bean, 
 fava, is favourable to this supposition. 
 
 The following are amongst the directions given 
 by Columella respecting this vegetable : 
 
 Beans require a well-manured and very rich 
 soil. Some think that they enrich the soil like 
 dung ; but in his opinion they only do not 
 consume the strength of the soil so much as other 
 seeds; for it is certain, that the land is better 
 prepared for wheat, after laying fallow, than after 
 a bean-crop. The old husbandmen used to mace- 
 rate the seed in nitrum (alkaline ley) and amurca 
 e See Schneider's note to Columella, Lib. ii. cap. lo. 
 
LECT. IV.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 115 
 
 (the lees of oil), before sowing, as Virgil recom- 
 mends : 
 
 " Grandior ut foetus siliquis tallacibus esset ; 
 Et, quainvis igni exiguo properata maderent." 
 
 (Georg. i. 195.) 
 
 Medica {medicago lupulina or sativa), commonly 
 called lucerne, acts as a manure to the land, fat- 
 tens lean stock, agrees with those that are sick, 
 and admits of being mowed four or five times a 
 year. 
 
 Columella recommends our raking the seeds 
 in, as soon as they are sown ; he praises it as 
 the most excellent of the legumes or pulses, be- 
 cause one sowing lasts ten years, enriches the 
 land that produces it, and affords in one juge- 
 rum nourishment for three horses. 
 
 Thus Lucerne would seem to be better adapted 
 for the climate of Italy than for that of England, 
 its culture here being confined chiefly to Kent 
 and the Channel Islands. 
 
 Lupines, Columella says, are serviceable both 
 as food, and as improving the land when ploughed 
 in as a manure. This practice is still pursued in 
 Italy, but in England lupines are chiefly known 
 to us as ornamental flowers. They love a light 
 red soil. The bitterness of the seeds is the chief 
 objection to this vegetable as an article of food. 
 Virgil calls it tristis, an epithet which cannot 
 apply to the appearance of the plant, which is 
 bright and cheerful, but has reference to the taste 
 of the seeds. 
 
 I 2 
 
116 LECTURES ON [lect. iv. 
 
 Vetches (vicia) are to be sown twice, viz. in au- 
 tumn and in January. They were the vicia sativa 
 or Tares of English husbandry. All animals are 
 fond of them, and thrive upon them in an emi- 
 nent degree. Hogs in particular fatten upon 
 this food very rapidly. 
 
 Foenum Grsecum (Trigonella foenum Grsecum) 
 which Pliny calls silicia, and the rustics siliqua, 
 is sown twice a year, in September and in Fe- 
 bruary; the first for fodder, the second to be 
 harvested. We have no experience of it in this 
 country, as it is too tender a plant for cultiva- 
 tion; although there is a small demand for it 
 medicinally, it being used at present in veterinary 
 medicine, and formerly as a remedy for piles in 
 man. 
 
 Two other kinds of pulses are alluded to in Co- 
 lumella, namely, ervum and cicera. Ervum was a 
 kind of lentil, and is supposed to be that species 
 which is called by botanists E. ervillia, or bastard 
 lentil; but its properties were very much the 
 same as those of our common lentil, ervum lens, 
 nor would the ancients have distinguished be- 
 tween the two. 
 
 Lentils are much used in the southern parts of 
 Europe, and formerly were so in England, but 
 they have been superseded by the pea and bean. 
 By some of the old botanists they are supposed 
 to be the same as opo^o^ of the Greeks ; but the 
 botanical name orobus is now appropriated to a 
 different plant. 
 
LECT. IV.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 117 
 
 The Ervum of Columella was sown in autumn 
 and February. He states, that it thrives in a 
 meagre and dry soil, and that the term opoj3o9 
 was said to be given to it because it fattened 
 oxen. 
 
 For this vegetable cicer was often substituted, 
 of which plant, Pliny says, there are two kinds, 
 columbinum and arietinum. Cicer columhinum is 
 supposed to be the plant called by botanists la- 
 ihyrus sativus, or Chichling vetch % cultivated in 
 the south of Europe, and in our gardens. 
 Cicer arietinum, or chick-pea, also abounds in 
 the south of Europe, but is too tender for field 
 cultivation with us, and also, when sown in cold 
 countries, is apt to degenerate. Columella says 
 that cicer is given to oxen bruised instead of 
 ervum, and that it is not unpalatable even to 
 man. 
 
 Hemp, cannabis, requires a fat and well-manured 
 soil, well watered and deeply dug. It is sown about 
 the end of February or the beginning of March, 
 or even, if the weather be rainy, as late as the 
 vernal equinox. Its use was for cordage ; for 
 no mention appears to have been made of those 
 intoxicating properties which belong to the same 
 plant when cultivated in India, and which are 
 celebrated under the name of hachish in Algeria, 
 and bang in the Indies. 
 
 Flax, linum, as being particularly noxious to 
 the land, is not to be sown unless when the 
 e Bot. Mag. pi. 115. 
 
118 
 
 LECTURES ON [lect. iv. 
 
 largeness of the produce, or the high price 
 which it will fetch, holds oiit a strong induce- 
 ment. In which case the richest soil is to be 
 selected. 
 
 This is confirmed by the testimony of Virgil, 
 who says that flax burns up the soil, 
 
 " Urit enim lini campum seges," 
 
 (Gborg. i. 77.) 
 
 and is in accordance with the experience of 
 modern farmers, who pronounce it to be an ex- 
 hauster of the soil, especially when the seeds are 
 allowed to arrive at maturity. When pulled up 
 green indeed, it is less injurious ; but still, at 
 whatever period it may be reaped, it acts in a 
 certain degree as an impoverisher of the soil, 
 inasmuch as its stems yield no return in manure, 
 and its seeds only do so when consumed upon 
 the farm. 
 
 As there is some difliculty in ascertaining what 
 is meant by the two next grains I have to men- 
 tion, I mean rapa and napus, I will first observe 
 what is stated by ancient writers on the subject 
 of either. 
 
 Rapa and riapus, Pliny says, are good for cattle, 
 and in Gaul they constitute their winter food. 
 Both like a putre and solutum solum, but rapa 
 thrives best in moist places, napus in dry and 
 sandy ones, and one is converted into the other 
 when the soil is changed. Rapa is cultivated for 
 the sake of cattle, napus of man. 
 
 Pliny goes on to say that there are three kinds 
 
LECT.iv.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 119 
 
 of rapa; one kind is flat and broad; a second 
 round ; a third, the wild kind, with a long root 
 like a radish, a pointed and rough leaf, and an 
 acrid juice. 
 
 But the most perplexing circumstance is what 
 Columella states, as to rapa, when sown in a dif- 
 ferent soil for ten years being changed into 
 napus ; and that of napus, when sown in a differ- 
 ent soil, being converted into rapa. 
 
 It would seem from this, either that the Ro- 
 mans did not distinguish between turnips, and 
 cole or rape, or else that the terms napus and 
 rapa both apply to turnips of different varieties. 
 Botanists, on the contrary, have been in the habit 
 of designating turnips by the specific name of 
 brassica rapa, and rape by that of b. napus, re- 
 garding these plants as distinct species, and not 
 as varieties of the same. 
 
 Having now settled, so far as we are able, the 
 kind of vegetables that were sown upon a Roman 
 farm, we are in a position to understand the 
 directions which Columella and others have given, 
 with respect to the various operations of hus- 
 bandry, by means of which a crop of each was 
 obtained. 
 
 And first with respect to ploughing. 
 
 The directions which Columella gives on this 
 subject are judicious and practical. He con- 
 demns the custom, common, as it should seem, 
 in his age, as it is now in various parts of 
 
120 LECTURES ON [lect. iv. 
 
 the continent, of yoking together the oxen by 
 their horns, instead of harnessing them to the 
 plough, and remarks justly, that the animals are 
 tortured, as well as rendered inefficient, by this 
 absurd method. 
 
 " Plus enim queunt pecudes coUo et pectore 
 conari, quara cornibus, atque hoc modo tota 
 mole corporis, totoque pondere nituntur ; at illo, 
 retractis et resupinis capitibus excruciantur, 
 segreque terrj3e summam partem levi admodum 
 vomere sauciant." 
 
 Rich land should be ploughed, if wet, early in 
 the season, before the herbaceous plants have 
 ripened their seeds, and the ploughing ought to 
 be repeated till it can scarcely be perceived 
 where the share has passed. Poor land on the 
 contrary, if wet, is first ploughed at the end of 
 August, or the beginning of September, a practice 
 no doubt more suitable to the hot climate of 
 Italy than to our own, since the exposure of light 
 land to the full influence of the sun may there 
 have been prejudicial. 
 
 Virgil gives similar advice, recommending if the 
 soil is rich, to plough it early in the year ; if poor, 
 only slightly to turn it up about the rising of 
 Arcturus, (i. e.) about the autumnal equinox. 
 
 " Ergo age, terras 
 Pihgue solum primis extemplo a mensibus anni 
 Fortes invertant tauri, glebasque jacentes 
 Pulverulenta coquat maturis solibus sestas ; 
 At si non fuerit tcllus fecimda, sub ipsum 
 Arcturum tenui sat erit suspendere sulco." (Georg. i.63.) 
 
LBGT. IV.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 121 
 
 Dickson has pointed out, that from the pecuUar 
 construction of the ordinary Roman plough 
 which he conceives to have had neither coulter 
 nor mould board, furrows would only be made in 
 the land when the share was held obliquely; 
 and that when held straight, it only divided 
 without turning over the soil. 
 
 He is borne out in this surmise by a passage 
 of Varro, in which it is said, that on the third 
 ploughing after the seed has been thrown in, 
 bom^ds being added to the share, they cover over the 
 seed in the ridges, and make furrows for carry- 
 ing off the rain. Then it is that the oxen are said 
 lirare. 
 
 "Tertio cum arant jacto semine, boves lirare 
 dicuntur; id est, cum tabellis additis ad vome- 
 rem simul, et satum frumentum operiunt in por- 
 cis, et sulcant fossas, quo pluvialis aqua dela- 
 batur." 
 
 Now as the main object in the previous plough- 
 ings was to stir and pulverise the soil, by turning 
 again and again upon the same tract, few traces 
 of the course taken by the plough would be 
 perceived, when the operation was skilfully 
 executed. 
 
 Hence the overseer is directed to probe the 
 land with a stake, in order to ascertain better 
 
 f The Virgilian plough is described as having a mould board ; 
 but this Dickson supposes to have been only used for covering the 
 seed when sown, whereas the common plough, employed to pre- 
 pare the soil for the seed, was destitute of it. 
 
122 LECTURES ON [lect. iv. 
 
 than he can hy the eye, whether it has been 
 thoroughly broken up by the plough. 
 
 Great importance was accordingly attached by 
 the Romans to straight ploughing. The term 
 " prevaricare," as Pliny informs us, was first ap- 
 plied to a peasant w^ho ploughed crooked, and 
 afterwards transferred to a witness in the law- 
 courts who deviated from the truth ; and as the 
 ridge thrown up by the plough was called lira, 
 the verb delirare originally signified, to make 
 an irregular ridge, and was afterwards applied to 
 those whose mental faculties were in an abnormal 
 condition. 
 
 In order to pulverize the soil completely, and 
 to break down the scamna or lumps, that were 
 apt to occur in the intervals between the courses 
 taken by the plough, Columella recommends, 
 that the implement should be afterwards made 
 to cross the field in a direction at right angles to 
 its former course. 
 
 Virgil also makes the same remark : 
 
 Et qui, proscisso qua3 suscitat sBquore terga, 
 Rursus in obliquum verso perrumpit aratro. 
 
 (Georg. i. 97.) 
 
 Three, if not four, ploughings were commonly 
 given to land by the Roman farmers in the time 
 of Columella, and Virgil recommends that corn 
 land should have two ploughings given it in cold, 
 and two more in warm weather. 
 
 Ilia seges demum votis respondet avari 
 Agricola3, bis qu93 solcni, bis frigora sensit. 
 
 (Geoug. i. 47.) 
 
LECT. IV.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 123 
 
 In accordance with which practice, of the twelve 
 inferior gods who presided over agriculture, four 
 were especially invoked during the acts of plough- 
 ing ; namely Vervactor at the first, when the land 
 was made vervactum, or the fallow was first turned 
 up; Reparator during the second, when the ground 
 was cut by the plough in a transverse direction ; 
 Imporcator at the third, when the land was made 
 into jjorcce or ridges ; and Oborator at the fourth, 
 when the seed was sown. Accordingly Columella 
 tells us, that on wet land the first ploughing was 
 given in April, the second in June, and the third 
 at the end of August, or the beginning of Septem- 
 ber ; whereas on rich land, on a declivity, the first 
 ploughing was given in March, or even, if the sea- 
 son was warm and dry, in February ; the second 
 from the middle of April to the summer solstice ; 
 and the third about September. 
 Thus Virgil : 
 
 " Vere novo, gelidus canis quum niontibus humor 
 Liquitur, et zephyro putris se gleba resolvit ; 
 Depresso incipiat jam turn mihi taurus aratro 
 Ingemere, et sulco attritus splendescere vomer." 
 
 (Georg. i. 45.) 
 
 In both cases these ploughings were prepara- 
 tory to the throwing up of the ridges in which 
 the seed was deposited; for the same author adds : 
 
 " Sed jugerum talis agri quatuor operis ex- 
 peditur; nam commode proscinditur duabus, una 
 iteratur, tertiatur dodrante, in liram satum redi- 
 gitur, quadrante operee ;" that is to say, the juge- 
 
124 LECTURES ON [lect. iv. 
 
 rum is finished by four days' work ; for it is 
 stirred up the first time in two days, the second 
 time in one ; it is then gone over a third time by 
 a ploughing nine inches deep, and is brought into 
 the form of furrows by a fourth and last opera- 
 tion. 
 
 In applying manure to the land, Columella 
 lays stress upon ploughing it in, and covering it 
 over immediately with earth, so that it may not 
 lose its strength with the influence of the sun, 
 and may impart all its virtue to the soil. 
 
 Hence, when heaps of dung are brought to the 
 land, a larger quantity ought not to be scattered 
 over it, than what the labourers can cover the 
 same day. 
 
 It is satisfactory to have the sanction of a 
 practical writer like Columella, to the correctness 
 of a rule, which scientific principles of farming 
 would lead us to inculcate. If the ammoniacal 
 contents of manure are of any value, (and that 
 they are, I cannot bring myself to doubt), it is 
 obvious, that the common practice of allowing 
 the dung to remain in little heaps on the surface, 
 long before it is ploughed in, must be wasteful, 
 by allowing the escape of the volatile matters 
 which would otherwise go to enrich the soil. 
 
 I have mentioned in a former Lecture that 
 the Romans seem to have had some glimpses of 
 the doctrine of the rotation of crops ; but it does 
 not appear, that any system of culture founded 
 
LECT. IV.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 125 
 
 upon this knowledge was in general use amongst 
 them. 
 
 Varro indeed states, that in the country about 
 Olynthus the land was cultivated without inter- 
 mission, but still in such a manner, that it bore 
 a richer crop on the third year than on the two 
 preceding. 
 
 This however is mentioned as an exceptional 
 case, and whilst Varro states that the ground 
 ought either to lie fallow, or at least to bear a 
 crop which takes less out of it every other year, 
 Pliny goes farther, remarking, that the former is 
 the most useful plan, if the extent of the farm 
 allows of it. 
 
 Virgil also directs the same thing : 
 
 " Alternis idem tonsas cessare novales, 
 Et segnem patiere situ durescere campum." 
 
 (Georg. i. 71.) 
 
 And the existence of this practice seems to be 
 taken for granted in many passages of Columella, 
 as Dickson has well shewn. 
 
 It appears then, that except in districts re- 
 markable for their fertility, such as Campania, 
 the land was allowed to lie fallow every other 
 year, and that when cultivated without fallow it 
 was called restibilis, whereas when newly brought 
 under culture it went by the name of noimlis ; 
 and consequently the latter epithet was applied 
 to it when it had lain fallow the year before. 
 
 Hence the bitterness of the complaint of the 
 Mantuan peasant, that the very fields which had 
 
126 
 
 LECTURES ON 
 
 [lECT. IV. 
 
 I)een allowed to produce nothing- during the pre- 
 ceding year, in order that they might bear him a 
 better crop in this, should be wrested from him 
 by a foreign soldiery : 
 
 " Impius haec tam culta novalia miles habebit ? 
 Barbarus has segetes ?" (Eclog, i. 7 i .) 
 
 It is interesting to remark, that in the recent 
 experiments of the Rev. Mr. Smith at Lois Weedon, 
 this alternate system of fallow and culture has 
 been adopted with such success, that a series of 
 luxuriant crops of wheat have been produced 
 without the addition of manure, from the portion 
 of land which had been allowed to rest the pre- 
 ceding year^. 
 
 The ground being thus prepared, by a series of 
 ploughings following upon the fallow of the pre- 
 
 ^ Mr. Smith's system is as follows : — He begins by dividing his 
 corn field into sections of 5 feet in width. In the centre of each 
 section he drops or drills the seed in triple rows 3 feet apart, so 
 that between each triple row there is an interval of 3 feet left 
 fallow when the plant is up. He trenches the spaces between the 
 cultivated portion with the fork, taking up the soil to within 3 
 inches of the wheat crop. These spaces are kept clean at spring 
 and during summer with the blades of the sharp-cutting bean 
 hoe, and are kept open with the tines of the scuflJer. Thus each 
 year 2-i- feet of each section of the field are trenched and pre- 
 pared for the succeeding crop; whilst the other 2 feet are left for 
 the crop at the time growing ; so that one half of the land ia 
 yielding wheat, and the other half left fallow in preparation for 
 the succeeding year. 
 
 See Mr. Smith's pamphlet, entitled, A Word in Season ; or. 
 How to Grow Wheat with Profit : and a Lecture of mine pub- 
 lished in the Gardener's Chronicle in 1854, in which his method 
 is explained. 
 
LECT.iv.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 127 
 
 ceding year, the next operation to which it was 
 subjected was the sowing of the seed of the crop 
 which it was designed to obtain. 
 
 Wheat and spelt are not to be sown, according 
 to Virgil's instructions, before the ninth calend of 
 November. 
 
 " At si triticeam in messem robustaque farra 
 Exercebis humum, solisque instabis aristis : 
 Ante tibi Eoae Atlantides abscondantur, 
 Gnosiaque ardentis decedat stella Coronse, 
 Debita quam sulcis committas semina, quamque 
 Invitse properes anni spem credere terrse." 
 
 (Georg. i. 219.) 
 
 Now the Pleiades set about the autumnal equi- 
 nox, and the crown of Ariadne emerges about the 
 13th or 14th of October. 
 
 This period however, Columella says, is rather 
 late for wet and cold soils. 
 
 A different mode of sowing appears to have 
 prevailed according to the nature of the land. 
 On wet soils the seed was deposited in ridges, 
 the ground being turned up after the seed had 
 been scattered. On dry ground, on the contrary, 
 the ground was first ridged, and the seed then 
 introduced into the furrows intervening. 
 
 In Columella we meet with calculations as to 
 the quantity of seed which it is advisable to 
 sow, a point of some interest to a modern reader, 
 because it has been contended, that a less quan- 
 tity of grain is required in a warm country than 
 in a cold one. 
 
 Thus the following facts and calculations are 
 
128 
 
 LECTURES ON [lect. iv. 
 
 given by a writer in the Annals of Agriculture 
 relative to this subject : — 
 
 to the French 
 hectare. 
 
 QUANTITY. 
 
 In Egypt I modius of corn per Bushels. 
 
 aroure 5,593 | 
 
 In Palestine, a saton of corn per 
 
 bethsech 5»593 
 
 In Greece, a medimnum per jou- 
 
 geron 6,504 
 
 In Sicily, a medimnum per jougeron 7,079 
 In Murcia, a fanega per fanega of 
 
 land 7,000 
 
 In Italy, five modius per jugerum... 7,193 
 In Castillo, a fanega per fanega of 
 
 land 7*763 
 
 In Navarre, one and a half conque 
 
 per acre 8,000 
 
 In the Isle of France, 8-^ bushels 
 
 per acre 8,500 
 
 In England, 3^ bushels per acre 8,878 
 In Denmark, 1 tons per toude- 
 
 hart-korn 10,140 
 
 I give this statement as I find it, without 
 having verified the data upon which it proceeds, 
 but from my own calculations I arrive at rather 
 a different result. 
 
 Thus, Columella states, the proper quantity of 
 wheat to be sown to an acre {jugerum) is from 4 to 
 5 modii ; the modius rather exceeding an English 
 
 c Vol. xvi. for 1791, p. 340, I have substituted hectare for acre 
 or arpent in the text, as the latter evidently did not accord with 
 the calculations of the author, in the only instance in which I have 
 examined them, viz. with reference to the proportion between the 
 quantity sown in England and in France. 
 
LECT. IV.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 129 
 
 peck. As however the Roman acre contained 
 only 28,800 square feet, w^hilst ours contains 
 43,560, the proportion is pretty nearly pre- 
 served. 
 For as 
 
 288 : 5 : : 435 : 7.7 
 which comes very near to 8 pecks, or 2 bushels. 
 
 Now the quantity usually sown to the acre in 
 England varies from 2 to 3 bushels. 
 
 Columella seems to be rather in favour of thin 
 sowing on rich and loose soil. When sown thin, 
 he says, the crop tillers, and thus becomes more 
 productive: — "At ubi ex imo semine plurimis 
 culmis fruticavit, etiam ex rara segete densam 
 facit." 
 
 Spring sowing succeeds in cold and snowy 
 spots, when the summer is moist and without 
 fogs, but in other cases the autumn is the best 
 time. There is no distinct species of spring 
 wheat. 
 
 Where the crop becomes injured by any salt 
 emanations proceeding from the ground, pigeon's 
 dung or the leaves of the cypress, may be applied 
 as a remedy. 
 
 But, after all, the ancient practice of draining 
 off the water by cutting furrows is the only 
 effectual cure. 
 
 A selection should be made for sowing of the 
 finest and most healthy seeds; for although it 
 does not always follow that plump seed will pro- 
 duce plump grain, yet the latter cannot be ob- 
 
 K 
 
130 
 
 LECTURES ON [lect. iv. 
 
 tained from such seed as is poor and shrivelled ; 
 as Virgil indeed has remarked in Georg. i. 197. 
 
 It may be mentioned, with reference to the ex- 
 periments now carrying on to ascertain the vi- 
 tality of seeds, that according to Varro, as quoted 
 by Pliny, wheat preserves its vitality for 50 
 years, millet for 100, and beans for 120. 
 
 This greatly exceeds the duration which I 
 have found to belong to the seeds which have 
 come under the experiments instituted under my 
 direction*, but at any rate they agree so far, that 
 the seeds of leguminous plants appear to possess 
 greater longevity than the rest. 
 
 After the seeds have been scattered over the 
 ground, the next concern of the farmer was to 
 harrow them in, an operation which went by the 
 name of occatio. 
 
 " Sementi facta" says Columella, " inoccari oportet 
 quod sparseris." 
 
 This was done either by the rastrum or by the 
 crates, which have been above described. 
 
 Then followed the sareling with the sarculum, 
 called by the Roman writers sarritio ; an operation, 
 which in dry and sunny places, he says, should 
 
 a See Report of these trials in the Transactions of the British 
 Association for the Advancement of Science. In the volume for 
 1850 a summary of the results obtained from 1840 to 1850 
 inclusive is given, from which it appears, that the only seeds which 
 had preserved their Aatality after 40 years, belonged to the 
 Leguminosse, viz. a species of Colutea, and of Coronilla. 
 
LECT. IV.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 131 
 
 be done as soon as possible before the winter 
 comes on, and again repeated after it is over; 
 but in cold and marshy places should be post- 
 poned until the winter is past. This operation 
 however was not performed once only, but again 
 and again ; in the case of beans, three times. 
 
 Mr. Dickson enters at large into the question 
 what this operation was, and concludes, that it 
 was of the nature of hand-hoeing, and not the 
 same as harrowing, as Mr. TuU had asserted. Its 
 object seems to have been twofold, to admit air 
 to the roots of plants, and to destroy weeds. 
 
 When weeding was performed by the hand, 
 and not by the hoe, the operation was called 
 runcatio. It was to be done, Columella says, 
 either before or after, but not at the time at 
 which the plant is in flower. 
 
 These then being the principal operations which 
 the husbandman will have to execute in the 
 ordinary course of field culture. Columella next 
 enters into a calculation of the number of days' 
 labour, which will be required in the case of a 
 few of the principal crops. 
 
 For 4 or 5 modii (pecks) of wheat 
 
 Sowing and ploughing 4 days 
 
 Harrowing i 
 
 Hoeing ist time 2 
 
 • 2nd time i 
 
 Weeding i 
 
 Reaping j | 
 
 Total \o\ days 
 
 K 2 
 
132 
 
 LECTURES ON [lect. iv. 
 
 Of barley the same quantity will take in all 
 only 64 clays' labour. 
 
 (columella infers from his calculations, that a 
 corn field of 200 acres, with the pulse that ought 
 to go with it, may be worked with two yokes of 
 oxen, as many ploughmen, and six labourers. 
 
 For 25 acres of wheat require 115 days' labour 
 
 pulse 60 
 
 Rainy days and holydays 45 
 
 Days of rest after sowing 30 
 
 8 months 10 days 
 Remain 3 25 
 
 for sowing spring wheat, and carrying, dung, hay, 
 food, and implements. Hence (25 x 8) = 200 acres 
 will require the labour of 8 men. 
 
 Some authors recommend employing lupines, 
 beans, vetches and other legumes for manuring 
 the land, a practice which Columella approved, as 
 relating to lupine and even vetches, provided, 
 after it has been mowed down in a green state, 
 the land is immediately ploughed, so that what 
 the sickle has spared, the share should turn up, 
 otherwise the roots left in the ground tend to 
 exhaust it. 
 
 Flax on the contrary and cicera impoverish the 
 land, as Virgil remarks, 
 
 " Urit enim lini campum seges. urit avenas : 
 Urunt lethaeo perfusa papavera somno." 
 
 (Georg. i. 77.) 
 
 Nevertheless, in all these cases the application of 
 stable dung restores fertility to the land. 
 
LECT. IV.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 133 
 
 Hence it is of great importance to consider the 
 different kinds of dung, of which we may enume- 
 rate three — that of birds, of man and of cattle. 
 
 Of the first, pigeon's dung is the richest, then 
 that of fowls, except it be of web-footed ones, 
 which is noxious. Next in value to pigeon's dung 
 is that of man, especially if mixed with the other 
 kinds of town filth. Human urine, if kept six 
 months, is excellent for vines and apple trees, im- 
 proving the flavour of the fruit. 
 
 Of the dung of cattle, that of the ass is said to 
 be the best, then of sheep, then of goats, then of 
 horses, and oxen, whilst pig's dung stands lowest 
 in the scale. 
 
 Where stable dung cannot be obtained, the 
 farmer should collect leaves, scrapings of the 
 sheep pen, ashes, the contents of privies, &c. to 
 supply its place, and these are to remain, until 
 the seeds of plants which they contain have rotted 
 away. 
 
 The dung should not be more than a year old, 
 as its virtue is afterwards impaired. Accordingly, 
 if a field is to be sowed with wheat in autumn, it 
 should be dunged in September ; if in the spring, 
 in the winter previous. 18 loads of dung suffice for 
 an acre of level ground, 24 for an upland one. The 
 heaps ought not to be spread over the land before 
 the ploughing begins ; and if any thing has pre- 
 vented your doing it at that time, you should 
 scatter afterwards the pulverized dung from the 
 aviaries over the land, as you do the seed. 
 
134 LECTURES ON [lect. iv. 
 
 If dung be wanting, it is useful to spread chalk 
 over sandy places, and sand over chalky ones. 
 Or if this cannot be done, lupines should be sown 
 and ploughed in. 
 
 This account does not, it must be confessed, 
 shew much discrimination as to the particular 
 uses of these several substances, for it cannot be 
 admitted, that lupines, as a fallow, will do to take 
 the place of stable dung, nor even that chalk or 
 marl^ as such, can be substituted. 
 
 Nevertheless it is not improbable, from the 
 recent discoveries made with respect to the pre- 
 sence of large quantities of phosphate of lime in 
 the green-sand, and in other of the rocks, and from 
 beds containing an abundant supply of this in- 
 gredient being called marls, as we are told is the 
 case in Hampshire, that the virtue the ancients 
 attributed to marl in agriculture may in some 
 cases have been owing to the phosphate present in 
 them, in which case they would really be a fair 
 and proper substitute for stable manure. 
 
 Pliny speaks of various sorts of marl — alba, 
 rufa, columbina, argillacea, tofacea, arenaria ; and 
 makes mention of veins of marl running through 
 the rocks, like veins in mines — " ut in metallis." 
 
 He states, that in Britain it has been used as a 
 good dressing to land for eighty years ; and that 
 one sort of marl is raised in lumps like stones, 
 and is reduced to shivers by the rain and frost. 
 
 But that which brings his description more 
 close to that of the Farnham phosphorite, is where 
 
LECT. IV.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 135 
 
 he describes a kind, which he says " est quidam 
 terrse adeps, ac velut glandia in corporibus, ibi 
 densante se pinguedinis nucleo." 
 
 This precisely corresponds to the little lumps 
 of marl found in the green sand at Farnham, im- 
 pregnated with phosphorite. 
 
 In all cases, liowever, the farmer, whatever 
 crops he cultivates, must possess a supply of 
 hay; and hence meadow or pasture land is of 
 the greatest importance. Cato indeed, as we have 
 seen, assigned the first place to it ; and undoubt- 
 edly it is less affected by the seasons, and re- 
 quires a smaller outlay, than any other description 
 of land. 
 
 It is of two kinds, dry and irrigated. 
 
 If the soil be in itself rich, it does not require 
 irrigation, and produces a better description of 
 herbage than that which has undergone this 
 treatment. If irrigated, it must be on a slope, 
 so that there may be a continuous flow of water 
 from it, or it will degenerate into marsh. 
 
 In the culture of meadows care should be taken 
 that no roots or stumps of trees remain in the 
 ground, nor thorns, or large weeds. 
 
 Swine must not be allowed to feed on them, 
 because they dig with their snouts, and tear up 
 the turf; nor the larger kinds of cattle, unless 
 when the ground is dry. 
 
 Stones should be carried off the ground, and 
 moss got rid of, either by removing or by ploughing 
 
136 LECTURES ON [lect.it. 
 
 them up : in which latter case, we sow the land, 
 first with turnips, the year following with wheat, 
 next grub and plough up all the brambles and 
 weeds, and then plant vetches. This done, we 
 beat and pulverize the soil well, and finally, if 
 there be a supply of water, irrigate it. 
 
 The practice of irrigation, which in this humid 
 climate is confined to comparatively few situa- 
 tions, is in warm countries, like Spain and Italy, 
 almost essential to successful cultivation. 
 
 Its neglect in the former country, since the ex- 
 pulsion of the Moors, has greatly diminished the 
 productiveness of the soil ; whilst its good effects 
 are still striking in Valentia, where it continues 
 to be practised. The facultas aquce, of which Co- 
 lumella speaks, is with them prized as of the most 
 inestimable advantage. 
 
 Nor is it less important in Lombardy and other 
 parts of the Italian peninsula, as may be seen by 
 reference to the work of Sismondi on Tuscan 
 Agriculture, and others. 
 
 Virgil too has given us, in a few masterly 
 strokes, a very animated picture of the process of 
 irrigation in his time : 
 
 " Deinde satis fluvium inducit, rivosque sequentes ? 
 Et, cum exustus ager morientibus aestuat herbis, 
 Ecce supercilio clivosi tramitis undam 
 Elicit ? ilia cadens raucura per levia murmur 
 Saxa ciet, scatebrisque arentia temperat arva." 
 
 (Gborg. i. 106.) 
 
 Pliny informs us, that the best kind of herbage 
 
LECT. IV.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 137 
 
 was trefoil ; the next, common grass ; the worst, 
 on account of the injurious nature of its seed- 
 vessels, mimulus. What this plant might have been 
 has much puzzled Commentators. Some regard 
 it as Lysimachia nummularia, reading nummulus 
 for mimulus ; but it is more probable, I think, that 
 the text is correct, and that the plant intended, 
 was either rhinanthus crista galli, or pedicularis 
 sylvatica, the first of which is distasteful, and 
 the latter injurious, to cattle. Equiseta, or horse- 
 tails, are also much disliked by the mower. 
 
 There was a kind of fodder cultivated in Cato's 
 time, but not mentioned by subsequent writers, 
 called ocinum ; which appears to have been a 
 mixture of several kinds of plants proper for the 
 food of cattle, as farrago was a mixture of various 
 kinds of grain. It must be carefully distinguished 
 from ocymum, the herb hmil, which is noticed by 
 Columella. 
 
 Grass ought to be mown before it gets dry, as 
 it yields a more abundant as well as a sweeter 
 food. Before it is housed, it should be put up 
 into covered ricks {metcB). 
 
 With respect to corn, it should be reaped as 
 soon as it is ripe, to preserve it from birds, wind, 
 and rain. If cut early, the grain swells after it 
 has been housed. 
 
 In Homer's description of the shield of Achilles, 
 we have a pleasing picture of the mode of reap- 
 ing practised at that early period : 
 
138 
 
 LECTURES ON [lect. iv. 
 
 'E2/ 8' €T(det T^ixevos iSaSvKrj'iov hda 8' epiOot 
 "Hlx(ov, dfeias bpeirdvas kv x^palv e^oyres. 
 Apdyixara 8' &X.\a juer' oyjxov kTir]TpL}xa ttItttov ^pa(€, 
 "AWa 8' dp^aWobeTrjpes iv iXXebavoXa-L b^ovro. 
 Tpeis 8' dp* ajuaWoSer^pej ((picrraa-av avrdp oincrde 
 Ylatbcs bpayficvovres, iv dyKakCbecraL (jyepovres, 
 'Aairepx^s 'ndp^ypv' ISaaikevs 8' iv roiac a-Kairfj 
 ^KTjiiTpov €\u>v kaTT^KU ctt' oyfjiov yrjOocrvvos Krjp. 
 K-^pvKes 8' dirdvevdev v-no bpvi baiTa irivovTo, 
 Bovv 8' Upev(TavT€9 p,iyav dpLip^irov at 8^ yvvaiK^s 
 Uttvov ipCQoLcnv XevK d\(j>Lfa iroWa TrdXvvov. 
 
 (Iliad. <t'. 550.) 
 Another field rose high with waving grain : 
 
 With bended sickles stand the reaper-train : 
 
 Here stretcVd in ranks the levell'd swarths are found, 
 
 Sheaves heap'd on sheaves, here thicken up the ground. 
 
 With sweeping stroke the mowers strow the lands ; 
 
 The gath'rers follow, and collect in bands ; 
 
 And last the children, in whose arms are borne 
 
 (Too short to gripe them) the brown sheaves of corn. 
 
 The rustic monarch of the field descries 
 
 With silent glee, the heaps around him rise. 
 
 A ready banquet on the turf is laid. 
 
 Beneath an ample oak^s expanded shade. 
 
 The victim ox the sturdy youth prepare ; 
 
 The reaper's due repast, the women's care. 
 
 Varro, Columella, and Pliny, all three describe 
 the same process, but Pliny's account is the most 
 curious. One method, he says, was by means of 
 reaping-hooks, by which the stalks were cut off 
 in the middle with sickles, and the ears detached 
 by a pair of shears — " inter duas mergites." In 
 other cases, the corn is torn up by the roots ; a 
 practice condemned by our author, as it deprives 
 the land of the juices contained in the stubble. 
 
LECT.iv.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 139 
 
 But the most remarkable mode of reaping was 
 one adopted in Gaul, which comes near to our 
 modern reaping machine — a large and hollow 
 frame, armed with teeth, and supported on two 
 wheels, being driven through the standing corn, 
 so that the ears are torn off and fall within the 
 frame. 
 
 " Galliarum latifundiis valli prsegrandes denti- 
 bus in margine infestis, duabus rotis per segetem 
 impelluntur, jumento in contrarium juncto : ita 
 direptse in vallum cadunt spicse." (Lib. xviii. c.72.) 
 
 If the grain be cut with a part of its straw at- 
 tached, it is carried into a shed, the nubilarium, 
 and kept till a favourable day for drying it oc- 
 curs. If on the contrary the ears only are cut, 
 they are taken into the granary, and in the 
 winter thrashed out with flails or trodden out by 
 cattle. In the latter case, a tribulum, or trahce> may 
 be added. This was a thick wooden board armed 
 underneath with spikes of iron or sharp flints, 
 and pressed down by a heavy weight placed upon 
 it, so that when drawn over the corn by the oxen, 
 it separated the grain from the straw. Hence by 
 Christian writers the term tribulation has been 
 used, to express those sorrows and trials, which 
 tend to separate in men whatever is light, trivial 
 and poor, from the solid and the true, their chafl" 
 in short from their wheat. (Trench on the Study 
 of Words.) 
 
 The grain is then spread over the threshing 
 
140 LECTURES ON [lect. iv. 
 
 floor, in order that the wind may carry away the 
 chaff, but the latter must be separated by win- 
 nowing (frumenta vannis crepurgantur), if after 
 some days, this is not found to be done. For 
 there is always a risk, that a long succession of 
 calm days is the prelude to a storm, which 
 may be violent enough to sweep away the fruits 
 of our year's labour altogether, if not properly 
 housed. 
 
 Columella closes his second Book with direc- 
 tions, as to what may lawfully be done on holy- 
 days, quoting from Virgil, 
 
 " Rivos deducere nulla 
 Religio vetuit, segeti prse tender e sEepem, 
 Insidias avibus raoliri, incendere vepres, 
 Balantumque gregem fluvio mersare salubri." 
 
 To this Columella adds, as things permitted, 
 to grind corn, to cut fagots, to make candle-dips, 
 to cultivate a vineyard that has been purchased, 
 to clean out preserves of fish, ponds, or old ditches, 
 to cut aftermath, to spread manure over a field, 
 or to pile it up in heaps, to pick the fruits that 
 have been purchased from an olive plantation, 
 to dry apples, pears, and figs, to carry trees for 
 planting on the back, or on a single beast of bur- 
 then, but not on one yoked to a waggon. " Far 
 pinsere, faces incidere, candelas sebare, vineam 
 conductam colore; piscinas, lacus, fossas veteres 
 tergere et purgare, prata sicilire, stercora sequare, 
 foenum in tabulata componere, fructus oliveti 
 
LECT. IV.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY 141 
 
 conductos cogere, mala, pira, ficos pandere, ca- 
 seum facere, arbores serendi causa collo vel mulo 
 clitellario afferre : sed juncto adhibere nou per- 
 mittitur." 
 
 Other limitations then follow, which seem to 
 be ingeniously framed, so as to give a convenient 
 loophole to such masters, as were eager to extract 
 from their slaves more labour, than the religious 
 institutions of the country distinctly sanctioned. 
 
 Nevertheless, there can be no doubt, that these 
 provisions, much as they were liable to be evaded 
 by severe or grasping masters, must have contri- 
 buted in the majorit}'^ of instances greatly to the 
 mitigation of the toils of the slaves; and it is 
 remarkable, that the number of days in the year 
 which Columella calculates for holydays, and for 
 weather too stormy for outdoor-work, comes 
 within seven of the number, which the institution 
 of the Sabbath has secured to the field labourer 
 in all parts of Christendom at the present day. 
 
 It is true, that in the Romish church an addi- 
 tional number of idle days is nominally provided ; 
 but in the more industrious portions of Europe, 
 these are by no means lost to labour ; and, con- 
 sequently the proportion, which Columella men- 
 tions as recognised in ancient times, is not very 
 widely departed from at present. 
 
142 
 
 LECTURES ON [lect. v. 
 
 LECTURE V. 
 
 COLUMELLA. 
 
 BOOKS in. IV. V. 
 
 I HAVE given in the third and fourth Lectures 
 a pretty full account of the contents of the 
 second book of Columella. In the third book, the 
 Author proceeds to speak of the cultivation of 
 trees or shrubs, which furnish food to man, or in 
 other ways minister to some useful purpose. As 
 however these, for the most part, are such, as do 
 not admit of general cultivation in Great Britain, 
 I shall not find it advisable to bestow upon this 
 portion of the Treatise the same extended notice, 
 which has been taken of the earlier parts already 
 treated of. 
 
 Our Author begins by considering the culture 
 of vines, which, as it occupies the whole of the 
 3rd, and the greater part of the 4th book, con- 
 tains of course many minute directions, both 
 with reference to the preparation of the soil, 
 and the treatment of the plants themselves, 
 which might be of interest to a French or Italian 
 of the present day, but which would have little 
 practical bearing, if addressed to the British 
 farmer. 
 
LEGT.v.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 143 
 
 It may, however, be worth remarking, that 
 inasmuch as Italy is exactly the climate for the 
 vine to flourish in, a much greater latitude is 
 permitted by Columella for its cultivation, than 
 would be recognised in colder countries. 
 
 In Germany, for instance, the growth of vine- 
 yards is confined, to slopes with a southern ex- 
 posure, and to soils which from their dry and 
 loose texture ai*e especially fitted to absorb the 
 sun's rays. 
 
 Columella, on the contrary, merely says, that 
 the kind of vine is to be selected, which is most 
 suitable for each particular locality, one kind 
 thriving best in an open field, another on a hill ; 
 some succeeding in a rich, others in a poor soil. 
 In short, it would appear that vineyards may be 
 had in almost every kind of soil and of situation 
 provided only the ground be not very wet, and 
 possess no positively bad quality which can in- 
 fluence the flavour of the grape. 
 
 For as Virgil says : 
 
 Salsa autem tellus, et quse perhibetur amara, 
 Frugibus infelix, (ea nec mansuescit arando, 
 Nec Baccho genus, aut pomis sua nomina servat.") 
 
 Georg. ii. 238. 
 
 That the quality of the soil may injuriously 
 affect the vine, even when atmospheric condi- 
 tions are most favourable, is seen at the present 
 time from the wine of the Cape, which, except in 
 one particular locality, has an earthy and highly 
 disagreeable flavour, although obtained from 
 
144 LECTURES ON [lect. v. 
 
 vines derived from some of the most favom-ed 
 districts in Europe. 
 
 Nevertheless, the extremes of heat, even in 
 Italy, are to be avoided ; although of the two, an 
 excess in this respect is less hurtful than of cold, 
 as an excess of dryness is better than an excess of 
 humidity. 
 
 Columella lays great stress upon a proper 
 selection of the variety suited for the particular 
 character of the soil and position ; and enume- 
 rates a variety of kinds of grapes, known in his 
 time by particular names, of which the Aminean, 
 derived from some place in Greece, which is also 
 highly commended by Pliny, deserves the prefer- 
 ence over every other, for the quality, if not for 
 the quantity, of its produce. 
 
 There were, it appears, two sorts, of which the 
 smaller was well known, as that which covers the 
 celebrated hills of Campania and of Surrentum. 
 
 Thus it Avould appear, that at that period, as 
 at the present, the country about Naples was in 
 high repute for the vines which it afforded ; and, 
 so far as this example goes, we might be disposed 
 to set down the excellence of the wine, rather to 
 the soil and climate, than to any superiority in 
 the vine selected to grow there. 
 
 From a more general view of the question, 
 however, it will appear probable that both cir- 
 cumstances concurred ; for unquestionably one of 
 the most important of the means put into our 
 hands for improving upon Nature, consists in 
 
LECT.v.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 145 
 
 carefully selecting the best varieties, which 
 Nature developes, as it were by chance, amongst 
 an infinite number which spring up spontane- 
 ously, and in propagating them to the exclusion 
 of the rest. 
 
 It is true, that any variety, if placed in an un- 
 favourable position, gradually falls back to the 
 roughness of the original stock. 
 
 " Namque est aliquibus tantus locorum amaror," 
 says Pliny, " ut omnem in his gloriam suam relin- 
 quant." 
 
 And as Virgil says, 
 
 " Vidi lecta diu, et multo spectata labore, 
 Degenerare tamen : ni vis humana quotannis 
 Maxuma quaeque manu legeret : sic omnia fatis 
 In pejus ruere, ac retro sublapsa referri. 
 Non alitor, quam qui adverso vix flumine lembum 
 Remigiis subigit, si brachia forte remisit, 
 Atque ilium in praeceps prono rapit alveus amni." 
 
 (Geoeg. i. 197.) 
 
 But, on the other hand, no circumstances of 
 climate or position, however favourable, will, 
 except by accident, convert a crab into an eat- 
 able apple, or a sour wild vine into one calcu- 
 lated to afford grapes for the table or for the 
 winepress. 
 
 Thus, by transplanting the Burgundy grape to 
 the Rhine, much of the flavour of the most 
 esteemed French wine has been maintained for 
 centuries, in a distant and even more northern 
 country, and in like manner the famous Tokai 
 grape has been introduced with success into the 
 
146 
 
 LECTURES ON 
 
 [lect. v. 
 
 South of France ; whilst the Australian vine is 
 said to retain the characters of the European 
 stock which was conveyed there across the ocean. 
 
 It is not without reason therefore, that Colu- 
 mella lays stress upon the selection of a sort 
 specially suited for each particular locality, and 
 that he enumerates with this intention a long 
 catalogue of varieties ; ending with a quotation 
 from Virgil, who, in allusion to the same subject, 
 remarks, 
 
 " Quern qui scire velit, Libyci velit aequoris idem 
 Discere quam multaa zephyro turbentur arenae." 
 
 (Georg. ii. 105.) 
 
 For, he remarks, every country, and even every 
 district, has its peculiar kinds, which have names 
 assigned to them by custom ; whilst some change 
 their names with the spots where they are cul- 
 tivated, and others even are so altered by being 
 transplanted, that they can no longer be recog- 
 nised as the same. 
 
 Indeed Gerardin, in his recently published 
 Cours d' Agriculture, enumerates, from the Am- 
 pelographie of Count Odart, not less than 88 
 varieties of vines cultivated for their good qua- 
 lity in France, and all of these, with many more, 
 he states, are to be seen preserved in the nursery 
 attached to the Luxembourg Palace at Paris. 
 
 But a preliminary inquiry suggests itself, 
 namely, whether vine culture is a profitable one 
 or not ; and here, it must be remarked, Columella 
 
LECT.v.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 147 
 
 speaks with more confidence, than a modern 
 writer perhaps would be disposed to do. 
 
 It is, I believe, at present generally admitted, 
 that of all descriptions of husbandry, the culture 
 of vineyards is perhaps the least lucrative, and 
 that, except in those cases where the wine ob- 
 tained is in repute, and can obtain a sale beyond 
 the limits of the district in which it is produced, 
 the profits are scarcely such as to afford more 
 than the most scanty remuneration to the cul- 
 tivator. 
 
 In a vine country not particularly famous for 
 the quality of its produce, the peasants are pro- 
 verbially poor and ill-conditioned, and the pro- 
 prietors of the soil are seldom in flourishing cir- 
 cumstances. 
 
 This arises principally from two causes, 1st, 
 from the great variation in the produce of a 
 vineyard from year to year ; and, 2ndly, from the 
 fact, that wine is not absolutely a necessary of 
 life, but to be regarded rather in the light of 
 a luxury. 
 
 Thus, when the vineyard yields an abundant 
 crop, the profits are curtailed by the fall which 
 takes place in the price of the article ; whilst if 
 the yield be small, the value is not enhanced 
 proportionally, because the ordinary consumers 
 are able to dispense with its use. 
 
 The majority therefore of modern cultivators, I 
 conceive, instead of considering, with Columella, 
 what sorts of vines would suit each particular 
 
 L 2 
 
148 LECTURES ON [lect.v. 
 
 soil and situation, would rather content them- 
 selves with appropriating to vineyards those 
 spots, which either from their barrenness or ex- 
 posure were incapable of yielding abundant crops 
 of other kinds, or else, from their peculiarly 
 favourable position, are capable of bringing to 
 perfection the superior descriptions of grapes. 
 
 Our author, however, combats the notion that 
 vineyards are otherwise than profitable; and 
 this he does by stating the large returns which 
 some vineyards have yielded. 
 
 Cato, for instance, asserts, that a jugerum will 
 yield no less than 600 urns of wine. Now an urn 
 is set down as equal to 7 gallons, so that the 
 whole amount would be 4200 gallons. 
 
 Seneca says, a jugerum yields 8 culei, each 
 equal to 143 gallons, making 1144 gallons. 
 
 Now the jugerum is calculated at 28,800 square 
 feet, and is therefore not much more than two 
 thirds of an English acre, and less than one third 
 of a French hectare, an English acre being 43,560 
 square feet, and a French hectare 94,768. 
 
 Columella indeed goes on to declare as his 
 opinion, that a vineyard had better be extirpated, 
 if it does not yield more than 3 culei, or 429 
 gallons, to the jugerum. 
 
 Now taking these measures as exactly given, 
 the amount is excessive as compared to what is 
 obtained in modern times. 
 
 At Volney, one of the best vineyards in France, 
 the average produce per hectare during the last 
 
LECT.v.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 149 
 
 35 years was only 16 hectolitres, equal to 422 
 wine gallons; the maximum 44.7 hectolitres, 
 equal to 1180 gallons. That of La C6te near 
 Geneve was somewhat more, namely 4614 litres, 
 or about 1125 gallons; whilst in the south of 
 France, the average yield was about 16 muids or 
 875 gallons, and the maximum 16 muids or 1400 
 gallons. 
 
 Thus, putting out of the account the statement 
 with respect to Cato's vineyard, which is obviously 
 extravagant, it would seem as if the antients ob- 
 tained as much wine from a jugerum as we do 
 from a hectare. 
 
 Leaving this difference unexplained, I will 
 glance very slightly over Columella's other di- 
 rections. 
 
 With respect to the quality of land suited for a 
 vineyard, although a very rich soil is not desir- 
 able, yet in transplanting, that to which the vine 
 is transferred should be somewhat better than 
 what it is taken from. In general, however, 
 Mediocris et modice siccus ager, ground of medium 
 quality, and moderately dry, is recommended by 
 Columella, whereas Virgil says, 
 
 " At qu8B pinguis humus, dulcique uligine Iseta, 
 QufBque frequens herbis, et fertilis ubere campus, 
 Qualem saepe cava montis convalle solemus 
 Dispicere : hue summis liquuntur rupibus amues, 
 FeUcemquc trahunt limum : quique editus austro 
 Et filicem curvis invisam pascit aratris : 
 Hie tibi prsBvaUdas olim multoque fluentes 
 Sufficiet Baccho vites." 
 
 (Georg. ii. 184.) 
 
150 LECTURES ON [lect. v. 
 
 Tuff and puzzolana, however hard they may 
 appear, are excellent for vmes, for they crumble 
 under the influence of rain and frost. Gravelly 
 land is also suitable, as is, for the same reason, 
 the alluvial soils of rivers, and the lower por- 
 tion of mountains. Marly {cretosa) soil is also 
 well adapted for the vine, but not when it consists 
 wholly of clay ; and ochrey land {rubrica) is un- 
 favourable to it, unless it be well worked, so as 
 to be rendered less tenacious. 
 
 Of still greater importance even than the 
 quality of the soil, is the selection of the cut- 
 tings, which must be taken from a vine at once 
 prolific and highly flavoured. The Aminean 
 variety is in both respects commendable, for al- 
 though a prejudice exists as to its falling short 
 in the former respect, yet the extraordinary pro- 
 duce obtained from Cato's vines, which were of 
 this kind, shows the contrary. The excellence 
 indeed of the Aminean grape, as grown in the 
 Csecuban, Massic, and Sorrentine vineyards, shows, 
 that Italy is as famous for its vines, as Germany 
 for the stature of its men, Liguria for its large 
 cattle, and Mysia and Libya for its abundant 
 wheat harvests. 
 
 Having therefore selected your vine, abundant 
 cuttings are to be taken from it for planting 
 your ground, which indeed is easily done, for a 
 single precocious vine has been found to yield 
 cuttings enough for two acres. 
 
 These cuttings are to be selected, not from the 
 
LECT.v.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 151 
 
 extremity of the vine, but from its centre, care 
 being taken that the vines which afford them 
 should be such as have already given evidence of 
 their fruitfulness by the abundance of grapes they 
 have borne, and that not for one but for four 
 years, there being, as Pliny has more fully ex- 
 plained (lib. ii. c. 48.) a kind of cycle, according to 
 the doctrine of Eudoxus the Pythagorean ; so that 
 the same weather is apt to come round again 
 after the lapse of the above period. 
 
 Other indications of fitness in the vine to afford 
 good cuttings are, its pushing forth even from 
 the hard wood shoots with some branches upon 
 them, and its yielding fruit even from its lower 
 and younger branches. 
 
 This is the sort of vine from which we are to 
 take the malleolus, by which term we express, the 
 shoot produced upon the branch of the preceding 
 year, and which we insert into soil moderately 
 damp, but not swampy. 
 
 It is called malleolus from its having a head or 
 knob at its extremity, consisting of a piece of the 
 hard wood on either side of it. 
 
 The next point is the pastinatio, that is, the 
 preparation of the ground for receiving the vine, 
 which is done by removing all trees and shrubs, 
 grubbing up the roots, and rendering the soil 
 loose and crumbling, but allowing the loose stones 
 to remain, these being favourable to the growth 
 of vines : 
 
152 LECTURES ON [lect. v. 
 
 " Aut lapidem bibulum, aut squalentes infode conchas." 
 
 (Georg. ii. 348.) 
 In cold situations the vines should face the 
 south, in warm ones the east; except indeed 
 where, as in Boetica in Spain, the land is exposed 
 to violent tempests. 
 
 Virgil however objects to a western exposure, 
 " Neve tibi ad solem vergant vineta cadentem." 
 
 (Geoeg. ii. 298.) 
 
 The two methods of preparing the ground for 
 receiving the cuttings of the vine are by trenches 
 and furrows. 
 
 Trenches, Columella says, should be two feet 
 deep, and three long, and the cuttings be intro- 
 duced in a quinquncial fashion. 
 
 This is what Virgil refers to, when he compares 
 the regular arrangement of the cuttings in a 
 vineyard, each inserted in its respective trench, 
 to an army marshalled for battle : 
 
 " Nec secius omnis in unguem 
 Arboribus positis secto via limite quadrat. 
 Ut saepe, ingenti bello quum longa cohortes 
 Explicuit legio, et campo stetit agmen aperto, 
 Directaeque acies, ac late fluctuat omnis 
 -^re renidenti tellus, necdum horrida miscent 
 Prtelia, sed dubius mediis Mars errat in armis. 
 Omnia sint paribus numeris dimensa viarum ; 
 Non animum modo uti pascat prospectus inanem ; 
 Sed quia non alitor vires dabit omnibus aequas 
 Terra, neque in vacuum poterunt se extendere rami." 
 
 (Georg. ii. 277.) 
 But the expense of this method, leads many to 
 
LECT.v.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 153 
 
 prefer planting their vines in furrows ; and Virgil 
 admits, 
 
 " Ausim vel tenui vitem committere sulco :" 
 
 (Gborg. ii. 289.) 
 for vines do not require to be planted so deep as 
 larger trees. A depth of two feet and a half 
 being sufficient for a furrow. 
 
 Vines may be planted either in spring or in 
 autumn ; in spring, if the ground be moist and 
 rich ; in autumn, if it be dry and poor. In this 
 Virgil concurs, in the beautiful lines beginning, 
 
 " Nec tibi tarn prudens quisquam persuadeat auctor, 
 Tellurem Borea rigidam spirante moveri. 
 Rura gelu turn claudit hiems ; nec semine jacto 
 Concretam patitur radicem adfigere terrae. 
 Optuma vinetis satio, quum vere rubenti 
 Candida venit avis, longis invisa colubris ; 
 Prima vel auctumni sub frigora, quum rapidus Sol 
 Nondum hiemem contingit equis, jam praeterit sestas. 
 Ver adeo frondi nemorum, ver utile silvis ; 
 Vere tument terrae, et genitalia semina poscunt. 
 Turn pater omnipotens fecundis imbribus jEther 
 Conjugis in gremium laetae descendit, et omnes 
 Magnus alit, magno commixtus corpore, fcBtus." 
 
 (Georg. ii. 315.) 
 
 The distances between the rows will depend 
 upon the sort ; but here Columella and Virgil ap- 
 pear to be at issue, the former recommending 
 that if the soil be poor, they be planted at in- 
 tervals of 5 ; if of middling quality, of 6 ; if rich, of 
 7 feet ; whilst Virgil tells us, 
 
 " Si pinguis agros metabere canipi ; 
 Densa sere ; in denso non segnior ubere Bacchus. 
 
154 LECTURES ON [lect. v. 
 
 Sin tumulis acclive solum collesque supinos ; 
 Indulge ordinibus : nec secius omnis in unguem 
 Arboribus positis secto via limite quadret." 
 
 (Georg. ii. 274.) 
 Columella directs, that only that part of the 
 cutting, which had been in contact with the old 
 wood, should be planted, and enters into va- 
 rious minute directions on this subject. On a 
 level ground, he says, its length should be from 
 9 to 12 inches, on a slope as much as 15. 
 Virgil too confirms this statement, 
 
 " Neve flagella 
 Surama pete, aut summa destringe ex arbore plantas." 
 
 (Georg. ii. 299.) 
 and even recommends, that every slip should 
 stand the same way, and retain the same position 
 with regard to South and North, that it had done 
 before it was severed from the parent tree. 
 
 *' Quin etiani coeli regionera in cortice signant ; 
 Ut, quo quaeque modo steterit, qua parte calores 
 Austrinos tulerit, quas terga obverterit axi, 
 Restituant ; adeo in teneris consuescere multum est." 
 
 (Georg. ii. 269.) 
 
 Julius Atticus had directed, tliat the cutting 
 should be planted in the ground, with its head 
 twisted forwards, and bent, in order that it might 
 be kept fixed by the prong, or pastinum, which 
 was inserted into the ground. 
 
 Columella objects to this practice for various 
 reasons, and recommends that the cutting should 
 be introduced into the soil in a straight direc- 
 tion. 
 
LECT.v.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 155 
 
 Quicksets, roots and all, (viviradices) are some- 
 times planted, and are at once more hardy and 
 sooner in a condition to bear fruit, although in 
 the provinces, where no pains were taken to form 
 runners of vines, cuttings were employed. Colum. 
 iii. 14. 
 
 But whichever of these modes be preferred, a 
 still and dull day should be selected for the pur- 
 pose, as heat or wind are likely to dry up the 
 juices of the plant, and cause it to wither. 
 
 According to Columella the best cuttings are 
 taken from the body; the next best, from the 
 branches; and the worst, from the top of the 
 tree. The latter, indeed, strike soonest, and are 
 most fruitful ; but they soonest decay. 
 
 Columella mentions in his fourth book two 
 modes of grafting vines, namely, either by inci- 
 sion, or by boring. 
 
 " Inseritur vitis vel recisa, vel Integra perforata 
 terebra." 
 
 In the former case, the operation appears to 
 have been conducted much in the same manner 
 as at the present day, the graft, or surculus, 
 shaped like a wedge and pointed at bottom, being 
 inserted into a cleft in the stock made to receive 
 it, which extends to the pith. It is thus accu- 
 rately fitted to the stock, and its bark is in actual 
 contact with it. 
 
 The latter mode, which modern gardeners call 
 peg-grafting, consists in boring a hole perpendicu- 
 larly through the centre of the stock, and insert- 
 
156 LECTURES ON [lect. v. 
 
 ing into it the graft, previously shaped so as ex- 
 actly to fit the aperture. 
 
 To these methods Columella adds in his fifth 
 book that of grafting by inoculation, in which 
 case a bud, with a small portion of bark attached 
 to it, is inserted below the bark of another tree, 
 in such a manner as to be in close contact with 
 its alburnum. 
 
 Our author enters in great detail into the 
 several methods of efi'ecting this ; but what 
 may interest a modern reader more, is his con- 
 fident assertion, that every tree can be grafted 
 upon every other, provided only their bark be 
 similar. 
 
 In proof of this he states, that if a fig-tree be 
 planted close enough to an olive, to allow of the 
 extremities of its branches being brought into 
 contact with the former, we may cause the olive- 
 branches to grow out of the stump of the fig, by 
 sawing off the trunk of the latter at a certain 
 height from the ground, splitting with a wedge 
 the part that remains standing, and inserting the 
 extremities of the branches into the fissure thus 
 occasioned. The latter will by degrees so coalesce 
 with the wood of the fig-tree, that they may in 
 four years' time be severed from their parent tree, 
 and continue to live as grafts upon the fig. And 
 this same method applies, he says, to every other 
 tree. 
 
 Nor is Columella the only ancient writer that 
 entertained this notion. 
 
LECT.v.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 157 
 
 Thus Virgil gives his testimony to the same 
 effect : 
 
 " Inseritur vero et foetu nucis arbutus liorrida ; 
 Et steriles platani malos gessere valentes : 
 Castanese fagus, ornusque incanuit albo 
 Flore piri, glandemque sues fregere sub ulmis." 
 
 (Georg. ii. 69.) 
 
 And then, after describing the methods of grafting 
 he concludes ; 
 
 " Nec longum tempus, et ingens 
 Exiit ad coelum rarais felicibus arbos, 
 Miraturque novas fondes, et non sua poma." 
 
 (Georg. ii. 80.) 
 
 Pliny too observes, that we see the cherry 
 growing upon the willow, the plane upon the 
 laurel, the laurel upon the cherry, and fruits of 
 various tints and hues springing at once from 
 the same tree ; whilst Palladius, in his poem De 
 Insitione, particularises not only these, but various 
 other instances, in which scions have been grafted 
 upon stocks altogether different from themselves. 
 
 And not only is testimony in favour of this 
 opinion, but even probability may be pleaded in 
 its behalf If the Misletoe be capable of deriving 
 its nourishment from trees so different in their 
 organisation, as the apple, the lime, and the oak, 
 one does not see, why the same might not be the 
 case with the graft of any other plant, provided 
 only that there was a sufficient correspondence, 
 in the periods at which the sap rose, and in the 
 temperament of the scion and the stock with 
 
158 
 
 LECTURES ON 
 
 [lect. v. 
 
 reference to meteoric conditions to admit of nou- 
 rishment passing from the one to the other. 
 
 A plant, which had no leaves to elaborate 
 its own sap, might be expected to thrive only 
 upon one particular tree ; but one provided with 
 them, ought, we should infer, to be in some 
 degree independent of the source from which it 
 drew its nourishment. 
 
 And yet all modern authorities concur in as- 
 signing a very limited range to the capacity of 
 grafting one plant upon another. Decandolle con- 
 cludes, that the scion and the stock must be at 
 least of the same natural family. He has indeed 
 succeeded, he says, in grafting the lilac on the 
 phyllyrea, the chionanthus on the ash and the 
 lilac, the olive upon the ash, and the bignonia 
 radicans upon the catalpa ; but the plants ob- 
 tained were but shortlived ; for either the graft 
 drew too much nourishment from the stock, and 
 thus destroyed it, or received more than it could 
 elaborate, and therefore perished of plethora. 
 
 How then are we to explain the experiment 
 reported by Columella? Doubtless by supposing 
 the olive shoots to have sent out independent 
 roots, which penetrated through the stump of the 
 fig, and took root in the soil, which Thouin has 
 proved by experiment to have happened in a 
 similar case. 
 
 In the same way we may account for the story 
 reported by Pliny, of a tree in the garden of Lu- 
 cullus, which was so grafted, as to bear pears. 
 
LECT. v.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 159 
 
 apples, figs, plums, olives, almonds, and grapes; 
 and for the fact, that at this day the gardeners in 
 Italy, especially those of Genoa and Florence, sell 
 plants of jasmine, roses, honeysuckles, all grow- 
 ing together from a stock of orange, or myrtle, or 
 pomegranate, on which they say they are grafted. 
 
 But this is a mere deception, the fact being, 
 that the stock had its centre bored out, so as to be 
 made into a hollow cylinder, through which the 
 stems of jasmines, and other flexible plants, were 
 easily made to pass, their roots intermingling 
 with those of the stock ; and after growing for a 
 time, the horizontal distention of the stem forced 
 them together ; and they assumed all the appear- 
 ance of being united 
 
 But if the writers of antiquity are to be cen- 
 sured, for hastily adopting views, which had at 
 least some analogies to support them, they might 
 retaliate upon some of the moderns, for having 
 introduced a theory connected with the same 
 subject, which seems equally devoid of founda- 
 tion, and certainly is not so well recommended by 
 any intrinsic probability. 
 
 I allude to the notion entertained by Mr. An- 
 drew Knight, that every graft has a certain limit 
 to its existence prescribed to it, and that the 
 limit is determined by the age of the tree from 
 which it was itself derived. 
 
 This theory appears to me, in the first place, 
 
 a Lindley's Theory of Horticulture. 
 
160 
 
 LECTURES ON 
 
 [lect. v. 
 
 unnecessary, in order to account for the facts cited 
 in its behalf. 
 
 The failure of a few varieties of the apple tree, 
 such as the golden pippin, if indeed it be so cer- 
 tain and so entire as has been contended, admits 
 of explanation, as resulting from a law, which 
 pervades all departments of organic nature, 
 namely, the tendency of external agents to obli- 
 terate those distinctions, which nothing but a 
 rare concurrence of circumstances had in the first 
 instance brought about. 
 
 Virgil long ago, perhaps, shed as much light 
 on the subject as the case admits, in lines 1 97 et 
 seq. of his first Georgic, which have been quoted 
 just above. 
 
 Indeed, if it be true, that in the human race, as 
 well as in our domestic animals, in spite of the 
 tendency which like has to produce like, external 
 causes so interfere, as to render it next to impos- 
 sible to maintain for a number of successive 
 generations the same intellectual or physical 
 type, which a happy concurrence of circumstances 
 had in the first instance brought about ; one does 
 not see, why the same difficulty should not exist 
 in perpetuating a particular variety of fruit, 
 wherever that variety happens to be a rare one, 
 or in other words, required for its production an 
 an unusual combination of favourable circum- 
 stances. 
 
 Palladius, in his Poem De Insitione, notices, 
 amongst many other instances of successful 
 
LECT. V ] ROxMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 161 
 
 grafting, some of them true, others fabulous, the 
 following : 
 
 insita proceris pergit concrescere ramis 
 Et sociatn mutat Malus arnica pirura, 
 Seque feros sylvis hortatur linquere mores, 
 Et partu gaudet nohiliore frui. 
 
 But the very process of ennobling a race, whether 
 of animals or of plants, implies the imparting to 
 it a finer and more delicate organization, and 
 consequently one more liable to give way, before 
 the destructive agencies that are always at work, 
 than the coarser and hardier forms which nature 
 more commonly elaborates. 
 
 The hypothesis too seems inconsistent with facts 
 — for if it be meant to express a general law of 
 nature, it ought to prevent the perpetuation of 
 any varieties whatsoever; whereas we know, that 
 most of our domestic vegetables are varieties 
 which have retained their peculiarities from time 
 immemorial*. 
 
 If the golden pippin has become extinct, there 
 is at least no fear of our commoner sorts of apples 
 degenerating into crabs, as according to this hy- 
 pothesis might be expected to happen ; nor, what- 
 ever diseases may be caused by excessive cultiva- 
 tion, does any one imagine, that the potatoe, 
 derived, as it is, from tubers imported from Chili, 
 
 ^ Dr. Henderson imagines the currant or Corinth grape of the 
 present day to be the same as the Grsecula, which Pliny describes 
 as " non inferior Ammineis bonitate, prsetenera acino ; et uva 
 tarn parva, ut nisi pinguissimo solo colere non prosit." 
 
 M 
 
162 
 
 LECTURES ON 
 
 [lect. v. 
 
 will ever revert to the stunted condition of the 
 original stock. 
 
 Lastly, the theory seems at variance with the 
 general principles of vegetable physiology. 
 
 A tree is not an individual, but a collection of 
 individuals, grafted upon a common stock. It has 
 therefore no natural term of existence, like an 
 animal; but is propagated by a succession of 
 buds, grafted as it were upon the older portions 
 of the plant. 
 
 In no case therefore is there any reason, why 
 the newer portions should share in the fate of the 
 older ones ; although it be equally true, that, ac- 
 cording to the doctrine of chances, as will be the 
 case with new varieties, every tree must at length 
 perish, through the operation of those external 
 causes which are at all times at hand to de- 
 stroy it. 
 
 I may refer to the Numbers of the Gardener's 
 Chronicle of the present year (1857) for a long 
 and able discussion of the case before us ; but 
 the indefinite duration of a tree, which alone, I 
 am inclined to think, is fatal to Mr. Knight's 
 theory, has its foundation laid in the principles 
 long ago expounded by the elder Decandolle, in his 
 Flore Fran^aise, which dates as far back as 1805, 
 and afterwards in his Physiologic Vegetale, pub- 
 lished in 1832. 
 
 Although it may seem advisable to confine our- 
 selves to that kind of vine which we regard as 
 
LECT. v.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 163 
 
 the best, yet there is one advantage in intro- 
 ducing several, that we thus provide against an 
 entire loss of crop, in case the climate should at 
 any time be unpropitious to a particular sort. 
 
 It would be very interesting. Columella says, to 
 have an assortment of vines in a garden, arranged 
 according to their respective varieties ; each va- 
 riety having its own time for ripening, pruning, 
 &c., and hence rendering it inconvenient to asso- 
 ciate them together in the same vineyard. 
 
 Columella then proceeds, in the 4th Book, to 
 some practical directions, as to the depth of the 
 trenches; the mode of growing the scions; the 
 stirring up the ground with prongs (bidentibus) ; 
 the necessity of well looking after a vineyard, 
 when once it has been established ; the methods 
 of pruning, propping, and tying up the vines ; and 
 the mode of supporting them on trellis, which 
 were, at the least, four feet high, and sometimes 
 as much as seven 
 
 The poles upon which the vines rested went by 
 the name of pedamenta, or, when square frames 
 were used, the term Juga was employed. 
 
 The wine obtained in this manner was of the 
 best quality ; and therefore this, although the 
 most expensive, was the commoner method at 
 the time Columella wrote ; although the vines 
 were also encouraged to twine themselves round 
 large trees, maritari, as they were called, in the 
 manner now practised. 
 
 M 2 
 
164 
 
 LECTURES ON 
 
 [lect. v. 
 
 The usual height to which they were allowed 
 to grow was at least thirty feet, and in some 
 parts of Bithynia, if we may credit Florentinus, 
 they attained to sixty feet without experiencing 
 any degeneracy. This practice, however, was only 
 allowable in rich soil ; for in poor land they were 
 much lower. Columella assigns from eight to 
 twelve feet as the usual height of such planta- 
 tions in Gaul. 
 
 Pliny goes the length of asserting " nobilia vina 
 non nisi in arbustis gigni;" and Columella (lib. 
 V. 6.) agrees with him ; but Dr. Henderson (Hist, 
 of Wines'') gives good reasons for disputing this 
 position. 
 
 For cleaning the soil contiguous to the vine, and 
 removing the redundance of branches and fruit, 
 dii'ections are given which come last in the order 
 of sequence ; for vineyards, as Virgil remarks, re- 
 quire constant attention. The whole ground is to 
 be ploughed three or four times a year, and the 
 clods continually to be broken with bended prongs; 
 all the wood to be lightened of its leaves — the 
 labour of the husbandman comes round again, 
 and the year revolves in its accustomed course. 
 
 And when the vineyard shall have lost its last 
 leaves, and the cold north wind shall have de- 
 prived the woods of their glory, even then the 
 diligent countryman extends his care to the fol- 
 lowing year, and attacks the vine that is aban- 
 
 ^ The Reader may consult this learned writer for much in- 
 teresting information respecting ancient and modern wines. 
 
LECT. v.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 165 
 
 doned by its leaves, and unprotected, with Saturn's 
 hook, and shapes it by pruning, &c. 
 
 " Est etiam ille labor curandis vitibus alter, 
 Cui numquam exhausti satis est : namque omne quotannis 
 Terque quaterque solum scindendum, glebaque versis 
 Sternum frangenda bidentibus ; omne levandum 
 Fronde nenius. Redit agricolis labor actus in orbem, 
 Atque in se sua per vestigia volvitur annus. 
 Ac jam olim, seras posuit quum vinea frondes, 
 Frigidus et silvis aquilo decussit honorem, 
 Jam tum acer curas venientem extendit in annum 
 Rusticus, et curve Saturni dente relictam 
 Persequitur vitem attondens, fingitque putando." 
 
 (Georg. ii. 397.) 
 
 Columella then notices the trees planted for 
 the sake of the vines, which Pliny calls the arma- 
 menta, and other writers the arhusta ; as, for in- 
 stance, the willows, and reeds (the arundo donaa' 
 of Italy), used for binding them up, and the young 
 chestnuts, the branches of which were employed 
 as stakes and props to support them. These 
 constitute a necessary appendage of every well- 
 managed vineyard, as the proprietor will other- 
 wise have to incur the expense and trouble of 
 procuring them from without. 
 
 But whilst the vine requires such assiduous 
 culture, the olive, on the contrary, may be left 
 almost to itself, when once planted in a congenial 
 soil. Thus Virgil — 
 
 " Contra, non ulla est oleis eultura : neque illae 
 Procurvam exspectant falcem rastrosque tenaces, 
 
166 
 
 LECTURES ON 
 
 [lect. v. 
 
 Qimm semel hseserunt arvis, aurasque tulerunt. 
 Ipsa satis tellus, quum dente recluditiir unco, 
 Sufficit humorem, et gravidas cum vomere fruges. 
 Hoc pingucm et placitam paci nutritor olivam." 
 
 (Gborg. ii. 420.) 
 
 In like manner, Columella remarks, of all trees 
 the olive requires the least expense ; for although 
 it hears fruit, not every, hut on alternate years, 
 yet its excellence is, that it is sustained by slight 
 culture, scarcely indeed requiring any at times 
 when it does not bear fruit : and, on the other 
 hand, that if it be neglected during several years, 
 it does not fail, as a vineyard would do, but even 
 then yields some profit to the proprietor ; whilst, 
 if care be afterwards taken of it, the damage is 
 repaired in a single year. 
 
 The fittest soil for the olive is one of gravel 
 mixed with chalk, but in reality a much richer 
 soil, if not necessary, will suit it well. 
 
 Its peculiar merit, however, is, that it thrives 
 where the soil is too barren to afford abundant 
 crops of other kinds, and hence it covers the 
 bleak hills, in the south of France, the slopes of 
 the Apennines, and the mountains of Greece. 
 
 " Difficiles primum terrae, collesque maligni, 
 Tenuis ubi argilla et duinosis calculus arvis, 
 Palladia gaudent silva vivacis olivae." (Ecl. i. 197.) 
 
 There appears to have been a general notion 
 in Columella's time, that it would not thrive at a 
 greater distance than 60 miles from the sea ; an 
 opinion which, although not strictly true, is to a 
 certain extent borne out by the fact, that this 
 
LECT. v.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 167 
 
 tree flourishes most on the borders of the Medi- 
 terranean, of the Black Sea, and of the Caspian, 
 and that in France the best olive trees are those 
 about Aix, Nismes, and Avignon. 
 
 In accordance with his belief that olives bear 
 only every alternate year, Columella recommends 
 our dividing an olive plantation into two portions, 
 which might yield fruit alternately. 
 
 This statement is partially confirmed by modern 
 writers ; for although the olive puts forth flowers 
 every year, yet, after a full crop of fruit, it com- 
 monly does not bring its produce to maturity in 
 the following season. Hence it was the custom 
 of the Romans, to place their olive plantations in 
 the same field as their corn, and to collect the 
 fruit from the former only every other year, when 
 the land did not bear a crop of grain. 
 
 The smallest distance, Columella says, between 
 the rows of trees in a rich field of corn ought to 
 be, 60 feet one way and 40 the other, but on a 
 poor soil, or one not fit for corn, 25 feet are 
 enough. Cato indeed directs, that not only olives, 
 but also elms, vines, and figs, should be planted in 
 pits in land where corn is also grown, (cap. xvii.) 
 
 Notwithstanding the greater hardihood attri- 
 buted to the olive, in the sense of its being more 
 independent of the care of the husbandman, its 
 geographical range is more circumscribed than 
 that of the vine. Being an evergreen, too, it is 
 more exposed to the cold of winter, and a frost 
 of any duration destroys it. Even in the south 
 
168 
 
 LECTURES ON 
 
 [lect. v. 
 
 of France almost all the olive trees were killed 
 by a frost in 1709; and when in 1789 the ther- 
 mometer at Orange fell to 15°6, the cold weather 
 lasting 19 days, the olive was destroyed in those 
 places where the thaw was rapid, and the sky 
 clear ; although a slow thaw, accompanied with 
 drizzling rain, prevented it in other cases from 
 being equally damaged. 
 
 In point of utility, the olive stands very high. 
 Columella calls it the first of trees. Sophocles 
 celebrates it as the peculiar pride of Athens, and 
 the favourite of her tutelary deity ((Ed. Col. 697) ; 
 and in countries where the warmth is too great 
 to admit of the free admission of animal oils into 
 the dietary of the population, this tree, as the 
 main source of vegetable oil, which is an almost 
 necessary substitute, becomes of paramount im- 
 portance. 
 
 I will not detain you with any account of the 
 directions given in Columella for the culture of 
 apple trees ; or for that of the elm, which latter 
 was the tree principally selected for supporting 
 the vine, when it was encouraged to trail up to 
 a great height; and of which two kinds were 
 known to the Romans, the Italian, and the Gallic, 
 the latter, also called atinea, being perhaps the 
 wych elm of this country. 
 
 Columella also mentions another species of 
 Gallic shrub, used for supporting vines, and termed 
 rumpotimm. This Pliny calls a poplar, but the 
 
LECT.y.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 169 
 
 term " riimpi" seems to have been used for any 
 tree to which vhies could be trained. Thus Varro 
 remarks : " quartum est pedamentum nativum 
 ejus generis, ubi ex arboribus in arbores traductis 
 vitibus vinea sit ; quos traduces, quidam rumpos, 
 appellant." 
 
 There is however one kind of shrub, to which 
 much importance was attached by the ancients, 
 and of which therefore a short notice is requisite. 
 
 This is the cytisus, the nature of which has been 
 a subject of some dispute amongst naturalists. 
 
 Virgil alludes to it in several places of his 
 Eclogues, as increasing milk, 
 
 " Sic cytiso pastae distendant ubera vacca) :" 
 
 as also in the Georgics, (I^cl. ix. 3 1 .) 
 
 " At cui lactis amor, cjtisum lotosque frequentcs 
 Ipse manu salsasque ferat prsesepibus herbas." 
 
 (Georg. iii. 394.) 
 and in the 10th Eclogue, as grateful to bees, 
 '* Nec lacrymis crudelis Amor, nec gramina rivis, 
 Nec cytiso saturantur apes, nec fronde capellsB." 
 
 (Ver. 28.) 
 
 Columella says, it is of great importance to 
 have as much cytisus on the farm as possible, 
 not only because it is very useful to all kinds of 
 cattle, fatting sheep, and making ewes give plenty 
 of milk, but likewise because it may be used for 
 forage, eight months in a green, and the rest of 
 the year in a dry condition. Moreover it quickly 
 strikes root, even in the poorest land, and is not 
 liable to be hurt by any accident. 
 
170 
 
 LECTURES ON 
 
 [lect. v. 
 
 Pliny confirms this statement, adding, that it 
 is the very best medicine for the diseases of 
 cattle, and even gives the palm to it over all 
 kinds of plants used in forage, although in other 
 respects there are certain discrepancies between 
 the account of the shrub given by him, and by 
 Columella. 
 
 Tournefort first pointed out, that it was pro- 
 bably the medicago arborea, a plant common about 
 Athens, and in the smaller islands of the Grecian 
 Archipelago ; and Dr. Sibthorp is of the same 
 opinion, identifying it with the Kvrla-cro^ of Diosco- 
 rides. Others indeed have supposed it to be the 
 common laburnum, cytisus laburnum, because its 
 wood is said to be black, (see notes to Columella, 
 p. 303;) but the medicago arborea, in other respects, 
 answers better to the description given, as bees 
 settle upon this plant, and cows and goats eat its 
 leaves with avidity. 
 
LECT. Yi.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 17] 
 
 LECTURE VI 
 
 COLUMELLA. 
 BOOKS VI, VII, VIII, and IX. 
 
 Having in the preceding Lectures given a 
 sketch of the more purely agricultural portion 
 of Columella's Treatise, I shall next proceed to 
 a brief survey of those Books which relate to the 
 management of cattle, and the other domestic 
 animals maintained by the Romans for various 
 uses, either as providing food, supplying mate- 
 rials for clothing, or assisting in the operations 
 of husbandry. 
 
 This department of the subject was distin- 
 guished by the Romans under the name of 
 pastio ; and was divided by them into ( i ) agrestis, 
 comprehending the management of cattle, and 
 (2) villatica, that relating to poultry, game, &c. 
 
 Accordingly, Columella alludes in succession to 
 the care of oxen, sheep, horses, mules, asses, 
 swine, dogs, poultry, pigeons, geese, fish, and 
 bees ; the same subjects, in short, which are in- 
 cluded in the 3rd and 4th Books of Virgil's 
 Georgics. 
 
 He begins by noticing the opinion of some re- 
 
172 
 
 LECTURES ON [lect. vi. 
 
 spectable husbandmen, who would wish to have 
 nothing to do with live stock at all, and are 
 anxious to dispense altogether with the aid of 
 cattle in agriculture. 
 
 The occurrence of so strange a prejudice in the 
 times of ancient Rome requires some explana- 
 tion. It could hardly exist in modern times, 
 where the demand for beef and mutton is such, 
 as to render the feeding and fattening of do- 
 mestic cattle a principal consideration, independ- 
 ent of their uses as beasts of burden on the one 
 hand, or for their fleece on the other; but it is 
 remarkable, that in none of the Roman writers 
 on agriculture are any instructions given as to 
 the fattening of cattle, nor indeed is any, but the 
 slightest, allusion made to them as articles of 
 food. 
 
 In the accounts handed down of Roman ban- 
 quets, fish, game, poultry, venison, and even 
 pork, are mentioned as forming parts of a luxu- 
 rious entertainment, but nowhere, I believe, 
 either beef or mutton ; and we are informed, 
 that in the early days of Rome, as well as at 
 Athens, it was as great a crime to slay an ox, 
 as a man. 
 
 It is curious indeed, that in the few places in 
 which Pliny mentions beef, either roasted or 
 taken as broth, it is recommended as a medicine, 
 and not as an article of diet ; and when, as Colu- 
 mella says, Cato pronounces, in reply to a person 
 who consulted him respecting the most lucrative 
 
LECT. VI.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 173 
 
 department of farming, " Si bene pasceret ;" as to 
 the next best expedient for obtaining abundant 
 crops, " Si mediocriter pasceret these replies 
 must be regarded as corresponding in meaning 
 to the other dicta of this ancient oracle, when, in 
 answer to a similar inquiry, he said, that the 
 first point in farming was " bene arare," the next 
 in importance " arare ;" and only the third in 
 point of rank, " stercorare." 
 
 For it may be collected, both from the prose 
 writers de Re Rustica, and likewise from Virgil 
 himself, that the great value of oxen, in their 
 opinion, was for ploughing, as that of sheep was 
 for their fleece and milk. 
 
 In the Latin language indeed, there is no single 
 word for beef, mutton, or veal, just as is the 
 case in our own Saxon-English ; the French words 
 for these articles of food being generally adopted, 
 because the latter were chiefly consumed by our 
 Norman conquerors. 
 
 Do not however let me be misunderstood; I 
 am far from meaning that beef and mutton were 
 not eaten at Rome, and in Italy, during the period 
 to which allusion is made. Common sense will 
 indicate the reverse, — for what was to become of 
 the fatted oxen offered as sacrifices to the gods, 
 if they were not devoured by the priests and their 
 attendants ? and what pretence would Ovid have 
 had for introducing in his Metamorphoses the ad- 
 dress of Pythagoras ? who, to dissuade the people 
 from an animal diet, says. 
 
174 
 
 LECTURES ON 
 
 [LECT. VI. 
 
 " Quid meruistis, oves, placidum pecus, inque tiiendos 
 Natiim homines, pleno quas fertis in ubere nectnr ? 
 Mollia quae nobis vestras velamina lanas 
 Prsebetis, vitaque inagis, quam morte jnvatis ? 
 Quid meruere boves, animal sine fraude dolisque, 
 Innocuum, simplex, natum tolerare labores ?" 
 
 (B. XV. 1 1 6.) 
 
 And although Martial, in the following epigram, 
 alludes to the repugnance which the Romans en- 
 tertained to killing sheep, 
 
 " Caput arietiniim. 
 
 Mollia Phryxei secuisti colla mariti : 
 
 Hoc meruit, tunicam qui tibi ssepo dedit?" 
 
 yet the purport of the lines plainly intimates, 
 that this enormity was occasionally, at least, com- 
 mitted. 
 
 Plautus indeed mentions the markets in his 
 time, as containing lamb, mutton, and beef, as 
 well as pork, and venison ; and it is difficult to 
 understand, how armies could be maintained in 
 a state of efficiency, unless herds of cattle and 
 sheep accompanied their march, to supply them 
 Avith invigorating food. 
 
 At the same time, whilst beef does not seem to 
 have been a favourite dish amongst the wealthy 
 Romans, and indeed is scarcely noticed in the long 
 catalogue of luxuries dwelt upon with so much 
 unction by Athenseus, it was probably beyond the 
 reach generally of the poorer classes ; and we 
 must recollect, that the warmth of the climate in 
 Greece and Italy renders animal food in general, 
 and especially the more stimulating kinds, less 
 
LECT. VI.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 175 
 
 wholesome, and less sought after, than it is in 
 more northern latitudes. 
 
 Profuse as the suppers of a luxurious Roman 
 were, the dishes appear to have been of a lighter 
 kind than those of a Feudal Baron : a sirloin of 
 beef would have scarcely obtained the same cor- 
 dial testimony of approbation from a Roman em- 
 peror, as it elicited from our Charles the Second ; 
 and an ox roasted whole would probably have been 
 looked upon with disgust by the people in general. 
 
 Indeed the very report of such a custom exist- 
 ing amongst a barbarous nation was received by 
 the Athenians with incredulity ; as we learn from 
 Aristophanes, who, in his Acharnenses, introduces 
 the ambassador just returned from a mission to 
 the Great King, mentioning, amongst other won- 
 ders that he had seen, that whole oxen were 
 served up at table : to which the Interlocutor re- 
 plies, " Who ever saw oxen roasted whole ? — ^it is 
 a traveller's tale." 
 
 etr' i^eviCe, Traperidet ff r]pXv okovs 
 €K Kpi/Sdvov ^ovs. 
 
 Koi TLi et8e 7rco77ore 
 fiovs Koi^avLTas ; tS>v aKaCovevixcLTociv. 
 
 (Acharn. 85.) 
 
 In which perhaps the wonder partly was, that 
 oxen should be served up entire % and partly that 
 
 ^ Herodotus (Clio c. 133) mentions, among the peculiar cus- 
 toms of the Persians, that the rich, for their birthday feasts, 
 roasted oxen, horses, camels, and asses entire ; whilst the poor 
 contented themselves with a whole sheep or lamb, and that they 
 considered the Greeks, who did not so indulge, as small eaters. 
 
176 
 
 LECTURES ON [lect. vi. 
 
 they should have had ovens large enough to hake 
 them in. 
 
 As oxen then amongst the Romans were mainly 
 intended for one single purpose, namely, the la- 
 bours of the farm, no attempt is made by the 
 Scriptores Rei Rusticse to point out the qualifica- 
 tions which characterise the different races; for 
 although Columella distinguishes the Campanian 
 from the Umbrian, the Hetrurian and Latian from 
 the Apennine breed, (which last, although less 
 comely, was the hardiest of any,) he contents him- 
 self with quoting from the Carthaginian Mago 
 the following description of the points of a good 
 bullock : 
 
 The oxen we buy (he says) should be young, 
 square, with large members, and lofty horns, 
 black and strong ; the forehead broad and rough ; 
 the ears hairy; lips and eyes black; noses flat 
 and turned up, with wide nostrils; a long and 
 brawny neck ; dewlaps large, and reaching down 
 to their knees; chest broad, shoulders large; 
 belly protuberant, with sides well stretched out ; 
 flanks broad ; back straight and even, or a little 
 declining ; hips round ; legs compact and straight, 
 but rather short; knee-joints well set; hoofs 
 large; tails very long and hairy; hair over the 
 whole body, thick and short, either red or a dark 
 brown ; and the coat altogether very soft to the 
 touch. 
 
 With regard to the bull, the chief differences 
 from the above are, that he is fierce-looking, 
 
LECT. yi ] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 177 
 
 more lively in his deportment, with a neck more 
 brawny, and so large indeed as to form a large 
 part of his body ; and a belly a little smaller in 
 its dimensions than is suitable for an ox. 
 
 The cow, on the contrary, most to be approved 
 of, is of a tall make, long, with a very large 
 belly, a very broad forehead, eyes black and 
 opening widely; horns graceful, smooth, and 
 black ; hairy ears, very large dewlaps and tail, 
 hoofs and legs of moderate size. 
 
 As to Virgil, he confines himself to the cow, on 
 the ground that the qualities of the offspring de- 
 pend upon the make of the mother ; a notion, the 
 truth of which, if not fully acceded to in our own 
 times, the Arabians at least are fully persuaded 
 of in the case of horses, as appears from their 
 never selling a mare, although they are willing 
 enough to dispose of their stallions. 
 
 He accordingly gives the description which 
 follows : 
 
 " Optima torvae 
 Forma bovis, cui turpe caput, cui plurima cervix, 
 Et crurum tenus a mento palearia pendent. 
 Turn longo nullus lateri modus : omnia magna : 
 Pes etiam, et camuris hirtae sub cornibus aures. 
 Nec mihi displiceat maculis insignis ct albo, 
 Aut juga detrectans; interdumque aspera cornu, 
 Et faciera tauro propior ; quaoque ardua tota, 
 Et gradiens iraa verrit vestigia cauda." 
 
 (Georg. iii. 51.) 
 
 Both these descriptions tally in many respects 
 with those given of a good bullock by modern 
 writers. 
 
178 
 
 LECTURES ON 
 
 [lECT. VI. 
 
 Thus sir George Sinclair says, that the chest 
 should be broad, the carcass deep and straight, 
 the belly moderate sized, the legs short, the head 
 and bones as small as is consistent with health 
 and strength, and the loins and hips broad and 
 full. 
 
 And the latest modern authority, Mr. Youatt, 
 in his account of the peculiarities of the Devon 
 ox, agrees in a great degree with the above. 
 (Cattle, p. 12.) 
 
 After this account of the qualities of the ox, a 
 good deal follows in Columella as to the mode of 
 training cattle of this kind for the plough, with 
 which, however, I shall not trouble you, as the 
 use of cattle in modern times, in this country at 
 least, is almost confined to their supplying the 
 shambles ; whereas, amongst the Romans, this was 
 regarded the least important of their uses. 
 
 Columella then gives directions for the feeding 
 of oxen. Where the country is fertile enough to 
 afford abundance of green herbage, the latter is 
 to be preferred to all other kinds of food ; but 
 where this is not to be had, vetches, chick-peas, 
 {cicercula), the cicer arietinum of modern botan- 
 ists ; barley, in case of hard work ; lupines, straw, 
 the leaves of various trees, especially of the elm, 
 the ash, and the poplar, grape-stones bruised, and 
 acorns, are given according to the season. 
 
 Although, wherever the nature of the soil and 
 of the culture permitted, oxen were allowed to 
 pasture, yet stall-feeding was not unknown ; and 
 
LECT. VI.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 179 
 
 it was the custom in winter to keep them in 
 spacious stalls, built with a southerly aspect, and 
 sheltered from cold winds, with a paved and 
 sloping floor, and abundance of litter (stramen- 
 tum bobus et pecori diligenter substernatur)^. 
 Lumps of salt were placed near their stalls. 
 
 Nevertheless, no directions are offered as to 
 fattening, and in general it must be confessed, 
 on looking over the list of articles employed in 
 ancient Rome, that much improvement has been 
 effected in the dietary of domestic animals, espe- 
 cially by the introduction of the turnip. 
 
 Columella then enters upon the diseases of 
 oxen, and their remedies, and afterwards pro- 
 ceeds to the breeding of cattle. 
 
 On these points however there is nothing of 
 special interest ; nor need I refer to his remarks 
 on horses, except indeed to remark, that his de- 
 scription of the points of a good steed are far 
 more graphically put before us in the well known 
 lines of Virgil : 
 
 " Illi ardua cervix, 
 Argutumque caput, brevis alvus, obesaque terga : 
 Luxuriatque toris animosum pectus. Honesti 
 Spadices, glaucique ; color deterriinus. albis, 
 
 gilvo." (Georg. iii. 78.) 
 
 Brood-mares were frequently kept in large 
 troops, which were removed, according to tlie 
 season, from the mountains to the coast, and 
 studiously kept apart from the males, except at 
 
 * Cato, cap. X. 
 N 2 
 
180 
 
 LECTURES ON 
 
 [LECT. VI. 
 
 the breeding season; when, in Columella's opin- 
 ion, it was the more expedient to bring them 
 together, because the mares, if debarred at that 
 period from sexual intercourse, are apt to conceive 
 Inj the tcinds, and in that case to engender an off- 
 spring, which is sure to die within three years. 
 
 This fact, he says, is substantiated as having 
 taken place at a certain spot in Spain. 
 
 Virgil also adopts this same fable, which, ex- 
 travagant as it may appear to us, was very gene- 
 rally believed amongst the ancients ; and in the 
 following beautiful lines of the Georgics brings 
 the subject vividly before us : 
 
 " Vere magis (quia vere calor redit ossibus,) illse 
 Ore omnes versse in zephyrum stant rupibus altis, 
 Exceptantque leves auras : et stepe sine uUis 
 Conjugiis vento gravidse (mirabile dictu) 
 Saxa per et scopulos et depressas convalles 
 DiiFugiunt. (Georg. iii. 272.) 
 
 The same reasons, which have been assigned 
 for the unsuitableness of Columella's directions 
 with respect to oxen to modern practices, apply 
 also to his remarks on sheep. 
 
 At present we prize the sheep, in this country, 
 for the meat it affords, still more than for its 
 wool ; and our chief efforts therefore are directed 
 towards enlarging its size, and fattening its 
 carcass. In ancient Rome its wool and its milk 
 were its principal uses. 
 
 Nam id prsecipue nos contra frigoris violent 
 iam protegit, corporibusque nostris liberaliora 
 
LECT. VI.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 181 
 
 prsebet velamina. Turn et earn casei lactisque 
 abundantia non solum agrestes saturat, sed 
 etiam elegantium meiisas jucundis et numerosis 
 dapibus exornat. — (Col. vii. 2.) 
 
 Now the latter use is almost unknown in mo- 
 dern times, at least, in this country ; the employ- 
 ment of ewe's milk being completely gone out, 
 except in a few remote parts of Scotland and 
 Wales ; and the only cheese of any reputation 
 made of these materials on the continent being 
 that of Rochfort. 
 
 Cheeses from cow's milk (casei bubuli) are also 
 mentioned, but they were regarded as less di- 
 gestible than those from the ewe. 
 
 In general, the use of ewe's milk for cheese or 
 butter is condemned by modern Agriculturists, 
 because, before the lamb is weaned, the whole of 
 the mother's milk is wanted for its support ; and 
 after weaning, the drain upon the mother by 
 milking prevents her from thriving, as she would 
 otherwise do, or becoming fat. 
 
 In ancient times, however, ewe's milk was em- 
 ployed almost exclusively, and what was not 
 consumed at the time of milking was converted 
 into cheese. 
 
 Of this, Columella mentions two kinds, the soft 
 and the hard ; of which the former, perhaps re- 
 sembling our cream cheeses, required to be eaten 
 within a few days, but the latter might be pre- 
 served for a length of time. 
 
 The coagulation of the milk seems to have 
 
182 LECTURES ON [lect. vi. 
 
 been effected, in Columella's time, not by means 
 of rennet, l)ut by introducing a little curd ; or 
 directly by means of the flower of the wild-thistle, 
 or the milky liquor which flows from the unripe 
 fig. Varro, however, alludes to the use of rennet 
 (coagulum), which was taken either from the 
 hare, the goat, or the lamb, (lib. ii. c. 11.) but not 
 from the calf, as with us. 
 
 The milk was to be placed within a moderate 
 distance from the fire, in order to become coagu- 
 lated, and was then put into baskets (fiscellse or 
 calathi), or into moulds (formse), in order that 
 the whey might run off. 
 
 It was next subjected to pressure, salted, and 
 stored on shelves, as with us. 
 
 The word butijrum once occurs in Columella, 
 but only as an application to a wound in a sheep. 
 It never appears to have been used as an article 
 of food. Indeed, in hot countries it is very diffi- 
 cult to prevent it from becoming rancid. 
 
 It appears, then, that whilst the object of the 
 English farmer is to procure a breed of sheep, as 
 well calculated as possible for developing fat and 
 muscle, that of the Roman was to obtain one which 
 would afford a good fleece and abundance of milk. 
 
 Pliny indeed, in a passage in which he alludes 
 to oxen being killed for food, adds, that sheep are 
 only serviceable for their fleece and milk ; and in 
 Spain, at the present day, the flesh of the Merino 
 is seldom eaten except from necessity. 
 
 The Arabs, notwithstanding their numerous 
 
LECT.vi.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 183 
 
 flocks, rarely employ them for food, though a 
 lamb or kid roasted whole is sometimes, in the 
 towns, eaten as a luxury by the rich. Hence the 
 killing a sheep or lamb is regarded as the strong- 
 est proof of hospitality to a stranger. 
 
 In the Odyssey sheep are said to be sacrificed, 
 and as furnishing part of an entertainment ; but 
 we only read of their being killed either for re- 
 ligious or else for festive purposes. 
 
 Now the size as well as the colour of the sheep 
 differs, Columella says, in different countries ; and 
 where our object is to obtain a white fleece, it is 
 important not to introduce into the flock a ram 
 with the slightest admixture of black, as it is 
 sure to appear in the breed. 
 
 Therefore Virgil has done right in ordering us 
 
 to reject a ram, if it has merely a black speck 
 
 upon his tongue : 
 
 " Ilium autem, quamvis aries sit candidus ipse, 
 Nigra subest udo tantum cui lingua palato, 
 Rejice, ne maculis infuscet vellera pullis 
 Nascentum." (Gborg. iii. 387.) 
 
 But the wool of Tarentum, Pliny says, was ad- 
 mired for its tinge of black, and that of Canusium 
 for its fine brown or yellow colour. It is curious 
 that the Tarentine sheep are still of this same 
 colour; a circumstance attributed to the cattle 
 eating a particular plant called the hypericum 
 crispum There appears however to have been, 
 as at present, a white breed also 
 
 See Swinburne's Travels. ^ See Martial. 
 
184 LECTURES ON [lect. vi. 
 
 Mr. Yates thinks it probable, that the Taren- 
 tine breed was obtained from Miletus in Ionia, so 
 famous for its fleeces : thus the " Milesia vellera" 
 are celebrated in Virgil. 
 
 Columella adds, that the dark and brown sheep 
 of Polentia, now Polenza, in Italy, and of Cordova 
 in Spain, are also in much esteem ; and that we 
 may thus divide sheep into two classes, the soft 
 and the rough. 
 
 Columella approves of covering the more deli- 
 cate sheep with skins during the night ; a pro- 
 ceeding not generally adopted in our colder cli- 
 mate, probably because the vicissitudes of tem- 
 perature are less striking than in Italy. Never- 
 theless, in consequence of the suggestions of 
 Liebig, who has shewn that a less consumption 
 of food takes place, if an animal be kept warm, it 
 has become the practice, in some parts of Eng- 
 land, to put jackets upon the sheep in winter. 
 
 In ancient times sheep provided with such a 
 protection were called pellita. 
 
 In speaking of the management of sheep, Varro 
 alludes to the summer and winter migrations of 
 the flocks, the sheep of Apulia being taken every 
 year to pass the summer on the mountains of 
 Samnium, and sometimes even on those of Reate. 
 
 Mr. Keppel Craven gives an account of a simi- 
 lar migration of the flocks amongst the shepherds 
 in Apulia, proving, not only that the old practice 
 is still maintained, but that even the same line 
 of route is observed, as in ancient times. 
 
LECT.vi.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 185 
 
 " Above two hundred persons," he says, " were 
 employed, and resided on the spot. The stock of 
 sheep consisted of 8000, divided into several flocks ; 
 to which those of cows, goats, and buffaloes, toge- 
 ther with a set of brood-mares, and a suitable 
 quantity of poultry, bore an equivalent propor- 
 tion. All the cattle are guarded by large milk- 
 white dogs, of the Abruzzi breed. These animals 
 are very handsome, and resemble the Newfound- 
 land species, but have sharper noses : they are 
 very intelligent, and equally fierce. The flocks 
 are tended by natives of the iVbruzzi, who also 
 undertake the care of milking them, as well as 
 making the cheese, &c. : they are assisted by 
 their wives and children, who accompany them 
 in their yearly migrations to and from the moun- 
 tains. These shepherds are clothed in the skins 
 of the animals which they watch, and are reck- 
 oned a quiet, attentive, frugal, and trustworthy 
 race*'."^ — Tour through the Northern Provinces of 
 the Kingdom of Naples, p. 80. 
 
 Virgil makes a correct distinction between the 
 kind of pasture best suited for encouraging the 
 growth of pure wool, and for the secretion of 
 milk : 
 
 " Si tibi lanitium curae ; primiim aspera silva 
 Lappseque tribulique absint ; fuge pabula Iseta ; 
 Continuoque greges villis lege mollibus albos." 
 
 (Georg. iii. 384.)* 
 
 c I am indebted for this extract, as well as for many other 
 particulars relative to ancient sheep, to Mr. James Yates' inte- 
 resting and elaborate work entitled Textrinum Antiquorum. 
 
186 
 
 LECTURES ON 
 
 [lEOT. VI. 
 
 Whereas, 
 
 " Cui lactis amor, cytisum lotosquc freqiientes 
 Ipse manii salsasquc ferat proesepibus herbas," 
 
 (Georg. iii. 394.) 
 
 This is consistent with modern experience. Sheep 
 fed on short grass have always finer wool than 
 those fed on rich ones ; thus the southdown bears 
 the highest price of any English wool. 
 
 On the other hand, the production of milk is 
 favoured by leguminous plants which supply 
 them with caseine. Liebig has shewn that the 
 legumine contained in these plants is identical 
 with the caseine of milk, and that this principle 
 is most abundant in the leguminosse. 
 
 Columella directs, that the sheep should be 
 driven every day to the water, an injunction 
 which indicates the difference between the cli- 
 mates of England and Italy, for with us sheep 
 rarely drink, the succulent nature of the herbage 
 supplying them with the necessary moisture. 
 
 The feeding and fattening of poultry, and other 
 birds, were with the ancients a matter of even 
 more importance to the farmer, than they are 
 with us. 
 
 If the introduction of firearms has diminished 
 the horrors of war, and therefore been a boon to 
 the human race, it is by no means so with regard 
 to the feathered creation. To have brought down 
 a bird by a spear or an arrow must have been a 
 feat of no small difficulty, and hence we find, 
 
LECT. VI.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY 
 
 187 
 
 that the Romans had large preserves, not only of 
 poultry and pigeons, but even of thrushes and 
 quails, enclosed in pens which were called " orni- 
 thones," from which they could draw their supply 
 for the table at pleasure. 
 
 We are told indeed of two sorts of ornithones, 
 the one merely aviaries stocked with birds for 
 the amusement of the proprietor ; the other kind, 
 constructed with a view to profit, which were 
 often of vast extent, to supply the demands of 
 the Roman market for such articles of luxury. 
 In the Sabine country particularly, we read of 
 extensive pens, filled with birds for the latter 
 purpose. 
 
 For thrushes alone there were large rooms pro- 
 vided, each capable of holding several thousand 
 birds. As they were put in to be fattened, the 
 place had only just light enough to enable the 
 birds to see their food, but there was a good 
 supply of fresh water accessible. 
 
 And I may remark, that whilst nothing is said 
 by the Roman writers about the fattening of 
 oxen and sheep, particular directions are given 
 for fattening poultry, and other birds — a strong 
 additional argument of the little importance 
 they attached to the larger animals as articles 
 of food. 
 
 The instructions given by Columella with re- 
 gard to fattening poultry are as follows : 
 
 Their pen should be warm and almost dark, so 
 confined that the birds may not have room to 
 
188 LECTURES ON [lect. vi. 
 
 turn, but with two apertures, one for them 
 to put out then' heads, the other for their tails 
 and buttocks to protrude. The floor is to be 
 strewed with clean straw, or soft hay, and the 
 greatest cleanliness maintained ; the feathers 
 from the head and under the wings and loins 
 being brushed repeatedly, and every kind of filth 
 removed. Their food must be barley meal mixed 
 with water, given more sparingly at first, but 
 the quantity gradually increased to the largest 
 amount which the fowl can digest. 
 
 After it has eaten to repletion, it is allox^ ed a 
 little liberty, not so as to roam about to any 
 distance, but only to enable it to peck what it 
 can find, for which it may have a fancy. 
 
 To render the fowl more tender, the water with 
 which the meal is mixed is sweetened, and some 
 add a little wine. Pigeons are fattened upon the 
 same principle, young ones having their wing- 
 feathers cut, to prevent their flying, and their 
 legs either tied or else broken, to prevent their 
 moving about in their coop. The latter practice 
 seems, not only cruel, but, from the pain it would 
 occasion, likely to impede the fattening process. 
 This, however. Columella denies, contending that 
 two or three days after their legs have been 
 broken, they cease to suffer pain. The pigeon 
 houses of the Romans were often of great size : 
 Varro mentions their holding 5000 birds each : 
 they were vaulted or roofed in with tiles, and 
 furnished with one small entrance, but well 
 
LECT. VI.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 189 
 
 lighted with large barred or latticed windows 
 (Fenestrse punicanse). 
 
 The walls, carefully stuccoed, were lined with 
 round-shaped nests with a single small aperture, 
 often formed of earthenware, one of which was 
 intended for each pair. 
 
 The other birds kept by the Romans as articles 
 of food, were, turtle-doves, peacocks, thrushes, 
 quails, geese, and ducks. Columella also distin- 
 guishes the breed of fowls, now called gallinas, 
 by the name of meleagrides. 
 
 For the feeding and care of each of these, our 
 author gives us particular directions. In many 
 cases their waterbirds were not only provided 
 with a suitable piece of water, but were even 
 enclosed within a wall 15 feet high, and with a 
 net stretched over it. This was called nessotro- 
 phium. 
 
 Varro also gives us a detailed account of a 
 preserve for dormice, (lib. iii. c. 15.) which was to 
 be paved, to prevent the animals from escaping, 
 and to have within the enclosure oaks to sup- 
 ply them with acorns. But when the mice are 
 fattened for the table, they are to be kept in the 
 dark in stone jars, and fed with acorns, walnuts, 
 and chestnuts. 
 
 We learn also from Pliny that preserves for 
 sea-snails or periwinkles were first formed before 
 the civil war between Caesar and Fompey. 
 
 Many distinct kinds of conchifera from Africa, 
 
190 LECTURES ON [lect. vr. 
 
 Illyria, and various other countries, were then 
 introduced. They were fattened with a mixture 
 of boiled wine, meal, and other substances, so that 
 they became quite an article of luxury ; and the 
 art of breeding was brought to such perfection, 
 that the shell of a single animal could contain as 
 much as 80 quadrantes, or 15 quarts''. 
 
 Minute directions are given in Varro (lib. iii. 
 c. 14.) as to the construction of the cochlearia, in 
 which snails and shell-fish were preserved. 
 
 Similar care Avas also exercised in the preser- 
 vation of fish. The Romans were not content 
 with ponds for freshwater fish, but also exca- 
 vated basins in communication with the sea, into 
 which salt water fish could be introduced. This 
 indeed was more practicable on the calm and 
 tideless coasts of the Mediterranean, than it 
 would be on the shores of the Atlantic, but still 
 the gigantic nature of some of these undertakings 
 may well surprise us. 
 
 Lucullus for instance, as Pliny informs us, had 
 a mountain pierced near Naples, to admit the sea 
 into his preserves, and expended more money upon 
 this than upon his whole villa ; whilst C. Hirrius, 
 who possessed a villa otherwise of very humble 
 pretensions, had preserves for the mursense of such 
 a size, that he lent 6000 of these fishes to Julius 
 Caesar on the occasion of his triumphal banquets. 
 
 Columella gives a series of directions for the 
 construction of these piscinae, which, he says, if 
 
 •1 One of the large piniife are probably here intended. 
 
LECT.vi.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 191 
 
 of sufficiently ample dimensions, should have rocks 
 covered with sea-weed introduced into them, so 
 as to imitate more nearly the natural conditions 
 in which the fish had bred. This one fact may 
 serve to give one an idea of the extent of these 
 artificial preserves. 
 
 The treatment of bees occupies nearly the 
 whole of the ninth Book of Columella, as it does 
 the fourth of Virgil's Georgics, a space which, 
 according to modern ideas, might appear out of 
 proportion to the relative importance of the sub- 
 ject, as compared with the other pursuits which 
 engage an husbandman's attention. 
 
 It must however be borne in mind, that before 
 the art of obtaining cane-sugar became known, 
 honey was in some sort a necessary of life. 
 
 We learn from the latest researches of the che- 
 mist, that sugar enters almost as an essential in- 
 gredient into the food of all the higher animals ; 
 for although starch, which affords the staple of 
 our farinaceous food, may be convertible into 
 sugar by the processes of digestion, yet the 
 change is probably of too slow a nature to 
 satisfy the demands of the system, especially 
 when the animal is not in its full vigour. Hence 
 milk, the aliment upon which the young of all 
 the higher animals subsist, is made up, of an al- 
 buminous principle, namely, caseine ; of an oil ; 
 and of a species of sugar ; the first intended to 
 supply the waste of the tissues, and to provide 
 
192 
 
 LECTURES ON 
 
 [lECT. VI. 
 
 for their growth ; the two latter subservient to 
 the support of the animal heat. 
 
 In a more advanced period of life, indeed, fari- 
 naceous matter takes the place of the oily and 
 saccharine principle, in the dietary of all na- 
 tions ; but even then the advantage of an admix- 
 ture of oil and sugar is perceived, in the demand 
 which exists, for animal oils in cold, and for 
 vegetable ones in warmer districts ; whilst the 
 fattening effects of sugar are shown, by the con- 
 dition of the negroes during the period of the 
 year when they subsist chiefly on molasses, and 
 by the conversion of honey into wax by the 
 bee^ 
 
 It is interesting therefore to find, that the bee, 
 or at least an insect analogous to it, which stores 
 up honey, is distributed over most parts, not only 
 of the old world, but also of the new. 
 
 In the United States, indeed, the bees, now so 
 common there, are not indigenous, having been 
 the progeny of those, which were brought over in 
 hives, soon after the colonization of the country. 
 
 At present, however, although this insect may 
 be more common in warm climates, where the 
 demand for saccharine food is naturally greatest, 
 it extends even to the regions of the north, 
 wherever the summer temperature is high 
 
 a See Leibig's work on Animal Chemistry, 1843, and espe- 
 cially his Extract from Gundlach's Natural History of Bees. 
 Dumas, who formerly took an opposite view, has since admitted 
 the correctness of the theory, which assumes that wax is produced 
 from sugar. 
 
LECT.vi.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 193 
 
 enough, to allow of the spontaneous growth of 
 flowers which can supply it with the materials for 
 its Avinter food. Thus the honey-bee is included in 
 Linneeus' Swedish Fauna, although no mention of 
 it occurs in his Lachesis Lapponica, so as to indi- 
 cate its extension to Lapland. 
 
 Now indeed that cane and beet-sugar are arti- 
 cles so easily accessible, honey has become a 
 mere luxury in European countries; but that 
 vast quantities of it must still be consumed in 
 certain parts of the globe, is evident from the 
 amount of beeswax which is imported from 
 Africa and other regions. 
 
 In 1831, the whole amount of this substance 
 imported into England was 7203 cwt., of which, 
 3892 cwt. came from Western Africa, 1551 cwt. 
 from Tripoli, Barbary, &c., 910 cwt. from the 
 United States, and the rest from Russia, Ger- 
 many, &c. (M'Culloch.) 
 
 Now every pound of beeswax, implies more 
 than 15 lbs. of honey all which must be con- 
 sumed in the countries which supply us with the 
 former. 
 
 We may therefore readily understand, how 
 large an amount of honey must have been re- 
 quired in ancient times ; and what importance 
 must have been attached to its production in the 
 rural economy of ancient Rome. 
 
 ^ This at least is the proportion of wax to honey in the 
 honeycombs of this country ; for i lb. of the latter only yielded 
 me 470 gr. of bees'-wax. 
 
 0 
 
194 
 
 LECTURES ON 
 
 [LECT. VI. 
 
 In treating of this subject, Columella dismisses 
 as puerile the fables, repeated with respect to the 
 origin of bees and of honey, which Virgil has 
 given us in a poetical dress. 
 
 One notion however with respect to the honey 
 
 which they store up, namely, that it is derived 
 
 from the air, an idea which Virgil has expressed, 
 
 when he says, 
 
 " Protenus aerii mellis caelestia dona 
 Exsequar." (Geobg. iv. i.) 
 
 is not altogether devoid of foundation, although 
 in a different sense from that which the an- 
 cient writers intended ; for if honey be obtained 
 from the nectar of flowers, it is certainly, in 
 many instances at least, of aerial origin, espe- 
 cially in the case of those air plants, as they are 
 called, which, rooted as they are in hard rocks, 
 or in the crevices of decayed wood, can scarcely 
 draw any nourishment except from the constitu- 
 ents of air and water. 
 
 No doubt, however, the aerial origin of honey 
 arose in their minds, from a comparison between 
 honey, and the honey-dew, which covers the 
 leaves of many trees, and is now known to be an 
 excretion from the aphis tribe. This Pliny (xi. 12.) 
 imagines to be derived from the heavens, and 
 suggests several fanciful explanations as to its 
 cause. 
 
 Columella remarks, that there are many varie- 
 ties of bees, of different degrees of goodness, but 
 that the smaller and milder are to be preferred ; 
 
LECT. VI.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 195 
 
 an observation which, I believe, accords with 
 modern experience. 
 
 Their duration does not exceed ten years, so 
 that it is necessary constantly to introduce new 
 swarms, the mode of effecting which he proceeds 
 to explain. 
 
 But before he enters upon this subject, our 
 author gives some directions as to the proper 
 situation for a hive, adopting the recommenda- 
 tions of Virgil : 
 
 " Quo neque sit ventis aditus (nam pabula venti 
 Fcrre domum prohibent), neque oves haedique petulci 
 Floribus insultent, aut errans bucula cainpo 
 Decutiat rorem, et surgentes atterat herbas." 
 
 (Georg. iv. 9.) 
 
 The neighbourhood should abound also in aro- 
 matic plants, as the rosemary, both kinds of 
 cytisus, the ilex, and the fir. Biot and Decandolle, 
 the former in the Balearic islands, the latter at 
 Narbonne, have ascertained, that the excellence of 
 the honey in these two localities was due to 
 rosemary, (Bibl. des. prop, rus, July, 1807.) 
 
 Of larger trees, the oak, the pistachio, (terebin- 
 thus,) the lentiscus, the cedar, and the lime, are 
 the most appropriate; whereas the yew is the 
 most objectionable of any. 
 
 Of flowers, the asphodel, the narcissus, the 
 white lily, the leucojum, and the rose, are favour- 
 able to the production of honey, but especially 
 the wild thyme, which latter communicates its 
 own flavour and scent to the honey which it con- 
 tributes to form. 
 
 0 2 
 
196 
 
 LECTURES ON 
 
 [lect. VI. 
 
 It is remarkable, that Columella neither alludes 
 to the heath, which renders the Attic honey so 
 celebrated, nor to the rhododendron ponticum, 
 which is supposed to have communicated poison- 
 ous qualities to the honey of Trebisond, as de- 
 scribed by Xenophon. 
 
 Bees like a quiet situation, screened from ex- 
 tremes both of heat and cold, in winter opposite 
 to the south, and removed from all foetid and 
 noxious smells. 
 
 Although, as a protection against thieves, there 
 should be a hovel near, where a guardian may 
 reside, and a slight inclosure may for the same 
 reason be necessary, yet a high wall is objection- 
 able ; a supply of water should also be at hand, 
 and the other directions of Virgil on this head are 
 to be followed : 
 
 " At liquid! fontes et stagna virentia musco 
 Adsint, et tenuis, fugiens per gramina, rivus ; 
 Palmaque vestibulum aut ingens oleaster inumbret : 
 Ut, quum prima novi ducent examina reges 
 Vere suo, ludetque favis eraissa juventus, 
 Vicina invitet decedere ripa calori ; 
 Obviaque hospitiis teneat frondentibus arbos. 
 In medium, seu stabit iners, seu profluet humor, 
 Transversas salices et grandia conjice saxa : 
 Pontibus ut crebris possint consistere, et alas 
 Pandere ad sestivum solem ; si forte morantes 
 Sparserit, aut praeceps Neptuno immerserit Eurus." 
 
 (Georg. iv. 18.) 
 
 The hives are most commonly composed of 
 cork, if that be plentiful, it being proof both 
 against the heat of summer and the cold of 
 
lect.vl] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 197 
 
 winter. If not, osiers may be substituted, and if 
 both are scarce, a hollow tree will serve the pur- 
 pose. For a hive, clay is the worst material of 
 any, as it admits both heat and cold, but both 
 dung and bricks are occasionally used. The 
 latter our author considers preferable. 
 
 There are two ways of procuring bees, either 
 by purchase, or when in a wild state, by hunting 
 them out into their retreats. 
 
 For discovering their haunts. Columella pro- 
 poses a method very similar to the one adopted 
 in North America at the present time. 
 
 It is known that when the pastures afford 
 suitable materials for honey, bees are fond of re- 
 sorting to the fountains that lie near, and to 
 these the bee hunter resorts, in order to observe 
 the number that come. 
 
 Should this be small, he concludes the spot to 
 be unfavourable; but if considerable, he is en- 
 couraged to proceed ; and for this purpose the fol- 
 lowing was the method adopted by the Roman 
 bee hunter : 
 
 In the first place, he mixed up some red ochre 
 with water, and smeared with it the grass in the 
 neighbourhood of the spring. By this means the 
 backs of all the bees that resort there became 
 coloured red, and this mark enabled him to re- 
 cognise them when they returned from their 
 flights ; from the time occupied in which, he could 
 tell the distance of their hives from the spot to 
 which they had resorted. If this were near, there 
 
198 
 
 LECTURES ON 
 
 [lect. VI. 
 
 would be little difficulty in discovering where it 
 lay, which may then be done simply by following 
 the bees in their track homewards. 
 
 If however it be distant, the bee hunter took a 
 reed, and made a hole in it, which he filled with 
 honey, or some sweet syrup. When several bees, 
 attracted by this, entered the hole, he closed it 
 with his thumb, and let out one single bee at a time. 
 This he chased as far as he could, and when he had 
 lost sight of it, let out another, and then another, 
 until he could follow it to the entrance of the 
 hive. Should this be a cave, he smoked out the 
 bees, and drove them into some contiguous bush 
 or tree, where he could collect them in an appro- 
 priate vessel. But if it were an hollow tree, he 
 sawed it across at a little distance both above and 
 below the hive, and covered over the apertures 
 with cloths. He was thus enabled to carry home 
 the hive of bees which he had discovered. 
 
 The method adopted by the North American 
 bee hunter is similar, though somewhat more 
 scientific : 
 
 The hunter, on a clear sunshiny day, takes a 
 plate or trencher, with a little sugar, honey, or 
 molasses on it, and when he has got into the 
 woods, sets it down on a rock or stump in the 
 woods ; this the bees scent out; for it is generally 
 supposed that bees will scent honey or wax at 
 more than a mile's distance. The hunter secures 
 in a box some of these bees whilst they are 
 filling themselves, and after a little time lets one 
 
LECT. VI.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 199 
 
 of them go, observing very carefully the course it 
 steers ; for after he has risen in the air, he flies 
 directly, or in a straight course, towards the tree 
 where the hive is. The hunter therefore carries 
 with him his pocket compass, his rule, and other 
 implements, together with a sheet of paper, upon 
 which he sets down the course. Supposing it to 
 be west, he is sure from this that the tree must be 
 somewhere in a line west from where he is ; but 
 still he wants to know the exact distance from 
 his station. To determine this, he turns a little 
 to the north or south, as the case may be. Sup- 
 pose him to go 100 perches to the north, he then 
 lets out another bee and observes very carefully 
 the course it takes. This being marked down, he 
 has only to ascertain the point at which this, and 
 the course taken by the first bee, intersect each 
 other, and here the hive may be expected to be. 
 
 All this is founded on the straight course which 
 bees take, when they return home laden with 
 their honey ; a course so mathematically true, 
 that the hunter can depend upon this method for 
 tracking them to their homes. (Mr. Dudley, Phil. 
 Trans. No. 367, vol. 31.) 
 
 In speaking of the method of preserving our 
 stocks. Columella puts us in possession of the 
 state of knowledge which prevailed in his time 
 with respect to the domestic economy of these 
 curious insects. This indeed must have attracted 
 notice from a very early period. It is true that 
 Homer, in alluding to bees, seems only to have 
 
200 
 
 LECTURES ON [lect. vi. 
 
 been aware of the murmur and bustle which they 
 manifest when disturbed, comparing it to the 
 noise and tumult of a body of soldiers when dis- 
 missed from their ranks : 
 
 TLiTprj'i iK yAa^upT/s aid veov ip\o^wa(xiV, 
 
 BoTpvb6i> be iTeTovrat Itt' audeaiv eiapivounv' 
 
 Ai p.iv T evOa aAts ireTtoTriaTai, at b4 re ivda' 
 
 '^Hs T&v eOvea TroAAa veS>v &tto km KkiaLaoiv 
 
 'H'ioVos TTpoirdpoiOe (Badeirjs iart^ocavTo 
 
 'l\.abbv ets ayopiqV para be (r(f)t(nv "Ocra-a bebrjet 
 
 'OTpvvova Uvat, Aios ayye\os' oi 8' ayepovTo. 
 
 TeTpr])(et. 8' ayoprj, vtto 8' eoreyaxt'CeTO yaia 
 
 AaS>v 1(6ptu>v, 6p.abos 8' rjv (Iliad. /3'. 87.) 
 
 " As from some rocky cleft the shepherd sees 
 Clustering in heaps on heaps the driving bees 
 Rolling, and blackening, svvarnas succeeding swarms 
 With deeper murmurs, and more hoarse alarms ; 
 Dusky they spread, a close embody'd crowd. 
 And o'er the vale descends the living cloud. 
 So from the tents and ships a length'ning train, 
 Spreads all the beach, and wide o'ershadcs the plain ; 
 Along the region runs a deaf 'ning sounds 
 Beneath their footsteps groans the trembling ground, 
 Fame flies before, the messenger of Jove, 
 And shining soars, and claps her Avings above." 
 
 Nevertheless, we find from Pliny, that Aristo- 
 machus, a Greek philosopher, devoted fifty-eight 
 years to their study ; and Philiscus the Thracian 
 lived in desert places for the sake of examining 
 their habits. Accordingly, the works of Pliny 
 and Columella, as well as of Aristotle, contain 
 many real particulars Avith respect to their liabits. 
 
LECT.vi.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 201 
 
 although mixed up with a good deal, which mo- 
 dern observation has proved to be erroneous. 
 
 Enough however was known of their policy to 
 render Pliny eloquent on the subject : " Favos," 
 he says, " confingunt, et ceras, mille ad usus vitse : 
 laborem tolerant, opera conficiunt, rempublicam 
 habent, consilia privatim, ac duces gregatim ; et 
 quod maxime mirum sit, mores habent. 
 
 " Prseterea, quuni sint neque mansueti generis, 
 neque feri, tamen tanta est natura rerum, ut 
 prope ex umbra minimi animalis, incomparabile 
 effecerit quiddam. Quos efficacise industriseque 
 tantse comparemus nervos ? quas vires ? quos ra- 
 tioni medius fidius viros ? hoc certe prsestantiori- 
 bus, quo nihil novere, nisi commune." (Nat. Hist, 
 lib. xi. c. 4.) 
 
 They form honeycombs and wax applicable to 
 a thousand useful purposes ; they endure labour ; 
 they perfect their operations ; they possess a com- 
 monwealth, have their private deliberations, and 
 their chiefs for each swarm ; and, what is most 
 wonderful, their code of morals (or perhaps, their 
 laws and institutions). Moreover, though their 
 disposition, if not ferocious, cannot be said to be 
 placable, yet it must be admitted that nature has 
 exhibited in their case her power, by producing 
 from an animal so minute and insignificant that 
 to which nothing else can be compared. For 
 where shall we find sinews to equal theirs for 
 exertion and industry? Avhere such strength? 
 where, in the name of fortune, men that can 
 
202 
 
 LECTURES ON [lect. vi. 
 
 compete with the reason they display, in one 
 respect at least certainly surpassing all mankind, 
 inasmuch as they have all things in common ? 
 
 And in like manner Virgil says, many have 
 imagined that bees are endowed with a portion of 
 the divine mind, and with^ spiritual influences : 
 " Esse apibus partem divinse mentis, et haustus 
 TEtherios dixere :" (Georg. iv. 220.) 
 
 For 
 
 " Solse communes gnatos, consortia tecta 
 Urbis habent, magnisque agitant sub legibus gevum : 
 Et patriam solge, et certos novere penates : 
 Ventureeque hiemis memores, testate laborem 
 Experiuntur, et in medium qusesita reponunt." 
 
 (Georg. iv. 153.) 
 
 In this the poet was mistaken, for naturalists 
 have discovered various communities of insects 
 which work thus in common. But where he 
 describes the division of labour in the hive, and 
 the beautiful organization of the entire insect 
 community, he comes nearer to the truth : 
 
 " Namque aliae victu invigilant, et foedere pacto 
 Exercentur agris : pars intra ssepta domorum 
 Narcissi lacrymam, et lentum do cortice gluten, 
 Prima favis ponunt fundamina, deinde tenaces 
 Suspendunt ceras : aliae, spem gentis, adultos 
 Educunt foetus : aliae purissima mella 
 Stipant, et liquido distendunt nectare cellas. 
 Sunt, quibus ad portas cecidit custodia sorti : 
 Inque vlcem speculantur aquas, et nubila coeli : 
 Aut onera accipiunt venientum, aut agmine facto 
 Ignavura, fucos, pecus a pra^sepibus arcent. 
 Fervet opus, rcdolentque thymo fragranti a mella." 
 
 (Geokg. iv. 1 58.) 
 
LECT. VI.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 203 
 
 The Roman writers had also discovered, that 
 every community of bees possessed a sovereign, 
 to whom they paid implicit deference and atten- 
 tion, and when deprived of whom, they are thrown 
 into a state of disorder and anarchy. But not 
 being aware that this sovereign was a female, of 
 which all the other bees were the progeny, they 
 regarded it as the king of the hive. Thus Virgil : 
 
 " Praeterea regem non sic ^Egyptos, et ingens 
 Lydia, nec populi Parthorum, aut Medus Hydaspcs, 
 Observant. Kege incolumi mens omnibus una est : 
 Amisso rupere fidem ; constructaque mella 
 Diripuere ipsae, et crates solvere favorum." 
 
 (GbORG. iv. 210.) 
 
 Columella therefore explains, that, as there 
 can be no divided authority amongst bees, when- 
 ever the community becomes too numerous to be 
 contained within the hive, a swarm issues forth 
 under a new king, and seeks for fresh quarters. 
 Then it is that the skill of the beekeeper is called 
 in requisition, to prevent their desertion of the 
 premises, by seizing the chieftain or queen bee, 
 and conveying it into a new hive, where it will 
 be followed by the whole swarm. 
 
 Much vigilance therefore is required to watch 
 the moment when the swarm issues forth, which 
 is generally preceded by a buzzing and tumult 
 within the hive. 
 
 This however might also arise from a contest 
 between two rival chiefs and their respective 
 parties, when it is followed by a furious battle, 
 waged between them in the vicinity of the hive. 
 
204 
 
 LECTURES ON [lect. vi. 
 
 But as this is attended with a great loss and 
 destruction of the bees, we must endeavour to 
 put a stop to the fight, either by drawing off the 
 combatants, by the allurement of some sweet 
 liquor, or by frightening them by noise, or in 
 some other way. And we must endeavour to 
 prevent a repetition of the conflict, by seizing 
 upon one of the chiefs, and putting her to death. 
 
 Those directions are given in a more poetical 
 garb, but with no essential difference by Virgil : 
 " Sin autem ad pugnam exierint ; nam saepe duobus 
 Regibus incessit raagno discordia motu, 
 Continuoque animos vulgi et trepidantia bello 
 Corda licet longe praesciscere : namque morantes 
 Martins ille aeris rauci canor increpat, et vox 
 Auditur fractos sonitus imitata tubarum." 
 
 (Gborg. iv. 67.) 
 
 Then, after a glowing description of the fight, 
 he adds, 
 
 ." Hi motus animorum atque haec certaraina tanta 
 Piilveris exigui jactu compressa quiescunt. 
 Verum ubi ductores acie revocaveris ambo ; 
 Deterior qui visus, eum, ne prodigus obsit, 
 Dede neci : melior vacua^ sine regnet in aula. 
 
 (Georg. iv. 87.) 
 
 If, on the contrary, the bees that have issued 
 from the hive, instead of being divided into two 
 swarms, hang down like a bunch of grapes from 
 a tree or bush, we may infer that there is only 
 one leader, and have only to conduct the swarm, 
 in the manner before explained, into an appro- 
 priate hive ; although, if it should prove to enter- 
 tain any roaming propensities, we may secure 
 
lect.vl] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 205 
 
 the entire swarm by plucking off the wings of 
 their leader, and thus preventing it from leaving 
 the hive, confident that the rest of the swarm will 
 not desert their sovereign. 
 
 The royal bee (as I shall call it, in order not 
 to transfer to the ancient writers the ideas of 
 modern naturalists) is distinguished from the 
 rest by its greater size and length, and brighter 
 colour ; the latter, however, according to Kirby 
 and Spencer, not holding good with respect to 
 the whole of the body, but only of the abdomen. 
 
 According to Columella, it has no sting ; or if 
 what looks like a thicker band of hair, which it 
 has on its belly, be one, at least it does not use it 
 as a weapon of offence. 
 
 Modern authors however recognize it as a sting, 
 differing from others only in being curved. 
 
 With regard to the two kinds of royal bees, 
 which Columella admits, and which Virgil de- 
 scribes in so beautiful a manner, 
 
 " hie raelior, insignis et ore, 
 Et rutilis clarus squamis : ille horridus alter 
 Desidia, latamque trahens inglorius alvum," 
 
 (Gborg. iv. 93.) 
 
 all we can say is, that there is no foundation, 
 in fact, for this distinction ; and that ancient 
 writers may probably have confounded the 
 drone, to which the latter description applies, 
 with the queen bee, which is distinguished from 
 the rest by its more brilliant colour, as well as 
 by its greater size. 
 
206 
 
 LECTURES ON [lect. vi. 
 
 When it is deemed expedient to join together 
 two swarms, from their not being numerous 
 enough to thrive separately, it may be done by 
 killing one of the royal bees ; and in that case 
 the younger is to be victimized, the older bees 
 not liking to find themselves under the authority 
 of a youthful chief. 
 
 This is in accordance with modern experience ; 
 for when two queen bees issue forth, as is some- 
 times the case with the first swarm, the older 
 one being distended with eggs, and consequently 
 larger, is preserved ; and the younger one, which 
 has no eggs matured, is destroyed. 
 
 Ancient writers were not aware of the true 
 nature and function of the drones, which is now 
 known to be that of the male. Columella indeed 
 says, that they contributed in some degree to 
 the hatching of the eggs, from which the bees 
 are derived, but only, as it should seem, by sit- 
 ting upon them, and keeping them warm. 
 
 Their destruction, or expulsion from the hive, 
 by the working bees, had long been observed, and 
 is the signal, says Columella, that the time is 
 come for taking the honey. 
 
 The erroneous notion entertained by the an- 
 cients with regard to the sex of the royal bee, 
 kept them in ignorance as to the generation of 
 these insects, and led to many fanciful and ab- 
 surd hypotheses on the subject. 
 
 Thus Virgil says, that they are produced 
 "sine concubitu," and that they gather their 
 
lect.vl] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 207 
 
 young themselves from flowers, and sweet 
 herbs : 
 
 " Ilium adeo placuisse apibns mirabere morein, 
 Quod nec concubitu indulgent, nec corpora segnes 
 In Yenerem solvunt, aut foetus nixibus edunt : 
 Yerum ipsse e foliis natos et suavibus herbis 
 Ore legunt ; ipsjB regera parvosque Quirites 
 Sufficiunt ; aulasque et cerea regna refingunt." 
 
 (Georg. iv. 198.) 
 
 He even countenances the fable, which Pliny 
 repeats with a little variation, that the Egyptians 
 produce a swarm of bees from the corrupted 
 carcass of a beast ; a tradition founded upon the 
 rapidity with which flies and other insects are en- 
 gendered under such circumstances: 
 
 " Tempus et Arcadii memoranda inventa magistri 
 Pandere, quoque modo ca3sis jam ssepe juvencis 
 Insincerus apes tulerit cruor. Altius oranem 
 Expediam prima repetens ab origine famam." 
 
 (Georg. iv. 283.) 
 
 He then goes on to state, that in Egypt they 
 place firm reliance upon the practice, and describe 
 the method thus : after selecting a confined space 
 for the purpose, 
 
 " Tum vitulus, bima curvans jam cornua fronte, 
 Quseritur : huic geminge nares, et spiritus oris 
 Multa reluctanti obsuitur, plagisque peremto 
 Tunsa per integram solvuntur viscera pellem. 
 Sic positum in clauso linquunt, et ramea costis 
 Subjiciiint fragmenta, thymum, casiasque recentes. 
 Hoc geritur, zephyris primum impellentibus undas, 
 Ante novis rubeant quam prata coloribus, ante 
 Garrula quam tignis nidum suspendat hirundo. 
 Interea teneris tepefactus in ossibus humor 
 
208 
 
 LECTURES ON 
 
 [LECT. VI. 
 
 ^stuat : et Ausenda modis animalia miris : 
 Trunca pedum primo : mox et stridentia pennis 
 Miscentur, tenuemque magis magis aera earpunt : 
 Donee, ut sestivis elFusus nubibus imber, 
 Kriipcre ; aut ut, nervo pulsante, sagittse, 
 Pi ima leves ineunt si quando prselia Parthi." 
 
 (Georg. iv. 299.) 
 
 Aristotle indeed, whom Pliny follows, comes 
 one step nearer to the truth ; for after alluding to 
 some of the fabulous notions above mentioned, 
 he remarks, that others affirm the drones to be 
 the males, the working bees the females ^. 
 
 The former is now known to be the fact. But 
 although the working bees are undeveloped fe- 
 males, yet the only one capable of producing 
 eggs is the queen bee, which itself however is 
 developed from one of the workers, by being 
 pampered with more nutritious food, and lodged 
 in a roomier cell. 
 
 I have now, I believe, extracted most of the 
 particulars of Columella's Treatise, possessing in- 
 terest in the estimation of an academical au- 
 
 ^ See the newest views on this subject by Von Siebold, in the 
 Edinburgh Ph. Journ. for April 1857. 
 
 The most startling fact he announces is, that the eggs which 
 have not come into contact with the spermatic fluid produce 
 drones ; and those which have, working bees, or queen bees, ac- 
 cording to their subsequent treatment. Nor is this altogether 
 an anomaly, for in other lepidopterous insects, it would appear 
 that females are produced occasionally without impregnation. 
 
 Siebold also assures us that the queen bee possesses the power 
 of depositing male or female eggs at pleasure. 
 
LECT. VI.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 209 
 
 dience, which come, strictly speaking, under the 
 denomination of Husbandry ; but the term " Res 
 Rustica," in the acceptation of our Author, had a 
 wider meaning, embracing also Floriculture and 
 Gardening. Upon these latter subjects therefore 
 I shall enter in my two concluding Lectures, in 
 which I propose to bring before you such scat- 
 tered notices, as the Ancient Writers contain, 
 with respect to their Gardens ; and to identify, 
 so far as I can, the names of the plants they 
 specify, with those, which are at present found 
 growing in the classical countries, from which 
 their knowledge was principally derived. 
 
210 
 
 LECTURES ON 
 
 [LECT. VII. 
 
 LECTURE VII. 
 
 COLUMELLA. 
 BOOK X. 
 
 A COURSE of Lectures on the Rural Economy 
 of the Ancients would not be complete without 
 some mention of their Gardens, and of the Plants 
 cultivated within their precincts. 
 
 It is true, that Virgil has passed over this de- 
 partment of rural econom}^ in his Georgics, al- 
 leging as a reason, a want of space for its full 
 consideration; although no one can help regret- 
 ting the omission, who reads the beautiful lines 
 in which he introduces a casual allusion to the 
 subject : 
 
 Atque equidem, extreme ni jam sub fine laborum 
 Vela traham, et terris festinem advertere proram : 
 Forsitan et, pingues hortos quae cura colendi 
 Ornaret, canerem, biferique rosaria Psesti : 
 Quoque modo potis gauderent intuba rivis, 
 Et virides apio ripse ; tortusque per herbam 
 Cresceret in ventrem cucumis : nec sera comantem 
 Narcissum, aut flexi tacuissem vimen acanthi, 
 Pallentesque ederas, et amantes litora myrtos. 
 Namque sub Q^balise memini me turribus arcis, 
 Qua niger humectat flaventia culta Galaesus, 
 
LECT. VII.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 211 
 
 Coryciuma vidisse seuem, cui pauca i-elicti 
 Jugera ruris erant ; nec fertilis ilia juvencis, 
 Nec pecori opportuna seges, nec commoda Baccho. 
 Hie rarum tamen in dumis olus, albaque circum 
 Lilia, verbenasque premens vescumque papaver, 
 Regum ffiquabat opes animis : seraque revertens 
 Nocte domum, dapibus mensas onerabat inemtis. 
 Primus vere rosam, atque auctumno carpere poma : 
 Et, quum tristis hiems etiam nunc frigore saxa 
 Rumperet, et glacie cursus frenaret aquarum, 
 Ille comam mollis jam tondebat hyacinthi, 
 iEstatem increpitans seram zephyrosque morantes. 
 Ergo apibus foetis idem atque examine multo 
 Pi 'imus abundare, et Spumantia cogere pressis 
 Mella favis ; illi tiWse, atque uberrima pinus ; 
 Quotque in flore novo pomis se fertilis arbos 
 Induerat, totidem auctumno matura tenebat. 
 Ille etiam seras in versum distulit ulmos, 
 Eduramque pirum, et spinos jam pruna ferentes, 
 Jamque ministrantem platanum potantibus umbras. 
 Verum haec ipse equidem spatiis exclusus iniquis 
 Praetereo, atque aliis post me memoranda relinquo. 
 
 (Georg. iv. 1 1 6.) 
 But what Virgil declined, Columella has at- 
 tempted to supply in the 10th book of his Trea- 
 tise, in which he presents us with a poem on 
 Gardening, not destitute of elegance ; though in a 
 few parts more turgid in its style, and more far- 
 
 a It has been questioned, whether Virgil really meant that his 
 old man was a native of Corycia, or whether he did not give him 
 this title out of compliment to his skill in gardening. For the 
 Cilicians, of which Corycus was a city, were famous for their 
 skill in gardeniug. Voss, however, observes, that certain Cilician 
 pirates, whom Pompey subdued, were transplanted by him to 
 Calabria, and supplied with land. Hence this old man may have 
 been one of the number of the above colony. 
 
 p2 
 
212 
 
 LECTURES ON 
 
 [LECT. VII. 
 
 fetched in its allusions, than the severer taste of 
 the poet, whom he proposes to himself as his 
 model, would have permitted. He has also given 
 us the greater part of the same directions, di- 
 vested of their poetry, in a chapter of his 11th 
 book. 
 
 Both together, however, impart to us, it must 
 be confessed, but a slight insight into Roman gar- 
 dening, the descriptive part being very meagre, 
 and the number of plants enumerated falling con- 
 siderably short of a hundred. We must therefore 
 draw largely from other sources, and especially 
 from Pliny, whose notices of the plants known at 
 that period are far more extensive than those 
 which Columella has given us. 
 
 In the earliest periods of Roman history every 
 family had its garden, and, as little animal food 
 was consumed, it was from this source that the 
 population principally drew its subsistence. 
 
 Hence in the laws of the Twelve Tables, the 
 term hortus is synonymous to heredium or in- 
 heritance; and the word villa is nowhere made 
 use of. As a proof indeed of the honour paid to 
 gardens by the old Romans, Pliny remarks, that 
 men of the highest rank were willing to borrow 
 their names from its contents, as in the Valerian 
 family, where the Lactucarii did not think them- 
 selves disgraced by taking their names from the 
 Lettuce. 
 
 These however were mere kitchen gardens, - 
 
LECT.vii.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 213 
 
 containing such plants and trees alone as were 
 subservient to the daily uses of life ; and in Cato's 
 work, the only notice we have of a garden is of 
 this description, although it be true, that, accord- 
 ing to Pliny, he recommended that plants which 
 could be used for chaplets should be likewise 
 cultivated in it. 
 
 In proportion however as civilisation and wealth 
 increased, a taste for ornamental plants became 
 prevalent ; and even in Rome itself, as we are in- 
 formed by Pliny, it was the fashion of the day, 
 among the lower classes, to have little gardens in 
 the front of their houses, until debarred from that 
 indulgence by the necessity of shutting out the 
 robbers which so abounded in the city. 
 
 That flower-pots were common in the windows 
 of the Roman citizens, appears also from an 
 epigram of Martial, 
 
 " Donasti, Lupe, rus sub urbe nobis : 
 Sed rus est mihi majus in fenestra." (xi. 19.) 
 
 Of these mimic gardens a representation is 
 given by sir W. Gell in his Pompeiana^, where a 
 house may be seen depicted, with its walls painted 
 with trees, fountains, and birds, in imitation of a 
 real garden, and with the small area it enclosed, 
 ornamented with vases of flowers. 
 
 But if the common people cherished such a 
 love for ornamental flowers, it is not to be won- 
 dered at, that amongst the wealthier Romans, 
 
 ^ Given in the plate annexed, which is taken from Gell's 
 Pomp, part ii. v. 2. 
 
214 
 
 LECTURES ON [lect. vii. 
 
 the gardens were of great size, and that much 
 expense was lavished upon their decoration. 
 
 The gardens of Sallust, of Lucullus, of Csesar, 
 of Pompey, &c. were celebrated for their beauty 
 and extent ; and Pliny informs us, that pleasure 
 grounds, as well as parks and villas, existed in his 
 time in the very heart of the city. 
 
 Thus Claudian says, 
 " Quid loquar iiiclusas inter laquearia sylvas, 
 Vernula qua vario carmine ludit avis ?" 
 
 And Seneca remarks, 
 
 " Palatia in laxitatem ruris excurrunt." 
 Essential parts of every complete garden were 
 the Gestatio and the Hippodromus ; the former a 
 broad regular pathway noticed in Pliny's descrip- 
 tion of his villa in which the Romans were 
 carried to and fro in a lectica for an airing ; the 
 latter a place to drive about, like a circus, con- 
 sisting of several paths, divided by hedges of box, 
 and surrounded by trees, so as to occupy consi- 
 derable space. 
 
 Martial appears to have possessed both these 
 conveniences in his town villa : 
 
 Cui plana summos despicit domus montes, 
 
 Et rus in urbe est, vinitorque Romanus ; 
 Nec in Falerno colle major auctumnus, 
 Intraque limen clausus essedo cursus." 
 
 (Epigr. xii. 57.) 
 
 Nevertheless the descriptions of these gardens, 
 in the classical writings that have come down to 
 us, arc scanty and meagre. 
 
 ^ See Lecture ii. 
 
LECT. viT.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 215 
 
 Statius, for instance, has celebrated at some 
 length the beauties of two country houses belong- 
 ing to his friends Vobiscus and Pollius Felix'', but 
 without alluding to their gardens; and indeed 
 the only pleasure ground, properly so called, of 
 which we possess any detailed account, is that of 
 Pliny the Younger, which was attached to his sum- 
 mer villa, situated in Tuscany, (Book 5, Letter 6 e.) 
 
 After describing the house and the walks im- 
 mediately adjoining it, "you enter," he says, "a 
 straight walk, which breaks out into a variety of 
 others, divided by box hedges. 
 
 " In one place you have a little meadow ; in an- 
 other the box is cut into a number of different 
 forms, representing letters, sometimes expressing 
 the name of the master, sometimes that of the 
 artificer; whilst here and there little obelisks 
 rise alternating with fruit trees; when on a 
 sudden, in the midst of this elegant regularity, 
 you are surprised with an imitation of the neg- 
 ligent beauties of rural nature ; in the centre 
 of which lies a spot surrounded with a knot of 
 dwarf plane trees. Beyond, there is a walk 
 planted with the smooth and twining acanthus, 
 where the trees are cut also into a variety ot 
 names and shapes. At the upper end is an 
 alcove of white marble, shaded with vines, sup- 
 ported by four small Carystian pillars. 
 
 " From this bench the water, gushing through 
 several little pipes, falls into a stone cistern un- 
 
 ^ Sylva, lib. x. c Lecture ii. 
 
216 
 
 LECTURES ON [lect.vii. 
 
 derneatli, from whence it is received into a fine 
 polished marble basin, so artfully contrived, that 
 it is always full without ever overflowing. 
 
 " Fronting the alcove stands a summer-house of 
 exquisite marble, the doors of which open into a 
 green enclosure, so that from its upper and lower 
 windows the eye is presented with a variety of 
 different verdures. Next to this is a little private 
 recess furnished with a canal ; and which, though 
 it has windows on every side, enjoys a very agree- 
 able gloominess, owing to a spreading vine which 
 climbs to the top and entirely overshadows it. 
 Here you may recline and fancy yourself in a 
 wood, with this difference only, that you are not 
 exposed to the weather. 
 
 " In this place also a fountain rises and instantly 
 disappears; whilst in different quarters are dis- 
 posed several marble seats, which serve, no less 
 than the summer-house, as so many resting places, 
 after one is fatigued with walking. Near each 
 seat is a little fountain ; and throughout the whole 
 hippodrome, several small rills run murmuring 
 along, wheresoever the hand of art thought proper 
 to conduct them, watering sometimes one, and 
 sometimes another green spot, and now and then 
 refreshing the whole." 
 
 From this description it would seem, that the 
 Romans, in the time of Pliny, had not advanced 
 beyond that stiff and formal style of gardening, 
 which prevailed a century or two ago in Eng- 
 land, and which is still in vogue on the continent ; 
 
LECT.vii.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 217 
 
 and that their principal study was to clip their 
 trees into strange fantastical shapes, just as in 
 the time of Charles the Second was the case in 
 England, and even met with commendation from 
 such authorites as sir W. Temple : 
 
 " The suffering eye, inverted nature sees, 
 Trees cut to statues, statues thick as trees ; 
 With here a fountain never to be playM, 
 And tiiere a summerhouse that knows no shade ; 
 Here Amphitrite sails through myrtle bowers, 
 There gladiators fight, or die in flowers : 
 Unwater'd see the drooping seahorse mourn, 
 And swallows roost in Nilus' dusty urn." 
 
 (Pope's Epist. iv. 1 19, &c. vol. 3.) 
 Thus in our own Botanic Garden, the two yews 
 which terminate either side of the central walk 
 were clipped to represent giants, much to the ad- 
 miration of the good people of that period, as we 
 may infer from the copies of doggerel verses 
 written at the time, to celebrate their remarkable 
 appearance ^ 
 
 It is stated that C. Matins Calvena^, the friend 
 of Julius Caesar, and favourite of Augustus, first 
 
 6 See Horace Walpole on modern Gardening. 
 
 f See, in Antony Wood's collection of printed papers in the 
 Ashmolean Museum, Vol. 423. Art. 38, a ballad "on the gyants 
 in the Physick Garden in Oxford, who have been breeding feet 
 as long as Garagantua was teeth. To the tune of the Counter 
 Scuffle," 1662. Also Art. 39, "upon Mr. Robert's Yew-men of 
 the Guards to the Physick Garden," July 1662. And Art. 41, 
 " upon the most hopeful, and even flourishing sprouts of valour, 
 the indefatigable centrys of the Physick Garden," by John Drope, 
 A.M., Fellow of Magd. Coll. Oxon. 1664. 
 
 ? See Pliny, lib. xii. c. 6. 
 
218 
 
 LECTURES ON [lect.vii. 
 
 taught his countrymen this monstrous method 
 of distorting nature by cutting trees into regular 
 shapes. 
 
 So common did it become, that gardeners went 
 by the name of topiarii, to indicate that this 
 was their especial function. Some of their duties, 
 however, were more consistent with good taste ; 
 for Cicero mentions that his topiarius had co- 
 vered the walls, trees, and terraces of his villa 
 with ivy ; and Pliny says the same with reference 
 to his Tuscan retreat. 
 
 Nor was Nature in all cases entirely banished ; 
 for we have already seen that thickets and mea- 
 dows were interspersed in Pliny's garden with 
 formal avenues ; and we have an inkling of bet- 
 ter taste in the praise bestowed by Martial upon 
 the rural retreat of his friend Faustinus*', and 
 in the ridicule he casts upon the Daphnonas, Pla- 
 tanonas, et aereas cyparissos — the stilf avenues 
 of laurels, planes and cypresses — belonging to an- 
 other acquaintance, more famous for his ostenta- 
 tion than for his hospitality'; as well as in Nero's 
 attempt to introduce into the Gardens of his Im- 
 perial Palace, fields, lakes, woods, and landscapes, 
 under the guidance of Severus and Celer, two 
 persons, says Tacitus '\ who had the genius and 
 boldness to try to accomplish by art, even what 
 nature had denied. 
 
 Still, however, the chief admiration of the 
 
 h Lib. iii. 58. ' Ep. lib. xii. 50. 
 
 ^ Annals^ lib. xv. 
 
LECT.vii ] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 219 
 
 Romans appears to have been lavished upon the 
 ingenuity displayed in clipping and pruning their 
 trees into a number of fantastic shapes — walls, 
 figures of beasts, ships, letters, and so forth, being 
 thus imitated. 
 
 The box was especially tortured in this man- 
 ner. The cypress tree too, as Pliny says, was 
 clipped and trained to form hedge-rows, or else 
 was twisted into various forms, according to the 
 caprice of adepts in the art of Gardening, {ars 
 fapiaria,) representing scenes of hunting, fleets, and 
 various other objects, which it clothes, as it were, 
 with a thin and short leaf, that is always green. 
 
 This practice of distorting Nature is, of course, 
 worthy of all reprobation ; but it may be doubted, 
 whether we do not at the present time, in this 
 country at least, fall into the opposite extreme 
 to that which the ancients indulged in. 
 
 He indeed, whatever his means may be, who, 
 as a matter of taste, prefers a cottage in a retired 
 and picturesque locality, to a more ostentatious 
 residence placed in the midst of an ample do- 
 main, acts only consistently, in striving to conceal 
 the share which Art has had in supplying his 
 wants, and in maintaining in all their integrity 
 the rugged features of the locality which he has 
 selected, in order, as Martial says, 
 
 " Rurc vero, barbaroque laetari." 
 
 But it is different with the owner of a large 
 and stately mansion, which bears upon its very 
 
220 
 
 LECTURES ON [lect. vii. 
 
 face the triumph of Art over Nature, and seems 
 intended to court observation, rather than to 
 escape it. 
 
 Here it would seem only in accordance with 
 the tone and character of the scene, that the gar- 
 dens immediately around the principal residence 
 should exhibit signs of the same expenditure of 
 human skill and labour, which is displayed in the 
 edifice, of which it must be regarded as an ap- 
 pendage. 
 
 The same poet, who ridicules the false magni- 
 ficence of Timon's garden, where 
 
 " Groves nod at groves, each alley has a brother, 
 And half the platform just repeats the other," 
 
 (Ess. iv. 117.) 
 
 tells us, in another place of the same essay (57), to 
 " Consult the genius of the place in all 
 That tells the waters or to rise or fall, 
 Or helps th' ambitious hill the heavens to scale, 
 Or scoops in circling theatres the vale ; 
 Ca.k in the country, catches opening glades, 
 Joins willing woods, and varies shades with shades ; 
 Now breaks, or now directs, th' extending Hnes, 
 Paints as you plant, and as you work, designs," 
 A spacious and sumptuous edifice seems to 
 demand in its immediate vicinity, straight and 
 broad terraces, fountains and statues, parterres 
 systematically arranged, and filled with choice 
 exotics ; and when a less artificial style is re- 
 sorted to, the pleasure-grounds should be at such 
 a distance from the residence, that we may forget 
 for the moment, that the whole is the creation of 
 Art, and the result of lavish expenditure. 
 
Plate 771. 
 
 1£ 
 
 Wf f f f t t»i»#»»M»»»»iiii 
 
 PLAN OF AN EGYPTIAN GARDEN. 
 
LECT.vii.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 221 
 
 But of grounds laid out with a view of display- 
 ing the beauties of Nature, we have no account 
 in the writings of antiquity ; unless the parks, or 
 Paradisi, of the Persian monarchs may be re- 
 garded as answering that purpose. 
 
 Amongst the bas-reliefs lately brought from 
 Nineveh, and now deposited in the British Mu- 
 seum, is one representing an Assyrian garden. 
 It describes a pleasure-ground of considerable 
 size, as an aqueduct or river flows through the 
 enclosure, with cross channels leading from it, 
 intended no doubt for irrigation. The aqueduct 
 crosses a road, which leads up to a temple placed 
 on the height above ; and trees of various kinds, 
 but apparently not palms, are arranged in ave- 
 nues through the Garden. 
 
 Of an Egyptian garden too we have represent- 
 ations in the works of Rossellini and Lipsius. 
 Thus in plate 39 of the 2nd volume of the great 
 work of the former, is shewn us the man- 
 ner in which the Egyptians trained their figs; 
 and in plate 40, their method of watering the 
 kitchen vegetables; whilst plate 69, of which I 
 have inserted a reduced copy, exhibits to us 
 the entire arrangement of a Garden. 
 
 This latter picture, Rossellini says, is taken from 
 a vast Theban tomb, which belonged to a military 
 chief in the reign of Pharaoh Amenof II, the 6th 
 king of the 18th Dynasty. It represents a large 
 square, surrounded with jagged walls, on the 
 right side of which flows a river, and on that 
 
222 
 
 LECTURES ON 
 
 [i;ect. VI j. 
 
 side is shaded by an avenue of large trees ; in ' 
 the middle of this side is a road, which leads to 
 the gate of ingress, which opens into a massive 
 gateway in the Egyptian fashion ; the architec- 
 ture and jambs of which are adorned with the 
 name and titles of the king, which however can- 
 not be any longer deciphered. 
 
 Behind this principal entrance, which must be 
 supposed to be in a line with the wall, is an 
 outer gate, or a passage flanked with trees, 
 through which we come to a small gate, and 
 from this enter into a large arbour of vines, 
 which occupies the centre of the Garden. 
 
 Within the quadrangle are alleys composed of 
 trees of various kinds in regular alternation ; 
 namely, the Date, a tree of indeterminate form 
 which is perhaps meant for the Sycamore or the 
 Persea, and the Doom Palm. It was the custom 
 in Egypt, and in other countries of Africa, to plant 
 trees of various species in regular alternation. 
 
 Other smaller alleys approach the flank of the 
 vine-arbour, which appear to be all shut ; since, 
 besides a double line, which denotes a wall of 
 enclosure, doors are represented which lead to 
 them. 
 
 And these alleys are intended to enclose and 
 give shade to four basins, or tanks, surrounded 
 by a margin of turf, and full of water, in which 
 nymphseas float, and water-birds swim. 
 
 Near the margins of the basins are figured 
 with a beautiful symmetry, tufts of papyrus, 
 
LECT. VII.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 223 
 
 planted in large and low vases, which we may 
 suppose full of the water necessary for the vege- 
 tation of the plant, indicated in the usual manner, 
 by an undulating line. 
 
 On the left of the tombs, which stand on the 
 flanks of the vine-arbour, we observe two tem- 
 ples of the accustomed form, serving both as a 
 tabernacle for the images of the gods, and also 
 as a .tent ; these are surrounded at their base 
 by a sort of balustrade, and, there being no proof 
 that they were consecrated to any gods in par- 
 ticular, may be supposed to have been made 
 to serve as resting places for those who walked 
 in the Garden. 
 
 Towards the bottom of the picture, beyond the 
 arbour, is situated the dwelling, into which we 
 enter by two doors on the same flank ; to the 
 ground floor two elegant windows gave light, 
 and above are three stories, the uppermost 
 covered by a cornice, upon which are placed 
 three vases, with plants of the papyrus, like to 
 those which stand near the basins; on each of 
 the stories of the dwelling is prepared an oflering 
 of vases and flowers ; and on the first floor is 
 flgured a man with his hands raised in the act of 
 offering sacrifice, or of praying ; whilst on the 
 second floor there was a figure kneeling, which is 
 now half destroyed. 
 
 These figures having reference to the domestic 
 religion of the Egyptians, may possibly have been 
 designed with the intention of offering up prayer 
 
224 LECTURES ON [lect. vii. 
 
 for the good of the deceased, on whose tomb is 
 probably represented the house and garden, which 
 had served him as his abode during life. 
 
 In Columella's poem, " De Cultu Hortorum," 
 there is no allusion to what is now called land- 
 scape gardening, no description of a pleasure 
 ground, or of an elegant suburban retreat ; but 
 simply an account of what would be contained in 
 such a garden, as might be appended to a farm 
 house, or be cultivated with a view to profit, 
 in which, therefore, not merely ornamental plants, 
 but also pot-herbs were included ; and in which 
 both fruit trees and vines found a place within 
 the precincts. 
 
 It is, in fact, an amplification of Homer's de- 
 scription of the gardens of Alcinoiis in the 7th 
 Book of the Odyssey, where it is stated, that the 
 ground was divided into three parts, serving as a 
 grove for fruits and for shade, as a vineyard, and 
 as an enclosure set apart for olives and pot-herbs. 
 It is watered, he says, by two fountains, one of 
 which supplies the town, the other the palace. 
 
 The trees bore throughout the year, so that 
 whilst some were in flower, others were loaded 
 with ripe fruit. The prominence given to pot- 
 herbs may be inferred from the term " -n-paa-ial :" 
 
 "EvOa 8^ KoaixrjTaL irpacnaX, irapa vcCarov opyov 
 TlavToiat 7re(^va<ni', eTrrjeraoy yavodxrai. 
 
 Od. vii. 127. 
 
 the term irpaa-iai, or plots, being derived from 
 
LECT. viL] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 225 
 
 the Greek word for onio7i. Nor is any mention 
 made of ornamental plants, or of a pleasure- 
 ground. 
 
 Plutarch also speaks of the practice of plant- 
 ing roses and violets side by side with leeks and 
 onions, which would seem to imply, that even in 
 his time the ornamental part of the garden was 
 not kept distinct from the useful. 
 
 Such, then, being the case, we need not be sur- 
 prised, that in the garden described by Columella 
 little more is offered than directions, as to the 
 various operations necessary for keeping such a 
 plot of ground in good order, and as to the pe- 
 riods at which they should be carried on, together 
 with an enumeration of such plants as ought to 
 be introduced into it. 
 
 He begins by directing us to choose a rich soil, 
 which, after digging, becomes as loose and pul- 
 verulent as sand; a soil, which produces of its 
 own accord a luxuriant pasturage, and abundance 
 of elder-berries, together with a profusion of wild 
 pears, apples, and grapes. 
 
 It should neither be dry, nor yet swampy ; but 
 ought either to be in the vicinity of a river, or 
 else provided with a well, so shallow as not to 
 fatigue the labourer in drawing up water for his 
 plants. 
 
 The ground should be fenced in, either with a 
 wall, or a thick hedge, but no elaborate orna- 
 ments should be introduced ; nor should statues 
 find a place in it, except it be one of the God of 
 
 Q 
 
226 
 
 LECTURES ON [lect. vii. 
 
 Gardens, who may be allowed to hold his accus- 
 tomed position, as the presiding deity and guar- 
 dian of the place. 
 
 About the autumnal equinox, the soil, if it has 
 been already well saturated by the rains, is to be 
 turned up with an iron spade ; but if not, it must 
 be first irrigated ; for if this cannot be done, the 
 digging must of necessity be postponed till 
 winter. 
 
 When, however, the swallow announces the 
 return of spring, the gardener is to manure his 
 ground with the rich heaps of his farm-yard, with 
 the dung of cattle, or of men, and then to turn 
 up the earth again with his prong (bidens). He 
 next is to pulverize the soil with his mattock 
 {marra and ligo'i). And then, after having a se- 
 cond time triturated the soil with his hoes {sar- 
 cula), he must mark out again the plots, into 
 which the garden is to be divided. 
 
 Then comes the sowing of the seeds which he 
 desires to introduce ; and in this part of the poem 
 we meet with a long enumeration of plants, es- 
 teemed either for the beauty or fragrance of their 
 flowers, for their supposed medicinal virtues, or 
 for their various domestic uses. 
 
 These I will afterwards mention, but in the 
 first place shall go on with the directions which 
 follow as to the management of the garden. 
 
 The seeds being committed to the ground, they 
 must be copiously watered ; and if the land be so 
 situated as not to admit of this, we must dig fur- 
 
LECT. VII.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 227 
 
 rows to the depth of three feet, so as to conduct 
 what water there is to the roots of the plants, 
 Avhich have now begun to spring up. 
 
 But in March, when Aries heaves its head 
 above the waters, is the time for exertion and 
 watchfuhiess ; then Ave must deck out mother 
 Earth with her wonted embellishments ; then is 
 the time for the gardener to dispose the plants 
 which he has sown in such a manner, as to ex- 
 hibit the thousand hues which nature evolves. 
 
 For this is the period of the year, when the 
 prolific powers of Nature are most active, and 
 when animals and plants feel the genial influ- 
 ence of the season. Then is the time, at small 
 distances apart, to plant nasturtiums, dreaded by 
 caterpillars ; the herb savory (satureia hortensis), 
 having the smell of thyme and of thymbra ; toge- 
 ther with the pumpkin and the cucumber. Then 
 too the artichoke is to be planted. But when the 
 pomegranate comes into flower, the season is ar- 
 rived for planting the arums (arum colacasia) ; 
 then the coriander springs up, and the nigella 
 (melanthium), which accords well with cumine ; 
 and the berry of the asparagus and the mallow, 
 and the bryony, which, like the vine, twines 
 round other trees in its neighbourhood ; and the 
 beet, which is white in its stalk, but green in its 
 leaves. The corn, too, is now in flower ; the me- 
 lilotus (lotus), and the violet, have appeared ; the 
 snapdragon is open, and the rose spreads abroad 
 its fragrance. 
 
 Q 2 
 
228 
 
 LECTURES ON 
 
 [lECT. VII. 
 
 This is the softest period of the year, whilst the 
 sun is still mild in its influence, and the springs 
 are neither too cold nor too warm for the plants 
 they irrigate. The garden is now enriched by 
 the flowers of the vine, and the rose ripens into 
 bloom. We may now pluck the flowers of the 
 V narcissus, and those of the sterile pomegranate. 
 
 And now bring the violet and the costmary 
 (balsamita vulgaris), mixed with privet, with its 
 little black berries, and with the crocus. Now fill 
 the baskets with the dark-coloured hyacinth, and 
 let the wicker be pressed out with roses, and with 
 the crimson marigold (calendula), as an offering 
 to Vertumnus. 
 
 But when the harvest field becomes yellow 
 with the ripe sheaves, and- the summer is come 
 on, tie together bundles of leeks mixed with 
 onions, and of the corn poppy mixed with anise, 
 and congratulate yourselves on the success of 
 your labours. 
 
 Now tread down the basil scattered over the 
 ploughed land, lest the heat of the pulverized 
 soil should burn up the crops, or the pulex gnaw, 
 or the ant devour the seeds. The snail and the 
 caterpillar indeed not only attack the leaves, but 
 even the stalk of the cabbage and beet. 
 
 But the hopes of the gardener are often de- 
 feated by tempests, by hail, and by blight, whence 
 spring beetles, which seize upon the grape and 
 the willow, and grubs which devour the seeds. 
 
 To counteract these evils, the poet suggests 
 
lect.vil] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 229 
 
 various remedies, partly medicinal, partly super- 
 stitious. 
 
 Of the former description are the lees of oil or 
 the soot of the cottage, scattered over the seeds, 
 the bitter juice of the horehound (marrubium) or 
 the houseleek (sedum); of the latter kind direc- 
 tions are given, which shew, that the Romans, in 
 the time of Columella, had not advanced in en- 
 lightenment much beyond the age of Cato, whose 
 absurd recipes for a broken limb I have noticed 
 in a former Lecture. 
 
 Take for instance the following : 
 
 " At si nulla valet medicina repellere pestem r 
 Dardaniag veniant artes, nudataque plantas 
 Fcemina, quae justis turn demum operata juventse 
 Legibus, obscoeno manat pudibunda cruore, 
 Sed resoluta sinus, resoluto moesta capillo, 
 Ter circum areolaSj et sepem ducitur horti. 
 QusB cum, lustravit gradiens, mirabile visu ! 
 Non aliter quam decussa pluit arbore nimbus 
 Vel teretis mali, vel tectse cortice glandis, 
 Volvitur ad terram distorto corpore campe. 
 Sic quondam magicis sopitum cantibus anguem 
 Vellere Phryxeo delapsum vidit lolcos." 
 
 (x. 357—368.) 
 
 But now is the time to cut the earliest cabbages 
 and the lettuces from Gades, and from Paphos, 
 and to encircle the fasces with parsley, and with 
 onions. 
 
 Now the (eruca) rocket, the sorrel (lapathos), 
 the black bryony (tamus communis), the squill, 
 the wild asparagus (corruda), come up ; the an- 
 drachne spreads out its branches ; the kidney 
 
230 
 
 LECTURES ON 
 
 [lECT. VII- 
 
 bean (phaselus) shoots up, the cucumber, and 
 pumpkin trail along the ground. 
 
 But when the dog-star rises, the early fig drops 
 from the tree, and the baskets may be filled with 
 apricots, with damsons, and with peaches. 
 
 It is in September, however, that most kinds of 
 fig become ripe. And after the 23rd of August, 
 when the feast of Vulcan is concluded, whilst the 
 rains are impending, and the clouds begin to col- 
 lect, the turnip and the turnip cabbage are sown, 
 and the ripe grapes warn us to shut out pilferers 
 from our gardens, and to begin the vintage. 
 
 The above may serve as an analysis of the 
 principal contents of Columella's poem, with the 
 exception of the plants proposed to be introduced 
 into his garden, which deserve some notice on our 
 part, as indicative of the state of floriculture at 
 this period. 
 
 I must observe, however, that in enumerating 
 them, some allowance must be made for the diffi- 
 culties of the subject, which arise, not only from 
 the hasty manner in which the Botanists of the 
 last century have in many instances applied the 
 Greek and Roman names of plants to those that 
 came under their observation, but also from the 
 vagueness of the descriptions given by the an- 
 cient writers themselves of the plants they men- 
 tion, which is such, as to prevent us often from 
 correcting with any certainty the errors wliich 
 our predecessors have committed. 
 
lect.vil] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 231 
 
 With regard to Greek plants, the highest au- 
 thority to which we can appeal is my distin- 
 guished predecessor Dr. Sibthorp, who had the 
 advantage of verifying his conjectures with re- 
 spect to the plants to which the names given 
 in Dioscorides refer, not only by the two long 
 journeys which he undertook in the country 
 itself, during which he took particular pains to 
 learn the modern name of each plant, as a clue 
 to its ancient appellation ; but also by the almost 
 exclusive access he had obtained to plates taken 
 from drawings accompanying the most ancient 
 of all the MSS. of Dioscorides, which, being exe- 
 cuted in the fifth century, may fairly be pre- 
 sumed to convey to us, what was understood to 
 be the plants specified, at a period not long 
 subsequent to that at which Dioscorides himself 
 flourished. 
 
 This MS. was made for Juliana Aricia, daughter 
 of the emperor Flavins Anicius, who lived about 
 the end of the fifth century, during the reigns of 
 Anastasius, Dicorus, and Justinian, at Constan- 
 tinople, from whence the Book was brought to 
 Vienna by Busbequius about 1560. The empress 
 Maria Theresa in the last century caused copper- 
 plates to be taken of the accompanying drawings, 
 but from these only two impressions have been 
 allowed to be struck off. 
 
 One of these was presented to Dr. Sibthorp by 
 Baron Jacquin, when he passed through Vienna 
 in his way to Greece; the other was given to 
 Linnaeus, and is in the library of the Linnean 
 
232 
 
 LECTURES ON [lect. vii. 
 
 Society in London. It is however imperfect, con- 
 taining only 140 engravings, whereas the copy in 
 my possession comprises 409. 
 
 1 have also taken advantage, not only of Dr. 
 Sibthorp's published works, but likewise of the 
 MS. he left behind, one of which is a volume, 
 containing his comments on most of the plants 
 indigenous in Greece which are noticed by Dio- 
 scorides, and his reasons for the identifications 
 of them introduced into his Flora Grseca. 
 
 But, granting the correctness of Dr. Sibthorp's 
 identifications as applied to the plants of Greece 
 and the Levant, it by no means necessarily fol- 
 lows, that the names given by Pliny, Virgil, and 
 Columella, refer to the very same species ; for the 
 Flora of Italy, although with many features of 
 resemblance, is by no means the same as that 
 of the countries, from w^hich Theophrastus and 
 Dioscorides drew their knowledge of the vege- 
 table kingdom. 
 
 Still, in every case in which the popular name 
 of a plant in the Italian or Romaic languages 
 coincides with that of a Latin or Greek one, 
 handed down to us from antiquity, there is a 
 strong antecedent probability, that the same ob- 
 ject is intended in both ; and thus our inquiry is 
 limited to the investigation of those names, which 
 either possess no modern representative, or to 
 such as are applied to plants so obviously differ- 
 ing from those which at present go under a simi- 
 lar name, that we are compelled to adopt some 
 different hypothesis concerning them. 
 
LECT. VII.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 233 
 
 Bearing these considerations duly in mind, I 
 will proceed to bring before you the plants, to 
 which allusion is made in the poem to which I 
 have just drawn your attention. 
 
 Now the plants mentioned by Columella may 
 be divided into three heads ; namely, 
 
 1. Those cultivated for ornament ; 2. those used 
 for food, either as pot-herbs or as fruits; 3. those 
 possessing some real or some supposed utility in 
 other ways, either as seasoning food, or as serving 
 some medicinal purpose. 
 
 We will begin with those placed under the first 
 of those heads, which we shall find very few in 
 number, compared with those that fill the plots 
 of the most humble garden of modern times. 
 
 The only ones, indeed, which may be regarded 
 as fully identified with the plants of the present 
 day, are as follow : 
 
 1st, Caltha, described as " flaventia lumina cal- 
 thse," which seems to have been the marigold : 
 its colour and strong smell appearing to identify 
 it with the latter name^ 
 
 2dly, Lilium, probably the white lily (" lilium 
 candidum") — calathisque virentia lilia caniss^ (x. 
 99). 
 
 3dly, Melanthium — " melanthia grata cumino" 
 
 f Of this genus, Calendula arvensis is found in Greece, and is 
 delineated in the Flora Grseca, t. 920 j and Calendula officinalis 
 in the south of Europe, Bot. Magazine, vol. 59. 
 
 g The Kpivou of Dioscorides, delineated in the plates to the V. 
 MS., is probably, Sibthorp says, a sort of lily. 
 
234 LECTURES ON [lect. vii. 
 
 (ib. 245)— identified by Sib thorp with the nigella 
 sativa or damascena. 
 
 The V. MS.*' indeed gives a figure which by no 
 means agrees with this plant ; but Sibthorp says, 
 that the Greeks of the present day still sprinkle 
 the seeds over their bread, as was the case in the 
 time of Dioscorides. There is a good plate of this 
 in the Fl. Gr. t. 511. 
 
 4thly, Narcissus — " Narcissique comas'' (98) — 
 doubtless the narcissus poeticus or tazetta of 
 Italy. Probably both were confounded under this 
 title. Sibthorp, in his MS. notes, prefers the latter. 
 Fee*, however, distinguishes Narcissus poeticus 
 " Pro molii viola, pro purpureo narcisso :" 
 
 (EcL. v.3«.) 
 
 and serotinus, 
 
 " nec sera comantem 
 Narcisssum, aut flexi tacuissem vimen acanthi." 
 
 (GeOBG. iv. 122.) 
 
 5tlily, Rosa — "rosa plena pudoris" (102)— of the 
 identity of which with the rose of the present 
 day there can be no doubt. Pliny enumerates 
 twelve varieties cultivated in Italy in his day. 
 
 6thly, Viola — "quae frondens purpurat auro" 
 (101). "lou of Diosc, as represented in the V. MS. 
 in a manner which, however rude, is evidently in- 
 tended for some sort of violet, sufficiently well 
 applies to the common violet — viola odorata, L. 
 It is therefore a different species from Virgil's 
 
 ^ By V. MS. I mean the Vienna Manuscript of Dioscorides 
 above alluded to. 
 
 » The Author of the Flore de Virgil. Paris, 1822. 
 
LECT. VII.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 235 
 
 viola pallens, " pallentes violas," which Tenore re- 
 gards as the Leucojum autumnale of Sicily. 
 
 If the above plants may be regarded as nearly 
 ascertained, the same is not the case with those 
 which follow ; as, for instance, 
 
 7. The Amaranthus — " immortalesque amaran- 
 th!" (175) — which is usually regarded as identical 
 with the modern amaranthus. But, unfortunately, 
 two species which are given by Billerbeck'' as cor- 
 responding best with two kinds of amaranthus, 
 viz. paniculatus and sanguineus, mentioned by 
 ancient writers, are indigenous in America ; and 
 A. blitum, the third, does not correspond with 
 Pliny's definition, which is " spica purpurea ve- 
 rius, quam flos aliquis, et ipse sine odore" (xxi. 
 23) — a purple spike rather than a flower, and 
 without smell. 
 
 Fee therefore conceives, that it is the cocks- 
 comb (Celosia cristata), common in Italy at the 
 present day. But we have no reason to suppose 
 that this flower, which is a native of India, had 
 been introduced into Italy in ancient times. It is 
 more probable, that Amaranthus caudatus (Love 
 lies bleeding), an East Indian plant, may have 
 been known to the ancients, and been the plant 
 intended, as it corresponds very well with Pliny's 
 description. 
 
 Sibthorp considers the a/mapavOoi of Diosc. to be 
 the Gnaphalium stoechas of the moderns, from 
 which the wTeaths of flowers placed over the 
 
 ^ Flora Classica. Lipsiee, 1824. 
 
236 LECTURES ON [lect. vii. 
 
 tombs of deceased persons by their relatives are 
 now commonly made; but it must be evident, 
 that the flower in no respect corresponds with 
 Pliny's description of the amaranthus. 
 
 8. Hyacinthus; of which Columella mentions 
 two sorts, " niveos vel cseruleos hyacinthos." 
 
 Upon the nature of this flower modern authori- 
 ties are much divided. The remarkable character 
 which the poets assign to it, of having the let- 
 ters AI AI inscribed upon its petals, have led 
 some Botanists to identify the plant with the 
 Delphinium Ajacis, or with the Delphinium pu- 
 bescens, a variety of D. consolida, which also has 
 the same markings upon its petals'. The former, 
 however, is stated not to be indigenous in Greece ; 
 and therefore we are in a manner restricted to 
 the latter species, which Sibthorp says is common 
 in those regions. 
 
 Moreover Dioscorides, lib. iii. c. 85, states, that 
 the flower he calls AeXcpl^iov erepov, having already 
 alluded to a flower by that name, is also called 
 vdKiv6o9 ; and that by Delphinium was meant some 
 species of larkspur, is confirmed by the drawing 
 in the V. MS., which, rude as it is, bears a fair 
 degree of resemblance to this genus. 
 
 On the other hand Ovid says, that the hyacinth 
 has the form of a lily, and applies to it the epithet 
 " ferrugineus," which would seem to be applicable 
 to the Lilium martagon. 
 
 1 See Hogg, Obsei'vations on some of the Classical Plants of 
 Sicily ; Hooker's Journal of Botany. 
 
lect.vil] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 237 
 
 Upon the petals of this and some other lilies, 
 markings may be traced, which, although less 
 distinct than those on the petals of the lark- 
 spur, might possibly be considered as bearing 
 some resemblance to the letters A L 
 
 Dr. Sibthorp, however, in his MS. notes, pro- 
 nounces the voLKivOoi of Dioscorides to be a squill, 
 probably Scilla amoena ; and with this plant the 
 drawing in the V. MS., of which I have given a 
 copy in the annexed plate, accords better, than it 
 does with any species of larkspur. 
 
 Mons. Dumolin, however, in his recent work™, 
 prefers considering it as the iris germanica, ap- 
 pealing, in support of his position, to the lines in 
 Nicander's Geoponica, quoted by Athenseus, lib. 
 XV. c. 31. 
 
 'Ipis 6' iv pi^rjaLv ayaWCbi 778' vaKU'6(o 
 Alaarfi TTpoa-eoiKe. 
 
 But these only imply, that the hyacinth bore a 
 resemblance to an iris, not that it was the plant 
 itself 
 
 He also contends that the iris germanica ex- 
 hibits on either side of the beard, which extends 
 along the centre of its petals, markings like the 
 Greek letters alluded to. 
 
 It must however be confessed, that many irises 
 have these same markings, and that they are in 
 none of them sufficiently striking or peculiar, to 
 arrest attention, and give origin to a fable. 
 
 ■fn Flore Poetique Ancienne. Paris, 1856. 
 
238 
 
 LECTURES ON [lect. vil 
 
 The same remark, I think, applies to the Gla- 
 diolus byzantinus, which Ten ore" considers to be 
 the plant in question, and which is common in 
 the Levant as well as in Italy. Here also mark- 
 ings may be traced that bear a fancied resem- 
 blance to the letters A I, but they are by no 
 means distinct, and many other flowers might be 
 pointed out possessing the same characters. 
 
 Upon the whole, I think it must be concluded, 
 that the term volkivOo^ was in general applied to 
 some plant of the lily tribe; but that the poets 
 confounded with this the larkspur, which has 
 upon it the markings alluded to; and that the 
 name Hyacinth was given in the first instance to 
 the plant which most distinctly exhibited them. 
 
 9. Leo. This plant, described by Columella as 
 
 '•' hiantis saeva Leonis 
 Ora feri" (x. 99.) 
 
 puzzles us the more, as it does not occur in any 
 other Latin writer. Leontice leontopetalum is the 
 plant which Sibthorp identifies with the Xeovro- 
 TreraXov of Dioscoridcs ; but Columella's de- 
 scription of leo implies a ringent plant like the 
 snapdragon, or, as Billerbeck will have it, the 
 orobanche. 
 
 It is far more probable, however, that a snap- 
 dragon, than an orobanche, should have been in- 
 
 >' Osservazioni sulla Flora Virgiliana. Napoli, 1826. 
 
 " The engraving in tlie Vienna edition is like nothing in na- 
 ture, but certainly differs more -widely from a ringent plant, than 
 from a regular monopetalous one. 
 
Plabe:vn. 
 
LECT. VII.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 239 
 
 troduced into a Roman garden, and the term leo 
 may have been as naturally applied to this flower 
 by the Romans, as the corresponding one low^en- 
 maul (lion's mouth) is in the German, or as snap- 
 dragon is in English. 
 
 10. Ligustrum, — the nature of this plant has 
 been always a subject of much doubt, especially 
 in the instance before us, where Columella speaks 
 of it as black : 
 
 " Fer calathis violam : et nigro permixta ligustro 
 Balsama (x. 300.) 
 
 whereas Virgil and others call it white ; 
 
 " Alba Hgustra." 
 
 The common privet might apply to both de- 
 scriptions; for its flowers are white, whilst its 
 berries are black : but Dumoulin contends, with 
 some reason, that it was a convolvulus. 
 
 According to him, the ligustrum of the poets 
 must have been a twining plant, whence indeed 
 its name is derived {ligustrum, from ligo, 'to bind^): 
 it is also an herbaceous plant, and not a tree or 
 shrub ; and may be inferred to be monopetalous, 
 from the line in Ovid : 
 
 " Candidior nvi&v folio, Galatea, ligustri." 
 
 Folium being used to signify a petal. Servius 
 moreover says, that "the ligustrum of Virgil is 
 thought by some to be a convolvulus." 
 
 On the other hand, the ligustrum of Pliny is 
 described as being a tree, so that we must sup- 
 pose two distinct plants to have been designed by 
 the one, and by the other. 
 
240 
 
 LECTURES ON [lect. vii. 
 
 Bating this difficulty, the interpretation of 
 Du Molin has the advantage of enabling us to 
 explain the epithet black given to ligu strum by 
 Columella ; for it is easier to find a dark convol- 
 vulus than a dark-flowered privet. 
 
 Lastly, we have the leucojum, which Columella 
 designates as white, {candida leucoja,) and which, 
 from its Greek etymology, may be regarded as 
 synonymous to 'lov XevKov. But this leaves us as 
 much in the dark as before ; for Avhat, after all, is 
 meant by a white violet ? 
 
 Now in Dioscorides, XevKoiov, or 'lov XevKov, may 
 be viewed as a generic name for various species 
 of cheiranthus or wall-flower, if we admit Sib- 
 thorp's authority, which is confirmed by the plate 
 of XevKoi'ov in the V. MS. ; and of this, two species, 
 C. cheiri and C. incanus, are cultivated in gardens 
 in Greece at the present day. 
 
 In the V. MS. is a drawing of XevKoiov QaXaacnov'^, 
 which bears a near resemblance to cheiranthus 
 cuspidatus (Fl. Gr. t. 639) ; and hesperis matrona- 
 lis, a cruciform plant, not very unlike a wall- 
 flower, is called dame's violet at the present day. 
 
 Thus the entire catalogue of ornamental flowers 
 given in Columella would amount only to about 
 eleven ; and if we take into account such as are 
 mentioned by Virgil, it will be found, that after 
 deducting such ornamental trees as, laurus, the 
 bay laurel; myrtus, the myrtle; myrica, proba- 
 
 P See plate annexed. 
 
JS^evHoi'ov &a\a.sscoy. 
 
LECT.vii.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 241 
 
 bly the tamarisk; and viburnum, the wayfaring 
 tree, or more probably the clematis, only the fol- 
 lowing additions will be made. 
 
 First, then, appears the acanthus, a term ap- 
 plied to any description of flower that was asso- 
 ciated with thorns, the word being derived from 
 cLKTi a point, and aVOo? a flower. 
 
 In Dioscorides accordingly several kinds of 
 iXKavda are enumerated ; namely, ep-TraKavdri, which 
 Sibthorp identifies with the acanthus spinosus 
 of L. ; apa^LKri, probably onopordon arabicum ; 
 \evKr}, a kind of thistle, probably, as Sibthorp 
 thinks, cnicus acarna ; and aypla, which he identi- 
 fies with cnicus syriacus. 
 
 But in Virgil the term acanthus is applied to 
 two plants in particular, the first of which is 
 characterized by the epithets mollis, ridens and 
 florens ; and which must be identified with the 
 (XKavBa epiraKavQr) of Dioscoridcs, and with the 
 acanthus spinosus of Sibthorp. 
 
 Now, although this botanist distinguishes be- 
 tween acanthus spinosus, and mollis, yet it is 
 probable that both may be varieties of the same 
 species ; and at any rate Virgil appears to have 
 confounded them under the same appellation. 
 This then is the plant which was cultivated by 
 
 «■ The Vienna edition of Dioscorides lias rude engravings of 
 "hKavBa aypia, which looks like a thistle, Cnicus Syriacus of Sib- 
 thorp ; dpa^Ur}, Onopordon arabicum ; epnaKavdr], Acanthus spino- 
 sus ; \fVKr], Cnicus acarna. 
 
 None of these have the slightest rescmljlance to the acacia, but 
 all have the characters of a thistle. 
 
 R 
 
242 
 
 LECTURES ON [lect. vii. 
 
 the Romans in their pleasure-grounds, and of 
 which the graceful leaf supplied the model for the 
 Corinthian capital. 
 
 But the other kind of acanthus, which Virgil 
 designates by the epithet semper frondens, is asso- 
 ciated hy him with plants of the warmer parts of 
 the east, and not with those of Italy or Greece. 
 
 Thus, in his 2nd Georgic, we have the follow- 
 ing lines : 
 
 " sola India nigrum 
 Fert ebenum, solis est thurea virga Sabsois : 
 Quid tibi odorato referam sudantia ligno 
 Balsamaque, et baccas semper frondentis acanthi ?" 
 
 (Georg. ii. 1 16.) 
 
 Theophrastus describes this acanthus in a man- 
 ner which seems to identify it with the acacia • 
 and Dioscorides, speaking of the same tree, gives 
 it that very name. It is therefore supposed to 
 correspond with the acacia nilotica L., which is 
 evergreen, and also has pods or berries (baccse). 
 
 But besides these two plants, so distinguished 
 by Virgil, there would seem to be a third alluded 
 to in his 4th Georgic, when he speaks of the 
 
 " Flexi vimen acanthi." (iv. 123.) 
 
 Mr. Yates, in the Classical Museum, vol. iii, 
 considers this to be a kind of broom of the 
 genus spartium, and to be synonymous with the 
 aspalathus of Dioscorides, the spartium villosum 
 of Sibthorp, (Fl. Gr. 673,) universal in Greece, 
 pointing out, that in the Lexeis Atticse of Moeris, 
 the same plant, which in the Attic Greek was 
 
LECT.vii.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 243 
 
 called acnrdXaOoi, in the common Greek is called 
 
 aKavOai . 
 
 2. Amellus, a plant which is very accurately de- 
 scribed by Virgil in these lines : 
 
 " Est etiam flos in pratis, cui nomen amello, 
 Fecere agricolse, facilis quserentibus herba : 
 Namque uno ingentera toUit de cespite silvam : 
 Aureus ipse ; sed in foliis, quae plurima circura 
 Funduntur, violse sublucet purpura nigrae : 
 Ssepe deAm nexis ornatae torquibus arae : 
 Asper in ore sapor. Tonsis in vallibus ilium 
 Pastores, et curva legunt prope flumina Mellas. 
 
 (Gborg. iv. 271.) 
 
 This corresponds very well with the aster 
 amellus p of modern botanists, in which the florets 
 of the disk are yellow, those of the rays blue, and 
 which, besides, is indigenous in the north of Italy, 
 as well as in Sicily. (Sibth. Prod.) 
 
 3. Colocasia, arum colocasia L. 
 
 " Mixtaque ridenti colocasia fundit acanthi." 
 This plant, Pliny says, was introduced from 
 Egypt into Italy in the time of Augustus, and 
 was cultivated for the sake of its roots, which 
 are esculent. It is found at present in Crete, 
 Cyprus, and Zante, and is called milcas in Egypt. 
 It is also common in India. (Wight's Icones*^.) 
 
 4. Crocus, the crocus sativus, or saffron. No 
 doubt, many species of crocus are included how- 
 ever under this general appellation, which perhaps, 
 as being a wild flower, is not inserted by Colu- 
 
 P It is the da-TTip aTTiKos of Diosc, but the plate in V. MS. does 
 not correspond with that. 
 
 q The colocasia of Dioscorides, however, is the Nelumbrium. 
 
 R 2 
 
244 
 
 LECTURES ON 
 
 [lECT. VII. 
 
 mella in his Catalogue, although Virgil speaks of 
 it, alluding to its fragrant stigmas. He also gives 
 it the name of rubens, an epithet which applies 
 better to some other species of crocus, than to 
 the sativus. The plate in V. MS. more resembles 
 Amaryllis lutea (Sibth.). 
 
 5. Hibiscus, mentioned in Virgil's Eclog. in two 
 places, viz. ii. 30, 
 
 " Hffidorumque gregem viridi compellere hibisco," 
 and X. 71, 
 
 " Dum sedet, et gracili fiscellam texit hibisco." 
 
 In both which cases a tough but flexible stem 
 seems to be attributed to the plant. 
 
 The description given by Dioscorides of aXOala, 
 which some, he says, call I^la-Kog, so well agrees 
 with plants of the mallow tribe, that we should 
 be disposed to identify the hibiscus of Virgil with 
 some species of mallow ; and according to Colu- 
 mella, the fibres of the marsh mallow are so 
 tough, that in Spain they were beaten out like 
 hemp, and w^ere used in the fabrication of coarse 
 stuffs. 
 
 It is therefore quite possible, that the stems of 
 the althea officinalis, or cannabina, both of which 
 exist in Greece (Fl. Gr.), and in Italy, might fur- 
 nish twigs fit to drive cattle, and to form baskets, 
 as Virgil represents. "AXkcu of Dioscorides is the 
 same, Sibthorp says, as hibiscus trionum. (Fl. 
 Graeca 1666.) 
 
 6. Saliunca, described as, 
 
LECT. vil] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 245 
 
 " Puniceis humilis quantum saliunca rosetis, 
 Judicio nostro tantum tibi cedit Amjntas." 
 
 (ECLOG. V. 17.) 
 
 Now Pliny describes this plant as follows : 
 " It has rather a short leaf, which does not admit 
 of its being plaited for garlands, and numerous 
 roots by which it is held together, being more of 
 a herb than a flower, and so closely matted and 
 tangled that it would almost appear to have been 
 pressed together with the hand ; in short, it is a 
 turf of a peculiar nature. This plant grows in 
 Pannonia and the sunny regions of Noria and the 
 Alps, as also in the vicinity of the city of Epore- 
 dia (Ivree, Valley of Aoste), the smell being so 
 remarkably sweet, that the crops of it have been 
 of late as profitable as the working of a mine." 
 
 " This plant is particularly valued for the plea- 
 sant smell it imparts to clothes." 
 
 " Saliunca folio quidem subbrevi, et quod necti 
 non possit, radici numerosse cohseret, herba verius, 
 quam flos, densa veluti manu pressa, breviterque 
 cespes sui generis. Pannonia banc gignit et No- 
 rici, Alpiumque aprica : urbium Eporedia : tantse 
 suavitatis, ut metallum esse coeperit. Vestibus 
 interponi eam, gratissimum." (Lib. xxi. c. 20.) 
 
 Now Dioscorides speaks of akiovyya as synony- 
 mous with vaphoi KcXriKh, and the latter is re- 
 garded as the species called V. saliunca, which is 
 a native of Dauphiny. The tufted character of 
 the Valeriana celtica, which makes it resemble a 
 grass rather than a flower, brings it near to this 
 
246 
 
 LECTURES ON [lect. vil 
 
 description of Pliny. It also has a fragrant smell 
 such as that described, and is hence called French 
 spikenard. 
 
 Jacquin, however, (Collectanea, vol. i.) rightly 
 observes, that the saliunca of Virgil can hardly be 
 the Valeriana celtica, because the poet speaks of 
 it as a plant common about Rome, whereas this 
 only grows in alpine regions. Perhaps therefore 
 some other species of Valeriana is intended by the 
 poet. 
 
 7. The thymus of Virgil is the common thyme 
 of our meadows, and was also probably applied 
 to other species of wild thyme. 
 
 8. Verbena. 
 
 " Effer aquam, et molli cinge haec altaria vitta : 
 Verbenasque adole pingues et mascula thura : 
 Conjugis ut magicis sanos avertere sacris 
 Experiar sensus, nihil hie nisi carmina desunt." 
 
 (Ec. viii. 64.) 
 
 This name Avas applied generically to all plants 
 employed in sacrifices. But when used specifically, 
 it corresponds with the lepa ^oravri of Dioscorides, 
 which Sibthorp identifies with verbena officinalis, 
 and which was worn by the Greeks as an amulet. 
 
 The plant is very abundant in Greece, and its 
 islands, and is called at present a-ravpco /3oravr]. 
 
 Such appears to be the entire catalogue ; and 
 even Pliny adds but little to the number, as may 
 be seen by the following enumeration of the 
 flowers used for chaplets or ornamental plants, 
 (coronamentorum genera), which he describes, 
 (lib. xxi.) 
 
LECT. VII.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 247 
 
 1. Rosa, 12 varieties. 
 
 2. Lily, 4 
 
 3. Convolvulus sepium. 
 
 4. Narcissus, 3 
 
 5. Viola, purple, yellow, and red. 
 
 6. Caltha, Marygold. 
 
 7. Scopa*^, Chenopodium scoparia. 
 
 8. Baccharis, Salvia sclarea. 
 
 9. Combretum, not identified. 
 
 10. Crocus, Wild saffron. 
 
 11. Iris, two kinds. 
 
 12. Saliunca, a Valerian. 
 
 13. Folium (Teucrium polium.) 
 
 14. Amaranth, Love lies bleeding. 
 
 15. Cyanus, Centaurea cyanus. 
 
 16. Holochrysum, Gnaphalium stsechas. 
 
 17. Petiliume. 
 
 18. Bellio, Chrysanthemum segetum. 
 
 19. Chrysocoma, Chrysocoma linosyris. 
 
 And in Greece, if we may judge from the follow- 
 ing list, quoted by Athenseus from Theophrastus, 
 the number of ornamental plants, commonly 
 known, did not materially differ from that which 
 the Romans cultivated. 
 
 Thus we find noticed the following : 
 
 "lov, Violet. 
 
 Aios avdos, Flower of Jupiter (Dianthus caryophy Ileus). 
 "I^uor, Lavendula spica. 
 'H/xepo/caAA^s, Hemerocalhs. 
 AevKoioif, Chiranthus cheiri. 
 
 d Lib. xxi. c. 15. 
 
 e Sprengel supposes it to be Geum rivale, but this cannot be, 
 because Geum is a spring flower, whereas Petilium is said to be 
 an autumnal one ; nor does the former resemble in colour the 
 wild Kose, as that of the Petilium is said to do. 
 
248 LECTURES ON [lect.vii. 
 
 <t>\6ytvov aypLov, Wild wall-flower. 
 NdpKLo-aos, Narcissus. 
 AdpLoi), Lily. 
 
 '' Av€fj.(dvr] opeta, Mountain anemone. 
 
 BoAjSoC Kcahvov, Bulbocodium. 
 
 Oivavdr], Convallaria. 
 
 MiXaviov, Purple violet. 
 
 "EjXtxpvfTo^, Gnaphalium orientale. 
 
 ^AvefxcavT} Xei^oivLa, Narcissus pseudo- narcissus. 
 
 ai^iov. Gladiolus. 
 
 'TaKivdos, Hyacinth. 
 
 'Vohov, Rose. 
 
 Kplva TTopcpvpavOrj, Purple lilies, Lilium martagon. 
 
 The most numerous list, however, of what are 
 called a-TecpavoojULaTiKo. avdri is that given by Athe- 
 nseus from the poem of Nicander ^ ; but even this 
 does not appear to include any flowers, except 
 what are indigenous in Greece and Italy. 
 
 The following catalogue comprises most of 
 those mentioned : 
 
 "lor, Violet ; two sorts, pale and golden-coloured. 
 
 'Vohov, Rose ; the Emathean and Megarian chiefly praised. 
 
 Kpivov 
 
 AeCptov T -1 
 
 > 4 o / r Lily. 
 
 Ap.ppocna 
 
 Xapfx ' A(f)pobbTris 
 'Ipis, Iris. 
 AvxvCs, Lychnis. 
 
 &pva\\Cs) Verbascum lychnitis, Sch weigh. 
 
 'AvOeixCs, Anthemis nobilis. 
 
 Boavdepiop. 
 
 4>Ao'^, Viola tricolor, viola flammea, agrostemma flos Jovis. 
 
 Spr. 
 MrjKwv, Poppy. 
 
 f Lib. XV. c. 31. 
 
LECT. VII.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 249 
 
 "EpirvWos, Thyme. 
 
 ^diJL^vxov, Marjoram. 
 
 AijBavos (kt^avooTCs), Rosemary. 
 
 nrepts, Adiantum eapillus Veneris, maiden's hair. 
 
 Ylaibbs epcoTes (TratSepajres) Acanthus, brank ursine. 
 
 KpoKos, Saifron. 
 
 Bov<f)daXiJLov, Chrysanthemum segetum. 
 
 Alos avOos, Dianthus. 
 
 KciA)(as. 
 
 YlavoaiiLov. 
 
 (pdayavov, Gladiolus. 
 
 ^AvefxcavT], Anemone. 
 
 'EXeviov, Inula helenium. 
 
 'A(TTT^p, Aster. 
 
 TepdoDv TT(ay(ov, Tragopogon. 
 0eA/cia. 
 
 KvKXdixivoi, Cyclamen. 
 ^avpT], Nasturtium. 
 
 @rj(T€LOV. 
 
 '2iXivov, parsley. 
 
 Koarixocrdvhdkov, Cypripedium calceolus, (Lady's slipper.) 
 ^AvdpiaKos, Anthriscus. 
 'HjuepofcaXAis, Lilium chalcedonicumS. 
 
 The pot-herbs recommended by Columella for 
 cultivation are in general more readily identified 
 than those of the foregoing series. 
 
 They comprise the following : 
 
 1st. Several kinds of allium, namely, garlic 
 (A. sativum), called by our author simply allium, 
 described as 
 
 " Alliaque infractis spicis," ( 1 1 2.) 
 
 S In identifying these names with modern plants, I have 
 chiefly been guided by the authority of Schweighseuser in his 
 edition of Athenseus, 1805. 
 
250 LECTURES ON [lect.vii. 
 
 by which is probably meant infarctis, or confertis 
 spicis, referring to the close or compact spike of 
 flowers constituting the capitulum. 
 
 2. Ulpica, designated as "late olentia" (113), pro- 
 bably a larger sort of Garlic, brought from Car- 
 thage or from Crete (Pliny, 1. 19. 39), called also 
 
 cicppoarTTopaSov. 
 
 3. Cepa, termed " lachrymosaque" (123), the 
 common onion. 
 
 4. Porrum, the leek. 
 
 These appear to have constituted so important 
 a part of an ancient garden, that, as I have 
 already observed, the term irpacria, or a bed, de- 
 rived its name from -n-paaov, the Greek word for 
 onion. 
 
 We next meet with, 
 
 5. Anethum, anise, an umbelliferous plant, the 
 seeds of which are used in cookery, remarkable 
 for its strong, but agreeable smell. 
 
 "Et bene oclorati flores sparguntur ancthi." (120,) 
 
 6. Apium, parsley. 
 
 7. Asparagus. 
 
 " Et bacca asparagi spinosa prosilit herba." (246.) 
 
 This description does not apply to our culti- 
 vated asparagus, which is destitute of prickles, 
 but rather to the species, acutifolius, aphyllus, 
 and horridus, which occur in Greece, Italy, and 
 Sicily. (Fl. Gr.) 
 
 That the Romans cultivated asparagus for the 
 
LECT. VII.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 251 
 
 table appears from Pliny, who calls it " altilis 
 (fatted), but it does not appear whether what is 
 intended here by Columella is the latter, or the 
 wild and prickly asparagus, which in another 
 place he calls corruda. 
 
 Dr. Sibthorp, however, in his MS. notes on 
 Dioscorides, adds, that the young shoots of the 
 asparagus acutifolius, and perhaps also A. aphyl- 
 lus, are boiled and eaten in Greece, as the garden 
 asparagus is with us. 
 
 8. Beta, a variety of our common beet. 
 
 9. Brassica, cabbage, for this is the vegetable 
 
 designed in the lines, in which he says, 
 
 " Turn quoque conseritur, toto quae plurima terras 
 Orbe virens pariter plebi regique superbo 
 Frigoribus caules, et veri cymata mittit : 
 Quae pariunt veteres cesposo littere cumas, 
 Quae Marrucini, quae Signia monte Lepino, 
 Pinguis item Capua, et Caudinis faucibus horti." 
 
 (127.) 
 
 together with a string of other places, too long to 
 be here mentioned. 
 
 In the third of these lines he distinguishes 
 the larger leaves which the cabbage develops in 
 the autumn, and the sprouts or cymata which it 
 puts forth in spring, the latter answering to our 
 Brussels' sprouts. 
 
 Pliny gives a long account of the different 
 kinds of cabbage in his 19th Book, ch. xli. ; and 
 the importance attached to the cabbage in the 
 
 i This word is once used by Varro with reference to oxen. 
 Altiles ad sacrificia saginati. Lib. ii. cap. i. sect. 20. 
 
252 LECTURES ON [lbct. vii. 
 
 dietary of the ancients, who were not provided 
 
 witli the potatoe, has been already alluded to. 
 
 10. Cynara, called hispida (235), and by Pliny 
 
 simply a thistle, " carduus." Of this. Columella 
 
 describes several kinds, 
 
 " Hsec modo purpureo surgit glomerata corymbo." (237.) 
 
 one having several heads clustered together in a 
 
 cor3rmbiform manner, and of a purple colour ; a 
 
 second (238), 
 
 " Myrteolo modo crine viret, deflexaque coUo 
 Nunc adaperta manet," 
 
 having leaves of a green colour, resembling the 
 myrtle, and a head which is sometimes bent down 
 with expanded leaves, and at others 
 pinea vertice pungit," (239.) 
 like a fir cone, is prickly at the top ; or 
 
 " similis calatho, spinisque minantibus horret/' (240.) 
 bristles with threatening thorns, spreading out in 
 a cup-shaped fashion ; or, lastly, 
 
 " Pallida nonnunquam tortos imitatur acanthos," (241.) 
 
 pale, it imitates the twisted acanthus. 
 
 It would be impossible to identify all these 
 varieties with the sorts of artichoke now culti- 
 vated; but there is enough to prove to us that 
 Columella intended the same vegetable which we 
 now cultivate for our tables. 
 
 May not the cardoon {cynara cardunculus), as 
 well as the artichoke {cynara scolymus), be in- 
 tended by ancient writers under this general 
 appellation ? 
 
LECT. vn ] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 253 
 
 11. Capparis, the caper plant, 
 
 " vili quoque salgama merce 
 Capparis, &c." (^'7-) 
 
 common in Greece and the south of Italy, is 
 noticed in the 10th as well as the 11th book of 
 Columella, (118) as a plant to be cultivated in 
 gardens ; but whether to be employed as a con- 
 diment, as well as on account of the medicinal 
 virtues to which Pliny alludes, it is difficult to 
 say. It seems, however, that it was pickled for 
 use. The Vienna MS. of Dioscorides contains a 
 pretty good engraving of this plant. 
 
 12. Faselus, kidney-bean, 
 
 " et gravis atriplici consurgit longa faselus." (375.) 
 
 If atriplex is the common garden orage {atri- 
 plea? hortensis), it is difficult to explain why the 
 ancients conceived that it would be damaged by 
 its proximity to the kidney-bean. It is mentioned 
 in the 2nd book, amongst the plants sown in the 
 fields, along with the pea, which curiously enough 
 is not introduced into the catalogue of garden 
 plants. 
 
 VS. Crambe, sea-kale, or crambe maritima, is 
 thought to be the vegetable meant under the 
 name of coramble (178), 
 
 " Nunc veniat quamvis oculis inimica coramble 
 for the KpaiJi^ri or Kopaiu(3\r] of the Greeks was sup- 
 posed by them to be injurious to the sight. 
 
 On the contrary, Pliny says, that Cato assumes 
 it to be good for dimness and dazzling of the sight : 
 
254 LECTURES ON [lect.vii. 
 
 " Prodesse tradit oculomm caligini scintillationi- 
 biisqiie." 
 
 It must be evident that both statements are 
 equally unfounded. The crambe of Pliny, how- 
 ever, is not stated to grow near the sea, nor does 
 it appear that the coramble of Columella had this 
 tendency ; so that it is very possible that these 
 writers may mean a different plant from the 
 Kpd/ji^i] daXauala of Dioscorides, which is our sea- 
 kale. May it not be simply one of the varieties 
 of cabbage ? 
 
 14. Intybum, 
 
 " Torpenti grata palato, intyba." (no.) 
 This description applies well to endive or suc- 
 cory, which, from the analogy of the name, as 
 well as from other circumstances, we should be 
 disposed to assign to the Latin intybum. Virgil, 
 in Georg. i. 120, seems to speak of the wild plant ; 
 
 " amaris intuba fibris ;" 
 and in Georg. iv. 120, of the cultivated one : 
 " Quoque modo potis gauderent intyba rivis." 
 
 15. Lactuca, lettuce, 
 
 " Teneris frondens lactucula fibris," (i J i-) 
 
 is evidently the plant which Virgil, in his More- 
 tum, elegantly designates as " nobilium requies ci- 
 borum" (76), as an agreeable repast after more 
 stimulating dishes, or at the end of a banquet. 
 Columella makes mention of several kinds of 
 lettuce, but in line 179 alludes to one in parti- 
 cular, as possessing medicinal qualities : 
 
LECT.viT.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 255 
 
 " Jamque salutari properet lactuca sapore, 
 Ti'istia quas relevat longi fastidia morbi ;" 
 
 referring, no doubt, to the cure, which, according 
 to Pliny (xix. 38), was effected, in the case of the 
 emperor Augustus, by eating lettuces, adminis- 
 tered by order of his physician Musa, whom Virgil 
 is supposed to have celebrated under the name 
 of lapis (^n. xii.), as one who 
 
 " Scire potestates herbariim usiimque medendi 
 Maluit, et mutas agitare inglorius artes." (396.) 
 
 16. Lapathos — " lubrica" (373) — is probably the 
 sorrel (rumex acetosa) found by Sibthorp wild in 
 Greece (Fl. Gr.), called o^ylapatJios by Pliny. But 
 why lubrica f Does this apply to the character of 
 the leaves, or, as Schneider suggests, to its effect 
 in lubricating the bowels ? 
 
 17. Olus pullum (123), enumerated amongst 
 the herbs to be planted in spring, is a synonyme 
 of olus atrum, the Smyrnium odoratum of modern 
 botanists, corrupted in the vernacular tongue to 
 Alexanders, formerly used as celery is at present, 
 but now regarded as too biting and powerful to 
 be agreeable. 
 
 18. Sinapis, the sinapis alba, or white mustard, 
 cultivated in our gardens (Fl. Gr.), is from its 
 acridity spoken of as 
 
 " Seque lacessenti fletum factura sinapis." (122.) 
 
 19. Staphylinus, 
 
 " Mollemque sinum staphylinus inumbret," (168.) 
 is more particularly described in book ix. c. 4, 
 
256 
 
 LECTURES ON [lect.vii. 
 
 amongst the plants which favour the production 
 of wax in bees, and there defined as being the wild 
 parsnip. Sibth. Pr. Fl. Gr. makes it the carrot. 
 
 20. Siser (114), commonly considered slum 
 sesamum (skirret), from China, a pot-herb intro- 
 duced into England in 1 548, but not much used 
 at present. Is not the siser of the ancients, 
 rather slum nodiflorum, indigenous in Greece? 
 (Sib. Fl. Gr.) 
 
 " thymi referens thjrabraeque saporem." (223) 
 
 21. Satureia, 
 
 is probably the summer savory of our gardens, 
 a plant indigenous in Italy, and used as a 
 seasoning for culinary purposes. Thymbra, here 
 mentioned, is regarded as another species of 
 satureia, viz. S. thymbra. Both are aromatic 
 plants. 
 
 Such were the pot-herbs which Columella di- 
 rects to be cultivated in his garden ; a list com- 
 prising the greater part of those in use at present, 
 except the potatoe, and a few other solanese, 
 which we owe to the discovery of America. 
 
 It is indeed rather remarkable, that the explo- 
 ration of a new continent, and the continued de- 
 mand for fresh luxuries and conveniences, should 
 have added so little to the articles of human 
 sustenance obtained from the vegetable kingdom ; 
 so that whilst the Eastern world has furnished us 
 chiefly with tea and coffee, to the Western hemi- 
 sphere we should l)e indebted for little more than 
 for the potatoe and the tobacco. 
 
LECT. VI].] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 257 
 
 We have indeed added to the number of our 
 exotic fruits, as would be seen, were I to bring 
 before you the meagre catalogue of those known 
 to the ancients. This, however, together with an 
 account of their medicinal plants, must be re- 
 served till the following Lecture. 
 
 s 
 
258 
 
 LECTURES ON [lect. viii. 
 
 LECTURE VIII 
 
 COLUMELLA. 
 BOOK X CONCLUDED. 
 
 I MENTIONED in my last Lecture, that the 
 fruits known to the ancients, or at least in com- 
 mon use amongst them, were but few in number. 
 
 They comprehended indeed only those which 
 are now generally diffused throughout Europe, 
 whilst the productions of the warmer regions of 
 the globe were known to them only by name, or 
 at least were in the hands of very few. 
 
 Thus we find enumerated in the first place, 
 several kinds of plum, viz. the Armeniaca or 
 Apricot, brought from Armenia, of which indeed 
 no mention is made by any author earlier than 
 Columella; the Damascena, or Damson, from 
 Damascus; the Persica, or Peach, from Persia''; 
 
 a Thus designated : 
 
 " pomis, quae barbara Persia 
 Miserat, ut fama est, patriis armata venenis," (406.) 
 alluding to the fable, that the tree was poisonous in Persia, and 
 had been sent into Egypt for the purpose of punishing the 
 people, but that it lost its venomous properties when thus trans- 
 planted. Could this mistake arise from a knowledge of the poi- 
 sonous properties of the prussic acid existing in the kernels of 
 the peach 1 
 
LECT. VIII.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 259 
 
 the Ceriola, the same no doubt as cerea pruna, 
 (Virg. Eel. 2), plums of a waxy yellow colour, the 
 particular variety of which of course cannot be 
 ascertained. 
 
 " Armeniisque, et cereolis, prunisque Damasci 
 Stipantur calathi." (404-) 
 
 2ndly, Figs of different kinds, such as Arbos 
 Livia, called after Livia, the wife of the emperor 
 Augustus ; others of various colours, purple, red, 
 and yellow, (413.) 
 
 3dly, " Punica, 
 
 quae rutilo mitescit tegmine grani," (243.) 
 is the cultivated pomegranate; and Balaustum, 
 called sterile (297), the wild one. 
 
 In Greece, at the present day, this tree goes by 
 the name p6a or poSla^ as in ancient times. The 
 island of Rhodes had upon its coins a represen- 
 tation of this tree, from which it appears to have 
 derived its name. 
 
 As neither an olive plantation nor an orchard 
 were to be included within the precincts of the 
 garden, olives ^ apples, and pears are not no- 
 ticed ; but it is rather remarkable, that no notice 
 is taken of the cerasus or cherry, which was 
 brought into Italy from Asia Minor by LucuUus. 
 
 4thly, There remains the cucumis and the cu- 
 
 Virgil distinguishes several kiuds of olives, namely, 
 
 " Orchades, et radii, et amara pausia bacca." (G. ii. 86.) 
 ^ Although Achras, or the wild pear, is mentioned in two 
 places, verses 18 and 210, as growing spontaneously in such soils 
 as are well adapted for a garden. 
 
 S 2 
 
260 
 
 LECTURES ON 
 
 [LECT. VIII. 
 
 curbita (380), of which rather a long description 
 is given : 
 
 Turn modo dependens trichllis, modo more chelydri 
 Sole sub iostivo gelidas per graminis umbras 
 Intortus cucumis, prgegnansque cucurbita serpit. 
 Una neque est illis facies. Nam si tibi cordi 
 Longior est, gracili capitis quae vertice pendet 
 E tenui collo semen lege : sive globosi 
 Corporis, atque utero nimium qua3 vasta tumescit, 
 Ventre leges medio, sobolem dabit ilia capacem 
 NarycisB picis, aut A-ctsei mellis Hymetti 
 Aut habilem lymphis hamulam, Bacchove lagoenam. 
 Turn pueros eadem fluviis innare docebit. 
 Lividus at cucumis gravida qui nascitur alvo, 
 Hirtus, et ut coluber nodoso gramine tectus 
 Ventre cubat flexo, semper coUectus in orbem, 
 Noxius exacuit morbos sestatis iuiquse. 
 Foetidus hie succo, pingui quoque semine fartus, 
 At qui sub trichila manantem repit ad undam, 
 Labentemqu3 sequens nimio tenuatur amore, 
 Candidus, effoetse tremebundior ubere porcse, 
 Mollior infuso calathis modo lacte gelato, 
 Dulcis erit, riguoque madescit luteus arvo, 
 Et feret auxilium quondam mortalibus segris. 
 
 (37^-399-) 
 
 From this it appears that there were three 
 Kinds of cucurbita ; the first, mentioned as hang- 
 ing down from the arbours, which was either of 
 a tapering or a globular form, according as it 
 was propagated by seed, taken nearest to the 
 neck of the plant, or from its middle. If from the 
 latter, Columella says, we obtain a fruit, which 
 after the interior is scooped out, may serve as a 
 vessel for holding pitch, honey, or even wine, and 
 
LECT.viii.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 261 
 
 from which you may construct a bottle for teach- 
 ing boys to swim. 
 
 The second sort, which grovels along the 
 ground, is venomous and unwholesome, and con- 
 tains a fetid juice. 
 
 The third kind, which, if water is placed near 
 it, creeps towards it from the corner in which it 
 grows, and thus becomes lengthened in an ex- 
 traordinary manner, is white, but becomes of a 
 golden yellow colour when ripe. This sort is re- 
 freshing and salubrious. 
 
 Now the first of these species of cucumis or 
 cucurbita, (for Columella, it is to be observed, 
 mentions them all under the same name,) would 
 seem to correspond with some species of Lagena- 
 ria, or bottle gourd. 
 
 This indeed is a native of India, but it has 
 been introduced into Europe from a very early 
 period, and was used in times far back by pil- 
 grims, to hold the water they carried on their 
 backs. The lines in Columella above cited, to- 
 gether with the mention made of it in Pliny, 
 lib. xix. c. 5, who says, that from it were con- 
 structed " cadi ad vina condenda," make one con- 
 clude, with Alphonse Decandolle, that the bottle- 
 gourd was known to the ancients, and that it 
 was introduced into America from the old con- 
 tinent. 
 
 In the second kind. Columella would seem to 
 allude to some poisonous sort, as to the elaterium 
 or squirting cucumber (Momordica), common in 
 
262 
 
 LECTURES ON [lect. viii. 
 
 the south of Europe ; or else to the colocynthis, 
 found more rarely there, and a doubtful native. 
 
 The drawing however of (tIkv^ aypio9, in the V. 
 MS. of Dioscorides, of which I have given a li- 
 thograph, evidently indicates the former plant, to 
 which the description in Columella sufficiently 
 well corresponds. 
 
 Nevertheless, an Italian variety of cucumeris, 
 called cocomero serpentino, which tastes, Tenore 
 says, like a melon, has very much the character 
 which is here ascribed to the second kind, men- 
 tioned by Columella. 
 
 The identity of the third kind noticed with the 
 melon, has been maintained by some, but has been 
 questioned by others. 
 
 Pliny describes a variety of cucumeris or pepo, 
 (for these terms were applied, not to different 
 plants, but to different stages of growth in the 
 same,) to which he gives the name of melopepo. 
 
 He says, it is of a round form, like the quince, 
 but that instead of hanging from trellis, it trails 
 upon the ground. 
 
 So far this description answers well with the 
 melon, but some doubt is cast upon his interpre- 
 tation, by his adding, that it sprung accidentally 
 in Campania, within his own recollection. 
 
 The only inference, however, I should be dis- 
 posed to draw from this latter statement is, that 
 the melon was at that time of recent introduction, 
 and known to but few; and this appears to be 
 confirmed by a passage in Plutarch, who states, 
 
LECT. VIII.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 263 
 
 that in his time, many old men were as ignorant 
 of the taste of the melon, as they were of that 
 of the orange, or of the Indian pepper. 
 
 ^iKuov Se TTCTTOvo?, Ku). [xrfKov fXijSUov, Kul TreiTepeoo^, 
 TToWov? IcTfxev eTTf Twv TrpetT^UTepcou yevcracrOai fJLrj Svva- 
 
 fxevovs. (Symp. lib. i. c. 9.) 
 
 Indeed it seems difficult to account for the 
 silence of writers of the Augustan age respect- 
 ing this fruit, if it had been known to them at 
 that time ; for its delicious flavour and refreshing 
 coolness would have caused it to be celebrated 
 by the poets, quite as much as the Citrus me- 
 dica, of which Virgil and others have sung the 
 praises. 
 
 It is true, that Theophrastus has been supposed 
 to refer to the Melon under the name of criKvog, 
 but this was far more probably meant for the 
 Cucumber ; and an equal uncertainty attends the 
 passage in Eubulus, quoted by Suidas, who speaks 
 
 of ireTTOva vetcrapocrTajr], (nectar-dropping.) 
 
 Salmasius also appeals to the anecdote told by 
 Plutarch of Democritus, who, being struck with 
 the sweetness of a ctUvo^ ireTrcov, which he had put 
 before him at a tavern, inquired where it came 
 from, and was told by the waiting maid, that it 
 grew up from a seed planted in a jar that had 
 contained honey. 
 
 But these isolated passages are not to be set 
 against the general silence of antiquity as to a 
 fruit, which from its exquisite flavour would have 
 been as much celebrated as any of those which 
 
264 
 
 LECTURES ON [lect. viii. 
 
 one sees so frequently noticed in the writers of 
 that day. 
 
 Alphonse Decandolle also observes, that Galen 
 makes a remark, which is not applicable to the 
 melon ; namely, that the melopepos do not excite 
 vomiting like the pepos ; and hence, whilst in the 
 latter we avoid the inner portion of the flesh, 
 where the seeds are, in the former we eat this 
 part. 
 
 Upon the whole then, I conclude, that the melon 
 was just begun to be known in the age of Pliny 
 and Columella ; and therefore that the latter 
 writer has made a confusion between the cucum- 
 ber and the melon, inasmuch as the line 
 
 Candidas et foetae tremebundior ubere porcae" 
 applies best to the latter ; whereas it is hardly to 
 be supposed that he should have meant to de- 
 scribe this, to the exclusion of a fruit so much 
 more familiar to his countrymen as was the 
 edible cucumber. 
 
 Still less reason is there to believe that the 
 water melon (citrullus) was known in ancient 
 times. Had it been so, the readiness with which 
 it admits of being cultivated must have rendered 
 it as common in the markets of Greece and Rome, 
 as it is in these countries at the present day. 
 
 The writers of the 16th century called it citrul- 
 lus, from its analogy to the fruits of the Citrus. 
 It was probably introduced during the middle 
 ages from the East, but its native place is not 
 exactly ascertained. 
 
LECT.viii.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 265 
 
 It appears, however, from Charlemagne's Capi- 
 tularia de Villis, edited by Eckhardt, that melons 
 were amongst the plants ordered to be cultivated 
 in the gardens of his country houses; and it is 
 conjectured, that pits were made use of for the 
 purpose"*. 
 
 Lastly, we find mentioned the Vine ; of which, 
 however, I shall say nothing, as a more complete 
 account of its culture has been already given. 
 
 Some little addition to this list of fruits is made 
 by Virgil, who in his Eclog. speaks of Fraga as 
 "humi nascentia fraga," (iii. 92.) 
 
 probably meaning wild strawberries. 
 
 2. Morum — used both for the mulberry, " mora 
 cruenta" (21), 
 
 " jarnque videnti 
 Sanguineis frontern moris et tempora pingit," 
 
 and for the blackberry ; the latter being the mora 
 of which Pliny speaks, when he says, " Mora nas- 
 cuntur et in rubis," (xv. 27.) 
 
 3. Sorbus — the service-tree, the fruit of which, 
 
 when ripe, is sub-acid, and not disagreeable. 
 
 Hence it was used for acid drinks, as Palladius 
 
 indeed states, and as Virgil notices in his Georgics 
 
 (iii. 379) : 
 
 " Hie noctem ludo ducuiit, et pociila \seti 
 Fermento atque acidis iinitantur vitea sorbis." 
 
 ^ See Sprengel, de Re Herb., on this subject ; and Schneider's 
 notes on Columella (lib. x.) may be consulted. See also Decan- 
 dolle GeogT. Bot., vol. ii. p. 908. 
 
266 
 
 LECTURES ON [lect. viii. 
 
 4. Vaccinium. If we adopt Fee's suggestion, and 
 regard this as vaccinium myrtillus, or bilberry, 
 we should add another to our catalogue of wild 
 plants ; but it seems more probable that the verse 
 
 " Et nigrse violjB sunt, et vaccinia nigra" 
 is the translation of a line in Theocritus ; namely, 
 
 Kat TO "lov /xeAay eort, koX h ypdiTTa vanvdos' 
 
 in which case, vaccinium would be the same as 
 hyacinthus : to which it may be added, that Dio- 
 scorides tells us, the Romans call the hyacinth 
 by the name of vaccinium. 
 
 5. The only other fruit named in Virgil is the 
 Lemon, which is well described in the following 
 lines : 
 
 " Ipsa ingens arbos, faciemque simillima lauro ; 
 Et si non alium late jactaret odorem, 
 Laiirus erat : folia baud ulHs labentia ventis ; 
 Flos apprima tenax ; animas et oleiitia Medi 
 Ora fovent illo, et senibus medicantur anhelis." 
 
 This however is noticed only as a foreign fruit; 
 
 nor does it appear that it was cultivated at that 
 
 time in Italy, for Pliny says that it will grow only 
 
 in Media and Assyria; though Palladius^ in the 
 
 fourth century, seems to have been familiar with 
 
 it, and it was known in Greece at the time of 
 
 Theophrastus. 
 
 Such then were the contents of an ancient gar- 
 den, in so far as relates to esculent fruits and 
 vegetables. But a somewhat longer list remains 
 of those which were cultivated for other objects 
 
 e Lib. 4. Tit. X. 
 
LECT. VIII.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 267 
 
 of utility ; as for economical uses, or as condi- 
 ments in cookery ; or else in medicine, as simples. 
 
 Thus we may mention, in the first place, Ce- 
 rinthe, noticed by Virgil amongst the plants which 
 should be placed near a bee-hive, and designated 
 under the name of 
 
 •' Cerinthae ignobile gramen." 
 
 This latter description renders it difficult to 
 identify the plant with the cerinthe of Pliny, 
 which he states to be a plant, with a white leaf 
 bent inwards, the stem a cubit in height, and 
 having on the top a flower, presenting a concavity 
 full of a juice like honey. 
 
 It was this account, probably, which led the old 
 Botanists to identify the plant with the Greater 
 Honey-wort, belonging to the family of Boraginese, 
 reputed to yield much honey ; to which they 
 therefore applied the name of cerinthe major. 
 
 But Dr. Sibthorp was of a different opinion. He 
 states, in his MS. notes, that he believes the reXe- 
 ^Lov of Dioscorides to have been the cerinthe 
 minor, and probably the cerinthe major of modern 
 Botanists ; fortifying his opinion by the drawing 
 of that plant attached to the V. MS., which bears 
 a considerable resemblance to the above plant. 
 
 Undoubtedly the term " ignobile gramen" can- 
 not apply to a large and handsome boragineous 
 plant like the cerinthe, which moreover does not 
 grow in the south of Italy ; but we have no very 
 certain grounds to go upon in deciding what 
 Virgil really intended. 
 
268 
 
 LECTURES ON 
 
 [lect. viii. 
 
 Tenore suggests satiireia thymbra ; but this 
 also can hardly be compared to a grass. Rapin, 
 in his poem on Gardens, regards it as chrysan- 
 themum leucanthemum, to which there are equal 
 objections: and, upon the Avhole, the suggestion 
 of a French writer, which has been adopted by 
 M. Du Molin, that it is a species of bedstraw, 
 " galium verum," seems the most probable ; for 
 this little plant might be called a grass; it is 
 small and insignificant; and it exhales an aro- 
 matic odour which resembles that of hone}'". 
 
 The saccharine principle, however, which it 
 contains, undergoes during drying a sort of fer- 
 mentation, and passes into vinegar. Hence the 
 plant has been used in Cheshire for curdling milk 
 in the process of making cheese. 
 
 2. The Cytisus, alluded to in a former Lecture, 
 was planted along with the cerinthe just men- 
 tioned and the melissophyllum, (melissa officina- 
 lis, the apiastrum of Pliny), for the sake of their 
 bees, which are particularly fond of these flowers. 
 Hence Virgil : 
 
 "hue tu jussos asperge sapor es, 
 Trita inclisplijUa, et cerinthge ignobile gramen," 
 
 (Geohg. iv. 62.) 
 
 3. Ferula too was used, as birch is with us, for 
 twigs, 
 
 " Florentes feriilas et grandia lilia quassans," 
 
 (EcL. X. 25.) 
 
 and probably was the Giant Fennel, " ferula com- 
 munis" of Linnaeus. Hence Columella (x. 118) 
 speaks of " Ferulae minaces," from which, in Apu- 
 
LECT.vui.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 269 
 
 lia, Tenore says, walking-sticks are at present 
 made, which are light and strong. 
 
 4. Lappa — 
 
 siiblt aspera sylva, 
 Lappaeque, tribulique." (Georu. i. 152.) 
 
 This plant, in the above and in another passage 
 of the Georgics, is associated with tribuli. 
 
 The lappa of Pliny is the airaplvrj of Theophras- 
 tus, who speaks of it as having a square stem, 
 verticillated leaves, and white flowers. This de- 
 scription leads Linnaeus to identify it with galium 
 aparine, goose-grass, or cleavers ; but Sibthorp, in 
 his MS. notes, states that it is more likely to have 
 been galium verrucosum, as the latter is much 
 more common in Greece than the former species'^. 
 
 5. Paliurus — 
 
 " Carduus et spinis surgit paliurus acutis." 
 
 (EcL. V. 39.) 
 
 This plant has been considered the Christ's thorn 
 (paliurus aculeatus Dec), although the descrip- 
 tions given by Theophrastus, Dioscorides, and 
 Pliny, of the tree called by that name, do not 
 coincide with its known characters. 
 
 Theophrastus, the most accurate of these writers, 
 and the most precise in his description, states, that 
 all the kinds of it bear a fruit, which consists of 
 three or four seeds inclosed in a berry ; and Dio- 
 scorides adds, that the seed is fat i^lirapov), and 
 fit for making demulcents. 
 
 6 See Fl. Gr. t. 133, for G. verrucosum, now called sacchara- 
 tum, and common in Italy; and for dnapivrj, V. MS. 
 
270 
 
 LECTURES ON 
 
 [lECT. VITI. 
 
 Now the Christ's thorn has no berry, but only 
 an indehiscent seed-vessel, with borders like the 
 brim of a hat, and which, being dry, could not 
 serve the medicinal purpose indicated ; on which 
 account Sibthorp regards the iraXlovpog of the 
 Greek writers as the rhamnus zizyphus, or zizy- 
 phus vulgaris of Dec. 
 
 Nevertheless, inasmuch as both trees are spi- 
 nous, it is very possible they may have been con- 
 founded ; and seeing that the term -n-aXlovpi is 
 given to the Christ's thorn at the present day in 
 Greece, it seems the more probable that both this 
 and the zizyphus may have passed under this 
 same name. 
 
 6. Rhododaplme, mentioned in Virgil's Culex, 
 " Laurus item Phoebi surgens decus ; hie Rhododaphne," 
 
 Sibthorp, in accordance with all other authorities, 
 considers as the Nerium oleander, known in Greece 
 by the name of ^rjplov. It is one of the most or- 
 namental plants of Greece, and occurs frequently 
 in moist situations. It is still called, he says, 
 poSoSd(pvt], and, more corruptedly, dpa§a(p, in most 
 of the Greek islands. 
 
 7. Ruscus, 
 
 " hirsute sepes nunc liorrida rusco," (374-) 
 appears to have been the butcher's broom (ruscus 
 aculeatus), which is employed at present for 
 hedges, its leaves being armed with spines. Owing 
 to a fancied resemblance to the myrtle, Diosco- 
 rides calls it luvpcrlvj] dypla, and Pliny, chamse- 
 myrtus. 
 
LECT.viii.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 271 
 
 8. Sabina, mentioned in Virgil's Culex, 
 
 " Herbaque thuris opes priscis imitata Sabina," 
 was the juniperus sabina. 
 
 Pliny, in accordance with Virgil, states that it 
 was used as a substitute for frankincense, lib. xxiv. 
 c. 60. 
 
 9. Tamni — "jam tamni sponte virescunt." 
 Tamnus is probably the same as tamus. It is 
 mentioned as one of the plants that spring up of 
 their own accord by Pliny (lib. xxi. c. 56), who in 
 another place speaks of it as a kind of vine. 
 
 It is therefore probably the black bryony, which 
 is named accordingly by Botanists tamus com- 
 munis. 
 
 10. Tribulus, 
 
 " primum aspera silva, 
 Lappaeque tribulique absint." (Georg. iii. 384.) 
 
 The tribulus is identified by Linnaeus with the 
 tribulus terrestris or caltrops, which in the south 
 of Europe is so troublesome to cattle, by its sharp 
 thorns wounding their feet. 
 
 The above plants, enumerated by Columella 
 and Virgil, are of a miscellaneous character, as 
 to their uses or properties. But the greater 
 number mentioned are medicinal herbs, or, at 
 least, plants to which some influence, good or bad, 
 upon the animal economy was attributed. 
 
 Taking them in alphabetical order, I will begin 
 with 
 
272 
 
 LECTURES ON 
 
 [lECT. VIII. 
 
 1. Amaracus, 
 
 " Sicubi odoratas praetexit amaracus umbras ;" 
 
 (C. X. 296.) 
 
 to which Virgil adds, 
 
 " ubi mollis amaracus ilium 
 Floribus et dulci adspirans complectitur umbra." 
 
 (^N.i. 693.) 
 
 Dioscorides and Pliny both tell us, that amara- 
 cus was the same plant as lampsana, and the 
 latter is considered by Sibthorp to be our mar- 
 joram, (Origanum marjorana,) a native of Egypt 
 and Crete. 
 
 A figure of aafxylrvxpv, without fruit or flower, 
 representing only the radical leaves, is given in 
 V. MS. pi. 298. That marked a^JiapaKov, pi. 29, in 
 the same work, does not at all correspond with 
 it, being very probably intended for matricaria 
 parthenium, which Dioscorides indeed says (lib. 3. 
 c. 155) was also called aixapaKov. 
 
 2. Anethum, 
 
 " Bene odoratum" 
 Is anethum graveolens L. (or Dill.), common in 
 the South of Europe, and used in Italy as a sauce, 
 its seeds being aromatic and stimulant. 
 
 "Avva-ov of Dioscorides, Sibthorp says, is clearly 
 pimpinella anisum, and the drawing in the V. MS. 
 was no doubt intended for this plant. 
 
 3. Balsama, 
 
 " Cum casia nectens." (302.) 
 
 The passage does not imply that this plant was 
 cultivated in the garden, for it was probably 
 brought from the east, along with casia with 
 
LECT.viii.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 273 
 
 which it is here associated. It is supposed to be 
 amyris opobalsamum, or balm of Gilead. (Pliny, 
 lib. xii. c. 54.) 
 
 4. Bryonias, described as follows : 
 
 " Quseque tuas audax imitatur Nysie viteis, 
 Nec metuit senteis ; nam vepribus improba surgens 
 Achradas, indomitasque bryonias alligat alnos ;" 
 
 (C. 248.) 
 
 is the white bryony, bryonia alba, to which 
 Pliny ascribes sundry medicinal qualities, but 
 which at the present day is regarded as acrid 
 and poisonous. Whereas aVTreXo? Xemrj, of Diosco- 
 rides, is the bryonia dioica, or perhaps bryonia 
 cretica. Fl. Grsec. t. 940. 
 
 The tender shoots of bryonia cretica are eaten, 
 Sibthorp says, as asparagus is with us. See plate 
 to V.MS. 
 
 5. Chserophyllum, designated as dreve (110), is 
 the Scandix carifolium, garden chervil, used in 
 soups and salads in France, and likewise as a 
 pectoral remedy. Seeds aromatic. 
 
 6. Coriandrum, 
 
 " Famosaque tunc coriandra 
 Nascuntur." (244.) 
 
 This plant (coriandum sativum of modern 
 authors) is rather a condiment than a medicine, 
 although Pliny attributes to it sundry medicinal 
 properties. 
 
 7. Eruca, brassica eruca, rocket, 
 
 " Et qu£e frugifero seritur vicina Priapo ; 
 Excitet ut veneri tardos eruca maritos," (108.) 
 This plant was formerly much used as a salad 
 
 T 
 
274 
 
 LECTURES ON [lect. viii. 
 
 herb, but is now rejected on account of its un- 
 pleasant smell. Pliny, xix. 44, speaks of its stimu- 
 lating action upon the system. 
 
 8. Inula tristis, so called from its bitter flavour, 
 is the inula helenium or elecampane of modern 
 botanists. Its mucilage was used in ancient 
 times, as it is at present, in pectoral complaints. 
 (Pliny XX. 29.) 
 
 9. Lepidium, lepidium latifolium L., dittander. 
 The following lines in Columella relating to 
 
 this plant, 
 
 Lactis giistum qua? condiat herba 
 Deletura quidem fronti data signa fugarum 
 Jamque suam idcirco profitetur nomine Graio," 
 are explained, by the property attributed to it of 
 removing the scars left by wounds or ulcers. 
 Pliny, XX. 70. 
 
 The plant, Sibthorp says, is common on the 
 road sides and amongst rubbish in Greece, and 
 goes at present by the name of Xe-jrlSt. 
 
 10. Mandragora, atropa mandragora, mandrake, 
 " Quamvis semihominis vesano gramine foeta, 
 
 Mandragora) pariat flores," (20.) 
 is mentioned, not as a plant to be cultivated, but 
 as growing wild ; which is the case with it at pre- 
 sent very generally in the south of Europe. Fl. Gr. 
 232. The resemblance of its roots to the human 
 figure has given rise to the various superstitious 
 notions concerning it, which have existed both 
 in ancient and modern times. It is poisonous how- 
 ever, purges violently, and acts as a narcotic. 
 Dioscorides mentions a male and a female 
 
Pis, he XTT 
 
 Kvwv ^voidvjQiv Toy \xocve^oLl6^kv '£n€T' 'awo0VH<pKWv:_v 
 
 7- 
 
LEOT. VIII.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 275 
 
 kind, which, Sibthorp says, are merely varieties, 
 the male being larger and more downy than the 
 female ; but Pliny distinguishes the male as the 
 white variety, and the female as the black, corre- 
 sponding with the spring and autumnal mandra- 
 gora of modern Botanists. 
 
 In the V.MS, of Dioscorides, so often alluded to, 
 is a curious drawing, which I have transferred 
 to this work*^; representing Evpea-n, the Goddess 
 of Discovery, presenting in triumph to Dioscorides 
 the root of this mandrake, which she has just 
 had pulled up, whilst the unfortunate dog, which 
 had been employed for that purpose, is depicted in 
 the agonies of death. 
 
 This is an evident allusion to one of the super- 
 stitious notions, which Josephus, amongst others, 
 has recorded (Wars of the Jews, lib. 7. cap. 6.) re- 
 specting this plant. After mentioning the danger 
 of taking it up, he says, "there is one way however 
 in which this may be done with safety. That is 
 as follows : They dig all round the root, so that it 
 adheres to the earth only by its extremities. 
 Then they fasten a dog to the root by a string, 
 and the dog, striving to follow his master who 
 calls him away, easily tears up the plant, but 
 then dies upon the spot ; whereas the master can 
 take this wonderful root in his hand without 
 danger." Josephus adds, that the great use of 
 this plant is to dispel demons, who cannot bear 
 either its smell or its presence. 
 
 c See plate annexed. 
 T 2 
 
276 
 
 LECTURES ON [lect. viii. 
 
 1 1. Mentha, mint, 
 
 " serpentia gramina mentse." (119 ) 
 What species is referred to may be doubtful, but 
 perhaps m. pulegium or pennyroyal, not unfre- 
 quent in Italy, is intended. 
 
 12. Myrica, 
 
 " Non omnes arbusta juvant, humilesque myrica?," 
 
 (EcL. iv, 2.) 
 
 Fee mentions four sorts of plants designated by 
 this name: 1st, the ^it^jOiio? of Theophrastus, having 
 cottony fruit, which corresponds with one kind 
 mentioned in Dioscorides : this he considers to 
 be tamarix Gallica, an opinion confirmed by 
 Dr. Sibthorp's authority, and by the drawing con- 
 tained in the V. MS., which is a fair representation 
 of the plant in question. 
 
 2nd, ixvpUri of Dioscorides, with fruit like a gall 
 nut. Perhaps tamarix Africana. 
 
 3rd, myrice of Pliny, in which are included, 
 not only several kinds of erica, but also tamarix 
 Gallica. 
 
 4th, myrica of Lenseus and Favorinus, as cited 
 by Pliny, which comprehends several of the 
 smaller kinds of erica. 
 
 13. Moloche, 
 
 " Et moloche, prono sequitur quae vertice solera." 
 
 (247-) 
 
 txaXax^ Diosc. (see Fl. Gr.) probably malva sylves- 
 tris. Pliny says the cultivated mallow is called 
 malope, the wild one moloche, (xx. 84.) 
 
 He attributes sundry virtues to it, but the 
 
LECT. VIII.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 277 
 
 moderns only regard it as an emollient and de- 
 mulcent, and employ it chiefly as an external 
 application. 
 
 14. Megaris bulbi, 
 
 " Jam Megaris veniant genitalia semina bulbi." (io6.) 
 From the virtues here attributed to this plant, it 
 has been thought that some kind of orchis is in- 
 tended, but the bulbs of the orchis do not contain 
 seeds. 
 
 Pliny, in his 19th Book, c. 30, alludes to the 
 bulbi Megarei, which Cato also had mentioned in 
 his 8th chapter, unaccompanied however with any 
 description. 
 
 Meander praises the Meyapijas (SoX^ov?, whilst 
 Ovid condemns them as aphrodisiac ; but this is 
 nearly all we know respecting their qualities, 
 and it is therefore rather precipitate to set them 
 down as orchises, especially when Pliny associ- 
 ates them with squill in the passage above cited. 
 Schneider regards the plant as more probably 
 the arum italicum. Dioscorides only says, that 
 these bulbs are known to every one, but unluckily 
 the knowledge the ancients had on the subject 
 has not been handed down to us. 
 
 15. Ocymum, 
 
 " Turn quoque proscisso riguoque inspersa novali 
 Ocima cornprimite," (318.) 
 
 was therefore a weed apt to spring up amongst 
 grass, and must not be confounded with the ocy- 
 mum or ocinum spoken of by Cato, which, as I 
 explained in a former Lecture, Avas a forage herb ; 
 
278 
 
 LECTURES ON [lect.viii. 
 
 whereas this is rather the condiment now used in 
 foreign cookery, although the medicinal virtues 
 attributed to the plant by Pliny have led me to 
 place it among simples. It is probably the ocy- 
 mum basilicon of modern botanists. 
 
 16. Papaver. The poppy spoken of by Columella, 
 seems to have been the p. rheas, or corn poppy, 
 
 '* cereale papaver ;" (314-) 
 though possibly glauceum luteum may be in- 
 tended, when he speaks of 
 
 " vinctura papavera somnos 
 Glaucea." (i04-) 
 Virgil, however, probably has in his eye the pa- 
 paver somniferum, where he speaks of 
 
 " lethsBa papavera."" (Georg. iv. 545.) 
 
 17. Panax, 
 
 " Medica panacem lachryma." (103.) 
 probably opoponax chironium, ' Umbellifer£e.' A 
 gum resin is obtained from this plant by incisions 
 into the root, a milky excretion flowing out {medica 
 lachryma) which, like other juices of the kind, pos- 
 sesses stimulant properties. See Pliny xii. 57. 
 
 18. Ruta, 
 
 " Palladia3 baccoe jutiira saporem," (121.) 
 
 is ruta graveolens L., a plant with a strong dis- 
 agreeable smell, which, however, the ancients 
 appear to have relished. It is a powerful stimu- 
 lant and narcotic, but is not much used in modern 
 practice. 
 
 19. Scilla, squill, scilla maritima, the medi- 
 
LECT.viiL] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 279 
 
 cinal virtues of which plant were well known 
 to the ancients. Virgil couples it with hellebore 
 and pitch, 
 
 " Scillamque, helleborosque graves, nigrumque bitumen," 
 
 (Georg. iii. 45 i .) 
 
 as a remedy for scabies in sheep. 
 
 20. Sampsucum I have already alluded to 
 under the name of amaracus, of which it appears 
 to have been a synonyme. 
 
 To this list of medicinal herbs, the following 
 additions may be made from Virgil : 
 
 21. Aconitum of the poet was aconitum napel- 
 lus, or Monk's hood of modern botanists, a violent 
 poison ; 
 
 " Nec miseros fallunt aconita legentes :" 
 
 (Georg. ii. 152.) 
 but the aKoviTop of Dioscorides comprises two 
 plants, of such very different characters, that it 
 is difficult to understand how they could have 
 been called by the same name. 
 
 The first, 7rapSa\iayx>i9, is the Doronicum par- 
 dalianches, a composite plant, which, Sibthorp 
 says, grows abundantly on mount Parnassus. It 
 has a root like a scorpion, and accordingly is 
 called at present ^KopirlSi. But the second, called 
 in V. MS. aKouirov erepov, Sibthorp says is our 
 aconitum lycoctinum, which he considers only a 
 variety of napellus, but which is regarded as a 
 distinct species by modern botanists. The V. MS. 
 gives a plate of the first mentioned aconitum, 
 
280 LECTURES ON [lect. viii. 
 
 which does not indeed correspond with doronicum, 
 but still less with aconitum ; whereas the plate of 
 uKoviTov erepov morc resembles our present aconite. 
 22. Baccaris^, 
 
 " Errantes hederas passim cum baccare tellus," 
 
 (EcL. iv. 19.) 
 
 This plant is mentioned in Pliny, xxi. 18, as 
 having the smell of cinnamon. Fee regards it as 
 digitalis purpurea ; Sprengel as Valeriana celtica ; 
 Tenore as asarum Europseum ; Du Molin as salvia 
 sclarea, which had been already suggested by 
 Gaspar Bauhin in his Pinax, and really appears 
 the most probable conjecture after all. 
 
 Dioscorides describes it as a shrubby and fra- 
 grant plant, of which chaplets are made ; its leaves 
 rough, of a size intermediate between the violet 
 and the verbascum ; its stem angular, about a 
 cubit high, rather rough ; its flowers purple, mixed 
 with a shade of white, and fragrant; its roots 
 very like the black veratrum, and with the odour 
 of cinnamon ; its habit, that of growing in a rough 
 and dry soil. 
 
 He then proceeds to describe its medicinal vir- 
 tues, in which the ancients had great faith, just 
 as some of the moderns appear to have had in 
 
 f This name applied to an extensive Genus of Composite 
 plants, one species of which (now removed to the Genus Plucliea) 
 was called by Linnseus Baccharis Dioscoridis, from the notion 
 that this was the plant intended by that old author under the 
 name of iSaKxapLs. It is however now generally admitted, that 
 there is no probability in favour of this opinion. 
 
LECT.viii.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 281 
 
 the virtues of " Clary as appears from the lines 
 in the Schola Salernitana : 
 
 " Cur moriatur homo cui salvia crescit in horto ; 
 Contra vim mortis non est medicamen in hortis." 
 
 Many of the poets speak of the oil or essence 
 of baccaris, as we do of that of the salvia sclarea. 
 
 All these properties agree with those of the 
 latter plant, and therefore, in spite of the author- 
 ity of Sibthorp, who inclines to believe the (8a/c- 
 XapL^ of Dioscorides to be a Scutellaria, I should 
 revert, as Du Molin has done, to the old opinion of 
 G.Bauhin, who believes it to be the salvia sclarea. 
 
 23. Centaurea, graveolentia centaurea, Centau- 
 rea chironium, the great centaury. 
 
 24. Cicuta. This term seems to be used indis- 
 criminately for several umbelliferse, as well as 
 for cicuta virosa, or conium maculatum, the two 
 poisonous plants, with one or other of which it is 
 usually identified. 
 
 Pliny says the stems of cicuta are eaten ; al- 
 though he speaks of the poisonous quality of its 
 seeds^, evidently confounding conium maculatum 
 with apium petroselinum. 
 
 Virgil does not seem to allude to a poisonous 
 plant, in the only two places in which he men- 
 tions the cicuta, viz. 
 
 " Est mihi disparibus septem compacta cicutis 
 Fistula." (EcL. ii. 37.) 
 
 " Hac te nos fragili donabimus ante cicuta." (Ecl. v. 55.) 
 
 K The poisonous principle in the Umbelliferae resides in the 
 stem and roots, and not in the seeds. 
 
282 LECTURES ON [lect. viii. 
 
 25. Dictamiius, Origanum dictamniis, Dittany 
 of Crete, 
 
 " Pubcribus caulem, foliis et flore comantem 
 Purpureo." (J^n. xii. 413.) 
 
 Pliny notices the fable, that if a wounded animal 
 eats this herb, the weapon immediately falls from 
 the body, (lib. xxv.) In allusion to this supposed 
 virtue, Venus employs it, in the passage cited, to 
 cure the wound of ^Eneas. 
 
 26. Galbanum, an African plant with a strong 
 disagreeable smell, 
 
 " Galbaneoque nidore." (Georg. iii. 415.) 
 " Galbaneos odorcs." (Id. iv. 264.) 
 
 27. Helleborus, Helleborus niger, L. 
 " Scillamque, elleborosque graves," 
 
 is the eWe^opos fxeXag of Dioscorides, the H. 
 officinalis of Sibthorp, found by him in Bithy- 
 nia, near Constantinople, on mount Athos, &c. ; 
 but not about the site of the ancient Anticyra, 
 near the straits of Thermopylse, where it was 
 formerly so abundant, although roots of it are 
 collected on the opposite coast. It is reckoned a 
 drastic purgative. See Fl. Gr. t. 523. The figure 
 in V. MS. has not much resemblance to this 
 plant. 
 
 28. Herba Sardoa. 
 
 " Irao ego Sardois videar tibi amarior herbis." 
 
 (EcL. vii. 41 .) 
 
 Dioscorides, lib. ii. c. 206, in speaking of the 
 diflferent kinds of ftarpA-^Qov or ranunculus, of 
 
LECT.viiL] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 283 
 
 which he enumerates four, mentions that one 
 which abounds in Sardinia is the most acrid of 
 any, that it is more woolly and has a longer 
 stem than the others, and that it is called wild 
 parsley. He also in another place states, that it 
 acts as a poison, and produces in the person af- 
 fected a kind of grin, which is known by the name 
 of Risus Sardonicus. 
 
 From its being likened to the parsley, Haller 
 supposed it was some poisonous umbelliferous 
 plant, such as oenanthe crocata; but it is stated 
 by Moris in his Flora Sardoa, Turin 1837, that a 
 species of ranunculus, which has been known 
 within the present time to have poisoned two 
 persons in Sardinia, with symptoms similar to 
 those described by Dioscorides, is called by the 
 peasants apio burdo, spurious parsley. 
 
 Moris enumerates no less than 21 species of 
 ranunculus as indigenous in Sardinia, but of these 
 only two are highly poisonous, namely R. scele- 
 ratus, and R. philonotis, and of these the latter 
 is by far the most common. 
 
 It is therefore most probable, that the Herba 
 Sardoa, which produced in those who partook of it 
 the Risus Sardonicus, was the last mentioned 
 species of ranunculus. 
 
 29. Melisphyllum has been already men- 
 tioned, as the Apiastrum of Pliny, and as the 
 plant called Melissa officinalis, or balm by the 
 moderns. It is fragrant, and was formerly in re- 
 pute for nervous affections. 
 
284 LECTURES ON [lect. viii. 
 
 30. Rosmarinus, R. officinalis, Rosemary, a 
 favourite plant with bees: 
 
 " Apibus casias roremque ministrat." (G. ii. 213.) 
 
 31. Serpyllum, wild thyme, Thymus serpyllum : 
 
 " Allia, serpyllumquc, herbas contundit olentes." 
 
 (EcL. ii.ii.) 
 
 32. Viscum, 
 
 " Quale solet sylvis brumali frigore viscum, 
 Fronde virere nova, quod non sua seminat arbos," 
 
 (^n. vi. 205.) 
 
 is generally interpreted the misletoe (i'fo? of Dio- 
 scorides), but it is more probable that it is the 
 Loranthus Europseus^, which, as Walpole states, 
 (p. 283), grows on the oaks in Arcadia, and is there 
 called ofo9. 
 
 Our misletoe, on the other hand, is termed 
 meXka, and grows upon the silver fir, but not 
 upon the oak. 
 
 The Loranthus is met with in Hungary, but 
 its western limit in Austria is Schonbrunn near 
 Vienna. It occurs however in various parts of 
 Italy, as on the Apennines, growing upon the oak ; 
 and an ingenious speculation has been thrown 
 out, that the reason of its non-occurrence in the 
 western parts of Europe is, that it was eradi- 
 cated, with the other emblems of the Druidical 
 worship, in those countries where that supersti- 
 tion had prevailed, and where it was afterwards 
 suppressed. 
 
 P For ;i drawing of Loranthus, see Jaoquin's Flora Austriaca. 
 
LECT.viii.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 285 
 
 The following list will then comprise the plants 
 mentioned by Columella in his 10th Book, and 
 by Virgil in his yarious poems : — 
 
 Caltha 
 Lilium 
 Melantliium 
 Narcissus 
 Rosa 
 Viola 
 
 Amaranth us 
 Hyacinthus 
 Leo 
 
 Ligu strum 
 Leucojum 
 Acanthus 
 Amellus 
 Hibiscus 
 Saliunca 
 Thymus 
 Verbena 
 
 l^^. Ornamental Plants. 
 
 C. and V.j^^Marygold. 
 C. and v., Lily. 
 C. Nigella. 
 0. and v., Narcissus. 
 C. and v., Rose. 
 C. and v., Violet. 
 C. Love lies bleeding (?) 
 
 C. and v., Lilium martagon (?) 
 C. Snapdragon (?) 
 
 C. and V , Privet (?) or Convolvulus (?) 
 C, Cheiranthus cheiri (?) 
 v., Acanthus, Acacia, Spartium. 
 v., Aster amellus. 
 v., Malva sylvestris. 
 v., Valeriana celtica (?) 
 v., Thymus serpyllum. 
 v., Vervain. 
 
 Pot-Herhs. 
 
 Allium 
 
 C. 
 
 Garlic. 
 
 Cepa 
 
 C. 
 
 Leek. 
 
 Porrum 
 
 c. 
 
 Onion. 
 
 Ulpica 
 
 c. 
 
 Onion. 
 
 Anethum 
 
 c. 
 
 Anise. 
 
 Apium 
 
 c. 
 
 Parsley. 
 
 Asparagus 
 
 c. 
 
 Asparagus (wild). 
 
 Beta 
 
 c. 
 
 Beet. 
 
 Brassica 
 
 c. 
 
 Cabbage. 
 
 Crambe 
 
 c. 
 
 Ditto (?) 
 
 Cynara 
 
 c. 
 
 Artichoke (?) 
 
 Capparis 
 
 c. 
 
 Caper plant. 
 
 h Viz. Columella and Virgil. 
 
286 
 
 LECTURES ON 
 
 [lECT. VI 11. 
 
 Fasclus 
 
 C. 
 
 Kidney-bean. 
 
 Intybum 
 
 C. 
 
 Endive. 
 
 Lactuca 
 
 c. 
 
 Lettuce. 
 
 Lapathos 
 
 c. 
 
 Sorrel. 
 
 Olus pullum or ) 
 
 c. 
 
 Alexanders. 
 
 I line 0'f"i*nT^"i \ 
 
 Sinapis 
 
 c. 
 
 Mustard. 
 
 kjlttjJJl y llllUo 
 
 c. 
 
 Parsnip. 
 
 Siser 
 
 c. 
 
 Skirret. 
 
 Satureia 
 
 c. 
 
 Savory. 
 
 
 Fruits. 
 
 Prunus 
 
 C. 
 
 Plum. 
 
 Ficus 
 
 0. 
 
 Fig. 
 
 Punica 
 
 c. 
 
 Pomegranate. 
 
 Cucumis 
 
 c. 
 
 Cucumber 
 
 Melopepo 
 
 c. 
 
 Melon (?) 
 
 Cucurbita 
 
 c. 
 
 Pumpkin. 
 
 Fragaria 
 
 V. 
 
 Strawberry. 
 
 Morum 
 
 V. 
 
 Mulberry, Blackberry. 
 
 Sorbum 
 
 V. 
 
 Medlar. 
 
 Vaccinium 
 
 V. 
 
 Bilberry (?) 
 
 Pomum medicum 
 
 V. 
 
 Lemon. 
 
 Cerasus 
 
 V. 
 
 Cherry. 
 
 Malum 
 
 V. 
 
 Apple. 
 
 Ti^ees and Shrubs noticed for their beauty or foi 
 
 some useful property. 
 
 Cytisus 
 
 V. 
 
 Medicago arbor ea. 
 
 Laurus 
 
 V. 
 
 Bay Laurel. 
 
 Myrtus 
 
 V. 
 
 Myrtle. 
 
 Myrica 
 
 V. 
 
 Heaths. 
 
 Viburnum 
 
 V. 
 
 Clematis (?) 
 
 Cerinthe 
 
 V. 
 
 Galium verum. 
 
 Ferula 
 
 V. 
 
 Fennel. 
 
 Kuscus 
 
 V. 
 
 Butcher's broom. 
 
 Tamus 
 
 V. 
 
 Black bryony. 
 
 Andrachnc 
 
 c. 
 
 Arbutus andrachne. 
 
LECT. viil] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 287 
 
 Medicinal Herbs. 
 
 Amaracus 
 
 C. 
 
 Marjoram. 
 
 Anethum 
 
 c. 
 
 Anise. 
 
 Balsamum 
 
 V. 
 
 Balm of Gilead, 
 
 Bryonias 
 
 V. 
 
 White bryony. 
 
 Eruca 
 
 c. 
 
 Rocket. 
 
 Inula 
 
 c. 
 
 Elecampane. 
 
 Lepidiura 
 
 c. 
 
 Dittander. 
 
 Mandragora 
 
 c. 
 
 Mandrake. 
 
 Mentha 
 
 c. 
 
 Pennyroyal. 
 
 Moloche 
 
 c. 
 
 Wild mallow. 
 
 Megaris bulbi 
 
 c. 
 
 (doubtful) 
 
 Ocymum 
 
 c. 
 
 Basil. 
 
 Papaver 
 
 c. 
 
 Poppy. 
 
 Panax 
 
 c. 
 
 Opoponax. 
 
 Ruta 
 
 c. 
 
 Rue. 
 
 Scilla 
 
 c. 
 
 Squill. 
 
 Aconitum 
 
 V. 
 
 Aconite. 
 
 Baccaris 
 
 V. 
 
 Clary. 
 
 Centaurea 
 
 V. 
 
 Centaury. 
 
 Dictamnus 
 
 V. 
 
 Dittany. 
 
 Galbanum 
 
 V. 
 
 Galbanum. 
 
 Helleborus 
 
 V. 
 
 Hellebore. 
 
 Rosmarinus 
 
 V. 
 
 Rosemary. 
 
 Serpyllum 
 
 V. 
 
 Wild thyme. 
 
 The small number of plants, especially of an 
 ornamental description, which are noticed as 
 being cultivated in a Roman garden, may at first 
 sight occasion some surprise ; but several reasons 
 may be assigned, vs^hy they should have been less 
 numerous than in modern times. 
 
 In the first place, since botany was not studied 
 as a science, since the microscope was unknown, 
 and since the public cared little, except for plants 
 
288 
 
 LECTURES ON [lect. viii. 
 
 remarkable for their fragrance, their size, or their 
 brilliant colours, many wild flowers, which are 
 now looked upon with interest, would be passed 
 over unnoticed. The little adoxa, the veronicas, 
 the polygala, the myosotis, would fall under this 
 category, and are accordingly scarcely mentioned, 
 if at all, in the writings of the ancients. 
 
 2nd, the plants and flowers actually recognised 
 by the ancients really exceeded greatly the num- 
 ber to which distinct names were given, because 
 the latter were applied by them in most cases to 
 the genus, and not to the species. This indeed is 
 the case in all unscientific descriptions of ex- 
 ternal objects, arising from the mind seizing at 
 first upon the broader distinctions, and viewing 
 the minor ones, rather as indicative of varieties, 
 than of species, in the sense in which we now 
 understand them. 
 
 Thus when Columella mentions the different 
 kinds of lactuca, or of papaver, there is no reason 
 to suppose that he regarded them as more dis- 
 tinct, than the different kinds of vine or apple, 
 which he elsewhere enumerates, although in the 
 former he designates what we know to be species, 
 in the latter merely varieties. 
 
 Indeed it would often happen, that the same 
 term would be applied to two plants altogether 
 different in structure, from some fancied resem- 
 blance between them, or some analogy in points 
 not affecting their general organisation, as in the 
 case of the acanthus, the vine, and the myrtle ; 
 
LECT. VIII.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 289 
 
 just as the early settlers in the United States 
 gave the name of poplar to the liqiiidambar, of 
 acacia to the robinia, of wild orange to the cherry 
 ti-ee of Carolina, and of laurel to the magnolia. 
 
 The terms rosa, viola, lilium &c. are therefore 
 to be regarded as indicating genera only, and not 
 species. 
 
 3rdly, in the genial climate of Greece and Italy 
 there would be much less temptation to hunt over 
 distant countries for exotic embellishments to 
 their gardens and pleasure grounds, when nature 
 herself had supplied them so liberally at home. 
 
 The Roman indeed might well entertain the 
 sentiment so eloquently expressed by the Man- 
 tuan bard in his 2nd Georgic ; when, after de- 
 scribing the productions of other lands, he adds, 
 
 " Sed neque Medorum silvse, ditissima terra, 
 Nec pulcher Ganges, atque auro turbidus Hermus, 
 Laudibus Italiae certent : non Bactra, neque Indi, 
 Totaque thuriferis Panchaia pinguis arenis." 
 
 (Georg. ii. 139.) 
 
 It is this feeling, prevailing also amongst the 
 modern Italians, which renders it far more rare 
 to see amongst them conservatories or stoves, 
 than in the less favoured regions of Germany or 
 France. 
 
 For, whilst the flora of other countries known 
 to them, which were situated in nearly the same 
 parallel, presented characters almost identical with 
 their own, they were at the same time precluded 
 in a great degree from gaining accessions, either 
 
 u 
 
290 
 
 LECTURES ON 
 
 [lECT. VIII. 
 
 from the north or from the south ; from the for- 
 mer, because their plants could scarcely bear the 
 scorching heat of an Italian summer ; from the 
 latter, because as we approach the tropics, the 
 vegetable productions assume more of an arbo- 
 rescent character, and contain a greater predomi- 
 nance of evergreens. 
 
 Now whilst herbaceous plants die down to their 
 roots, and therefore escape in a great degree the 
 severity of the winter's cold ; arborescent ones, 
 and especially evergreens, are destroyed, whenever 
 during any portion of the year the temperature 
 falls below a certain point. Accordingly, whilst 
 we are able without difficulty to transport to our 
 gardens the choicest herbaceous plants of Greece 
 and Italy ; the Romans would have been baffled, 
 if they had attempted to naturalise in theirs the 
 shrubs and trees, of Northern Africa, or of the 
 warmer regions of Asia. 
 
 When to this we add, the smaller range over 
 which their explorations had extended, and the 
 greater difficulties of bringing over plants from 
 distant countries than we ourselves experience, 
 the limited extent of their knowledge with re- 
 spect to the vegetable kingdom may perhaps be 
 sufficiently accounted for. 
 
 But might not, it may be said, the ancients 
 fcav^ had at their command those appliances, 
 which modern horticulture possesses, for preserv- 
 ing the plants of tropical or semi-tropical regions 
 from the cold of their winters ? 
 
LECT.vm ] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 291 
 
 Doubtless there are in ancient writers some 
 notices of contrivances which had in view these 
 or similar objects. 
 
 Thus Martial (lib. viii. 14) tells us of a friend 
 of his, in whose garden 
 
 " Pallida ne Cilicum timeant poraaria brnmam 
 Mordeat et tenerum fortior aura nemus ; 
 Hybernis objecta notis specular ia puros 
 Adraittunt soles, et sine faece diem :" 
 
 and then goes on to complain, that the person in 
 question took so much less care of his visitors, that, 
 for his part, he had rather be the guest of his fruit 
 trees, than an inmate of his dwelling-house: 
 
 " At mihi cella datur, non tota clausa fenestra, 
 In qua nec Boreas ipse manere velit, 
 Sic habitare jubes veterem crudelis aniicuiii, 
 Arboris ergo tuse tutior hospes ero." 
 
 So also, in lib. viii. ep. 68 : 
 
 " Qui Corcyraei vidit pomaria regis, 
 
 Rus, Entelle, tuse praeferat ille domus. 
 Invida purpureos urat ne bruma racemos, 
 
 Et gelidum Bacchi munera frigus edat ; 
 Condita perspicua vivit vindemia gemma, 
 
 Et tegitur felix, nec tamen uva latet. 
 Foemineum lucet sic per bombycina corpus : 
 
 Calculus in nitida sic numeratur aqua. 
 Quid non ingenio voluit natura licere ? 
 
 Autumnum sterilis ferre jubetur hyems." 
 
 Seneca likewise, (Epist. 90,) mentions, that within 
 his recollection the use of specularia in gardens 
 had been introduced, which transmitted the clear 
 light through a translucent shell : " Specularium 
 
 u2 
 
292 
 
 LECTURES ON [lect.viii 
 
 Tisum perliicente testa clarum traiismittentium 
 lumen;" and Columella gives in his Tlth book a 
 detailed description of the method of raising cu- 
 cumbers, as foUoM^s : 
 
 He who wishes, he says, to have the fruit of 
 the cucumber before its season should, after the 
 winter is over, introduce well-manured soil into 
 baskets, and slightly water it. Then, when the 
 seeds have come up, on warm and sunny days, he 
 should place them in the open air near his house, 
 so as to shelter them from all cold blasts. But 
 in cold and windy weather he should bring them 
 under cover, and continue this position until the 
 vernal equinox. He should let the baskets alto- 
 gether into the ground ; and he will thus obtain 
 a precocious fruit. Wheels also may, if it be 
 thought worth while, be placed under the larger 
 vessels, in order that they may be drawn back- 
 wards and forwards with less labour. But in 
 any case they must be covered with specularia, 
 that even in calm but cold days they may be 
 safely brought out into the sun. It was in this 
 way that Tiberius Csesar got cucumbers almost 
 all the year round. 
 
 " Sed qui prsematurum fructum cucumeris ha- 
 bere volet, confecta brum a stercoratam terram 
 inditam cophinis obserat, modicumque prsebeat 
 humorem, deinde cum enata semina fuerint, tepi- 
 dis diebus et insolatis juxta sedificium sub divo 
 ponat, ita ut ab omni afflatu protegantur, ceterum 
 frigoribus ac tempestatibus sub tectum referat: 
 
LECT. VIII.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 293 
 
 idque tamdiu faciat, dum sequinoctiiim vernum 
 confecit, postea totos cophinos deniittat in terram. 
 sic enim prsecoquem fructum habebit. Possunt 
 etiam, si sit operse pretium, vasis majoribus ro- 
 tulse subjici, quo minore labore producantur et 
 rursus intra tecta recipiantur. Sed nihilo minus 
 specularibus integi debebunt, ut etiam frigoribus 
 severis diebus tuto producantur ad solem. Hac 
 ratione fere toto anno Tiberio Csesari cucumis 
 prsebebatur." (Colum. xi. 3. 51.) 
 
 Pliny alludes to this mode of ripening cucum- 
 bers in lib. xix. 23, and nearly in the same terms. 
 
 Martial also mentions the forced roses which 
 
 the emperor obtained in winter : 
 
 " Dat festinatas, Caesar, tibi bruma coronas 
 Quondam veris erat, nunc tua facta rosa est ;" 
 
 where Becker rightly observes, that real flowers, 
 and not wax imitations (as Bottiker had sup- 
 posed), were designed. 
 
 Nevertheless, these passages — and they are the 
 only ones bearing upon the subject which are 
 known to me — although proving that the Romans 
 had forcing houses, or at least forcing pits, dis- 
 countenance the idea, that they employed these 
 methods to any extent for the preservation of 
 plants of warmer climates than their own. 
 
 Pliny indeed tells us, that he had the advan- 
 tage of visiting the garden of Antonius Castor, 
 who is said to have been the first Roman, that 
 possessed what we might call a botanic or physic 
 garden. The plants however of which he makes 
 
294 
 
 LECTURES ON [lect. viii. 
 
 mention are almost all such as might be culti- 
 vated in the open air, and few, if any, are natives 
 of tropical regions. 
 
 One does not see the use of a hothouse, for 
 grapes, and still less for apples, in the climate of 
 Rome ; unless indeed pomaria may stand for 
 orangeries, as poma medica are supposed to be 
 lemons or oranges. 
 
 Setting these aside, as doubtful or exceptional 
 cases, the only objects for which (as far as we 
 know) the stove-houses of the ancients were de- 
 signed, would be, for the production of early 
 cucumbers and perhaps melons, and for a supply 
 of winter roses. 
 
 Moreover, we do not read that their windows 
 were ordinarily furnished with glass, or with any 
 better material than talc or lapis specularis. We 
 can hardly interpret the words lapis specularis 
 otherwise; and we are expressly told by Pliny, 
 that this was the material, of which the windows 
 of dwelling houses were at that time usually made. 
 
 Now it can scarcely be imagined, that if glass, 
 of a kind suitable for windows, had been cheaply 
 and easily attainable, talc would still have conti- 
 nued to be employed for such purposes. 
 
 The first mention of glass windows in any 
 ancient author, is at the end of the third century, 
 by Lactantius : 
 
 "Cum autem videamus eodem momento tem- 
 poris, plerumque vero aliud agentis, nihilominus 
 tamen universa, quae contra sunt posita intuea- 
 
lect.viil] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 295 
 
 mur, verius et manifestiiis est mentem esse, quae 
 per oculos ea quae sunt opposita, transpiciat, qiiam 
 per fenestras lucente vitro, aut speculari lapide 
 obductas." (De Opificio Dei c. 8.) 
 
 It is indeed somewhat perplexing to reconcile 
 this, with the skill which the ancients evidently 
 manifested in producing objects of an ornamental 
 nature from glass, and with the discovery of 
 plates of glass at Pompeii apparently intended 
 for windows. 
 
 But the art of rendering glass perfectly transpa- 
 rent would seem to have been known only to a few, 
 as we may infer, from Pliny's account of the 
 enormous price paid by Nero for two goblets of 
 moderate size, viz. 6000 sesterces, £1167, and 
 from the esteem in which, as he says, perfectly 
 pure glass was held : " Maximus tamen honos in 
 candido translucentibus, quam praxima crystalli 
 sirailitudine." (Lib. 36. c. 67.) 
 
 Indeed, that their ordinary glass was more or 
 less opaque, may be inferred from the story told 
 of the artificer, who brought Tiberius a cup of 
 what he called flexible glass, and which, after 
 being bent by a blow, was hammered back, with- 
 out breaking, into its original shape. This vessel 
 must have been composed of horn silver, or some 
 other similar material, and could at most have 
 only been translucent, for flexibility seems in- 
 compatible with perfect transparency. 
 
 Its being mistaken for glass therefore shews 
 that the latter was usually in part opaque, for no 
 
296 LECTURES ON [lect. viii. 
 
 one accustomed to the transparency of the drink- 
 ing vessels at present in common use could be so 
 taken in. 
 
 I do not know, whether the plates of glass found 
 at Pompeii contradict this inference, as it is long 
 since I have seen them ; but that which was found 
 covering the aperture in the roof of the baths at 
 Stabia3, described by Gell, was not transparent, 
 and therefore would have been unfit for windows, 
 however well adapted it might be, for the purpose 
 of admitting a certain amount of light, without 
 rendering objects within the chamber visible from 
 without. 
 
 Mazois' indeed has shewn, that frames, evidently 
 intended to contain windows, 20 inches wide and 
 28 high, and even provided with turn buckles to 
 keep the plates in their proper place, have been 
 discovered at Pompeii. 
 
 The latter however, even if made of glass, which 
 is not proved, need not have been transparent, 
 as, like the former, they were only designed to 
 supply the light wanted in a public bath. 
 
 On the other hand, the general adoption of talc 
 for windows, wherever any thing else than shut- 
 ters were employed for closing them in, seems 
 inconsistent with the idea of the Romans having 
 at their command a ready supply of pure trans- 
 parent glass ; and we must recollect, that even 
 in the eleventh century glass windows must have 
 
 i See his Ruines de Pompeii, vol. iii. ; and also his Palais de 
 Scaiire. 
 
lect.viil] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 
 
 297 
 
 been rare, as the cathedral of Torcello, near Ve- 
 nice, rebuilt at that period, had its windows closed 
 with nothing but stone slabs, which are now pre- 
 served. 
 
 Nero, Pliny says, glazed the windows of one of 
 his temples with a stone called Phengites, re- 
 markable for its translucency. 
 
 I conclude therefore, that the want of pure 
 transparent glass would alone have been an 
 obstacle to the construction of greenhouses, 
 adapted for tropical plants ; and this inference 
 accords with the total silence of the ancient 
 writers respecting such exotic luxuries. 
 
 After all, however, the strange difference be- 
 tween the refinement and skill of the Romans in 
 some respects, and their barbarous and clumsy 
 workmanship in others % can only be explained 
 by reference to their social state and condition. 
 
 It must be recollected, that none of the me- 
 chanical or chemical arts were accounted liberal, 
 or their practice otherwise than degrading to 
 men of education. 
 
 Pliny says of dyeing, that he should not have 
 passed it over if it had been one of the liberal 
 arts. Hence these trades were carried on by 
 slaves, who pursued an established routine of 
 operations, without the wish or the ability to 
 improve upon them. 
 
 The inventions themselves were therefore the 
 results of accident, and the improvements which 
 
 ^ As in the locks and keys found at Pompeii. 
 
298 
 
 LECTURES ON 
 
 [lECT. VIII. 
 
 took place from time to time in tiieir manipula- 
 tions rather proceeded from that superior adroit- 
 ness which was the consequence of carrying on 
 the same operations again and again, than from 
 the exercise of the reasoning powers in suggest- 
 ing new and analogous processes. 
 
 The remarkable advance which the mechanical 
 arts have experienced in modern times arises from 
 nothing more than from the fact, that they em- 
 ploy a numerous gradation of operatives, of every 
 shade of intellect and capacity, from the master 
 who supplies the capital, down to the humblest 
 artisan who performs from day to day the same 
 mechanical offices; all of whom are interested, 
 more or less, in suggesting improvements, and all 
 possess motives for intellectual and physical exer- 
 tion, by which the slave could not be actuated. 
 
 Accordingly, whilst the fine arts, which depend 
 upon individual genius and energy, were brought 
 to a high pitch of perfection; the useful ones, 
 which require the co-operation of many hands, 
 were in general in a very backward condition. 
 
 And thus we are brought back to the subject 
 from which we digressed, namely, husbandry — for 
 of all the useful occupations, this was the only 
 one thought worthy of a Roman gentleman or 
 patrician \ and the only one of the peaceful arts 
 
 ^ See, amongst other proofs of this, Cicero de Senectute, where 
 the dehghts and advantages of Agriculture are so eloquently ex- 
 pressed. 
 
LBCT. VIII.] ROMAN HUSBANDRY. 299 
 
 which seemed to thrive in the hands of the 
 sovereign people. 
 
 Even this indeed in later times experienced 
 the baneful effects of slave labour ; for, as Pliny 
 remarks, it is not wonderful that the earth does 
 not give us the same recompense when worked 
 by gangs of slaves, as she used to bestow upon 
 the labours of free men and of warriors, (xviii. 4.) 
 
 Still, however, husbandry suffered from this 
 cause in a less degree than other arts, because 
 the operations of a farm are not equally de- 
 pendent upon those niceties of manipulation 
 which require the constant exertion of ingenuity 
 and intelligence on the part of those engaged in 
 them ; but can be carried on by gangs of field 
 labourers, directed only by a single bailiff, 
 overseer, in the absence of the proprietor. As in 
 the United States of America the slave proprie- 
 tors are unable to compete with the free popula- 
 tion in manufactures, and are compelled to con- 
 tent themselves with the cultivation of cotton, 
 or tobacco ; so the Roman acquired, from his very 
 inability to succeed in the useful arts, a contempt 
 for every kind of employment, except that of war 
 and agriculture. 
 
 His feeling was that expressed by Virgil in 
 the lines, 
 
 " Excudent alii spirantia mollius sera : 
 Credo equideui, vivos diicent de marmore vultus : 
 Orabunt caussas melius ; coelique meatus 
 Describent radio, et surgentia sidera dicent : 
 
300 
 
 LECTURES &c. 
 
 [lECT. VIII. 
 
 Tu regere iinperio populos, Roinane, memento ; 
 H£e tibi erunt artes ;" (iEN. lib. vi. 848.) 
 
 anTl in the epigram of Hybrias preserved by 
 Atheiiseus, which has been translated with so 
 much spirit by the late Sir Daniel Sandford : 
 
 "EaTL ixot ttXovtos fxiyas, bopv ml ^t<pos. 
 
 (Athen^us, book v. c. 50. §. 696.) 
 
 " My wealth is here, the sword, the spear, the breast de- 
 fending shield. 
 With this I plough, with this I sow, with this I reap 
 the field, 
 
 With this I tread the luscious grape, and drink the 
 
 blood-red wine, 
 And slaves around in order wait, and all are counted 
 
 mine. 
 
 But he that will not rear the lance upon the battle field, 
 Nor sway the sword, nor stand behind the breast de- 
 fending shield, 
 On lowly knee must worship me with servile kiss adored, 
 And peal the cry of honour high, and hail me mighty 
 Lord." 
 
 Hence while no treatises have come down to 
 us relating to those manufactures and arts which 
 ministered to the comforts and conveniences of 
 daily life, Agriculture alone has been honoured 
 by the notice of the Poet, and has been thought 
 worthy of the attention of some of the most emi- 
 nent Prose Writers of antiquity. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 Although it would be rash to assume, that the plants 
 alluded to by Dioscorides were in all cases the same as 
 those designated by Pliny, Virgil, and Columella under the 
 same name, yet, considering how much one ancient writer 
 borrowed from another, and how large a proportion of the 
 contents of the works of each was derived from common 
 sources of information, it is conceived, that some assistance 
 towards the identification of the plants named by Roman 
 v,'riters may be obtained, by appeahng to those Botanists 
 who have investigated for us the Flora of ancient Greece. 
 
 This is my principal reason for appending to the present 
 volume a Catalogue of the plants named by the Greek 
 Writer, who, of all others, has given us the most copious 
 information on the subject, excluding, of course, such names, 
 as have hitherto baffled the attempts which have been made 
 to identify them with modern plants. 
 
 Those introduced have been classified according to the 
 Natural System ; in which undertaking I have availed ray- 
 self of the kind assistance of Mr. Maxwell Masters, Lec- 
 turer on Botany to St. George's Hospital, who till lately 
 filled the post of Sub-Curator to the Fielding Herbarium, 
 now attached to the Botanic Garden at Oxford. 
 
 It has been thought useful to point out in what degree, 
 and in what cases, the conjecture formed as to the plant in- 
 tended derives confirmation from the drawings accompanying 
 
302 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 the most ancient known MS. of Dioscorides, which has been 
 done, by noticing bi'iefly the cliaracter of the figure therein 
 given. When the term fictitious is attached, the meaning 
 is, that the artist, in ignorance of the plant named, has given 
 a representation of some other, totally unconnected with the 
 real one, if indeed he has not in this instance drawn from 
 his own fancy alone. In other cases, the figure given, how- 
 ever bad, rude, or inaccurate, is conceived to have been 
 taken, either from the plant itself, or from some drawing of 
 it to which the draughtsman had had access. 
 
 I may remark, that within the last few months another 
 MS. of Dioscorides was sold in London for a considerable 
 sum at Christie's, and is now in the possession of Sir Thomas 
 Phillips of Middle Hill in Worcestershire. 
 
 This latter MS. had been originally procured from the 
 East by a Florentine nobleman named Rinuccini ; in whose 
 family it had remained for more than a century, before it 
 was brought into the market. 
 
 This also was accompanied with coloured drawings, and it 
 was interesting to me to find on inspecting them, that the 
 designs, in most instances, although not in all, were the same 
 as those attached to the MS. of the fifth century, preserved 
 in the Library of Vienna, of which the Botanic Garden at 
 Oxford is so fortunate as to possess the unique engravings 
 so often referred to. 
 
Catalogue of the Plants noticed by Dioscornles, which have been determined 
 ivith some degree of jirobability by Sibthorp, Lioidleyf, and others, arranged 
 according to the natural system, with references to the Drawings which 
 accompany the names of the Plants in question, in the Vienna Manuscript 
 of Dioscorides. 
 
 N. B. The plants figured in Sibthorp's Flora Grseca are marked thus *. 
 
 DICOTYLEDONEtE. 
 
 RANUNCUL ACE^. 
 
 Name given by T)inscorides. 
 
 Reference 
 to Diosc, 
 lib. cap. 
 
 Akovitov irepov 4-77 
 
 Ave/JLOOVT] I 2.207 
 
 ApyefiavT] • 2.2o8 
 
 BaTpaxi-ov* 1 2.206 
 
 erepov* .... 
 
 rpiTOv* .... 
 
 ■ TfTOpTOV . , . 
 
 AeX^tftov* 3. 
 
 erepov 8-85 
 
 'EXXe^opos fieXas* i 4.151 
 
 OaXiKpov* > 4-94 
 
 KXtjuutitis* i 4.182 
 
 erepa* i 
 
 MeXavdiov* i 3.93 
 
 TlaiovLa apprjv 3'I57 
 
 Sri^eia 3.157 
 
 ^Ta<pi<raypta* j 4. 156 
 
 XeXiScoj/to:/ TOfiiKpov . . . . ; 2.212 
 
 Modern Botanical Name. 
 
 Character of the Draw- 
 irtg of the Plant in the 
 Vienna MS, 
 
 r Aconitum Lycoctonum, vel \ 
 \ napellus J 
 
 Anemone 
 
 'fhalictrum flavum 
 
 Ranunculus 
 
 lanuginosus 
 
 muricatus 
 
 aquatilis 
 
 Delphinium peregrinum 
 
 ■ — consolida 
 
 Helleborus officinalis, Salisb. 
 
 Thalictrum minus 
 
 Clematis cirrhosa 
 
 Nigella sativa 
 
 Pseonia corallina 
 
 officinalis 
 
 Delphinium Staphisagria. 
 Ranunculus Ficaria 
 
 AeovToneToKov 
 
 KvKiov 
 
 \pvcroyovov . . 
 
 BERBERID ACEiE. 
 
 3. 1 TO ! Chrysogonon L 
 
 {Berberis vulgaris, secundum 
 Roylium ; Rhamnus infecto- 
 rius, Sibth. 
 4.56 ; Leontice Leontopetalum L 
 
 NYMPIIJ^: ACEiE. 
 
 Nou0ay 3. [49 
 
 Nvfi(j>aia j 3.148 
 
 o^^^V I 3-149 
 
 Nuphar luteum 
 Nymphaea alba . 
 Nuphar luteum. 
 
 No resemblance 
 
 Tolerably like 
 Figure good 
 
 Tolerably like 
 
 Ditto 
 
 Bad 
 
 Figure fictitious 
 
 Ditto 
 
 Ditto 
 
 Good 
 
 Good 
 
 Fictitious 
 
 Ditto 
 
 Fictitious 
 
 Fictitious 
 
 Bad 
 
 Fictitious 
 
 + See his Appendix to the Flora Grceca. 
 
^04 
 
 Catalogue of Plant fi noticed by Dioscorides, 
 
 Name given by Dioscorides. 
 
 MrjKutv aypios^ . . . 
 
 rjfifpos* ■ 
 
 KepaTLTrjs . 
 
 poias 
 
 XfXiboviov TO /ieya 
 
 l^ef'erence 
 to Diosc. 
 lib. cap. 
 
 4 65 
 4.65 
 4.66 
 4.64 
 2. 211 
 
 
 
 Modern Botanical Name. 
 
 Clmractcr of the Draw- 
 ing of the . lant in the 
 Vienna IMS. 
 
 Papaver somniferiim Figiu*e pretty good 
 
 Ditto Ditto 
 
 Glaucium luteum 1 Ditto 
 
 Papaver Phaeas Ditto 
 
 Chelidonium magus | Good 
 
 FUMARIACEJi:. 
 
 Kanvos* I 4.I lO 
 
 'YnT}Kooi>* I 4-68 
 
 Furaaria parviflora I Good 
 
 Hypecoum procumbens | Fictitious 
 
 CRUCIFER^. 
 
 AXi;crcroi' 
 
 ToyyvXr) ay pit]* . 
 
 Ev^cofiov* 
 
 Epva-ifxov 
 
 ©XaCTTTt 
 
 laaris* 
 
 aypia^ . . . 
 
 Kapdafiov 
 
 Kpajx^T) aypin* . . . 
 
 rjixepos . . . 
 
 AafiTTcravr] 
 
 AevKoiov 
 
 ■ 6(i\acraL0v^ 
 
 Mvaypos. . 
 
 'Pa(pavLS 
 
 ay pi 
 
 "SiuTjirt aypiov* , . 
 
 KTjnaiou. . 
 
 'Siiavp^pLov erf pop 
 
 Bovvias 
 
 Apa^T) 
 
 l^r)pis* 
 
 AfTTldlOV 
 
 3- 105 
 
 2. 170 
 2.188 
 2.186 
 
 2.216 
 2.185 
 2.147 
 2. 146 
 2.142 
 3-138 
 3-138 
 4.II7 
 
 2-137 
 2.138 
 2.154 
 
 2.156 
 2.136 
 4.187 
 1. 188 
 2.205 
 
 Alyssum clypeatum 
 
 Condylocarpus laevigata . 
 
 Brassica Eruca 
 
 Sisymbrium polyceratium 
 Thlaspi bursa pastoris. . . 
 
 Isatis 
 
 Lusitanica 
 
 Lepidium sativum 
 
 Brassica cretica , 
 
 oleracea 
 
 Sinapis arvensis 
 
 Cheiranthus cheiri 
 
 tricuspidatus 
 
 Myagri species ? 
 
 Raphianus sativus 
 
 Raphanistrum 
 
 Sinapis 
 
 Sinaj)is 
 
 Sisymbrium nasturtium 
 
 Bunias Erucago or Brassica . . 
 
 Lepidium Draba 
 
 graminifolium vel L. Iberis 
 
 latifolium 
 
 Bad 
 
 Ditto 
 
 Ditto 
 
 Pretty good 
 
 Indifferent 
 
 Indifferent 
 
 Pretty good 
 
 Ditto 
 
 Ditto 
 
 Ditto 
 
 Ditto 
 
 No resemblance 
 Pretty good 
 Fictitious 
 Good 
 
 Pretty good 
 Ditto 
 Ditto 
 Doubtful 
 
 KaTTTrapis* 
 
 CAPPAR1DE.E. 
 2.204 I Capparis spinosa . . . 
 
 lov 7rop(f>vpov 
 
 V I 0 L A C E JE. 
 
 4.122 1 Viola odorata .. 
 
 Good 
 
 Good 
 
 CISTACEiE. 
 
 KvcTTOS appTjv 
 Aadavov* ... 
 
 1. 126 
 1. 126 
 1. 128 
 
 Cistus villosus . . . 
 
 salviaefolius 
 
 creticus . . . 
 
arranged according to the Natural System. 
 
 SO 
 
 Aivov 
 
 Name given by Dioscorides. 
 
 Reference 
 to Diosc. 
 lib. cap. 
 
 Modern Botanical Name. 
 
 Character of the Draw- 
 ing of the Plant in the 
 Vienna MS. 
 
 (rTf(f)ava)fiaTiKr]*. . 
 
 3-115 
 
 3-114 
 
 4.67 
 
 2.193 
 
 4.130 
 
 4.28 
 
 Agrostemma githago 
 
 Lychnis coronaria 
 
 Figure doubtful 
 
 Ditto 
 
 Fictitious 
 
 Pretty good 
 
 Good 
 
 Ditto 
 
 
 
 LINAGES. 
 2.125 I Linum usitatissimum 
 
 M ALVACE^. 
 
 A\$aia I 3.163 
 
 Kavva^is aypia ! 3.166 
 
 W^pa 3.165 
 
 MaX 
 
 a)(t] aypia 
 KTjTraia^ 
 
 2.144 
 2.144 
 
 Althea officinalis 
 cannabina 
 
 Malva sylvestris 
 Alcea rosea .... 
 
 Good 
 
 Fictitious 
 Pretty good 
 Ditto 
 Very rude 
 Pretty good 
 
 A/XTTfXos aypia* | 5.2 
 
 VITACEtE. 
 
 j Vitis vinifera | Pretty good 
 
 H YPERICACE JE. 
 
 Av8po<raifiou . . . 
 
 AcTKvpov 
 
 Kopis* 
 
 Ilaua^ Xfipcoviov 
 
 Tpnyiov'^ 
 
 YwepiKov* 
 
 3-173 
 3-175 
 3-174 
 
 3- 57 
 
 4- 49 
 3-171 
 
 Hypericum perfoliatum L. 
 
 perforatum L 
 
 Coris L 
 
 origanifolium ? L. 
 
 hircinum L 
 
 crispum L 
 
 Pretty good 
 
 G E R A N I A C E J^. 
 
 Tepaviov* | 3. 131 
 
 ■ fTtpOV* I 
 
 Geranium tuberosum [ Pretty good 
 
 Erodium malachoides Ditto 
 
 Urjyavov aypiov* i 3-53 
 
 TO KrjTTaiov j 3.52 
 
 TO opeivov 3-52 
 
 Tpi^o\os* 4. 15 
 
 R U T A C E tE. 
 
 Peganum Harmala L. 
 Ruta graveolens L. , . 
 
 montana L 
 
 Tribulus terrestris L. 
 
 Pretty good 
 
 Ditto 
 
 Ditto 
 
 Some resemblance 
 
 TEREBINTHACEiE. 
 
 'Povs* 
 
 'S)(^ivos* . . . 
 TeppivSos* . 
 
 1. 147 
 
 1.89 
 
 1,91 
 
 Rhus coriaria \j 
 
 Pistacia Lentiscus L. . 
 Terebinthus L. 
 
 X 
 
306 
 
 Catalogue of Plants noticed by Dioscorides, 
 
 Name given by Dioscorides. 
 
 E I 
 
 Reference 
 to Diosc. 
 lib. cap. 
 
 I A M N A C E ./E. 
 
 Modern Botanical Name. 
 
 Character of the Draw- 
 ing of the Plaut in the 
 Vienna MS. 
 
 
 1. 121 
 1. 119 
 
 
 
 LEGUMINOSJE. 
 
 Avayvpis* . . 
 
 KvOiVLS 
 
 AairaXados* 
 
 K(TTpayaKos . . 
 
 AfpaKT] 
 
 VXvKvpiCa* . , . 
 Epe/3ii'^oy*. . . . 
 'Hbvarapov* . . . 
 Qepp-os aypios* 
 
 T]p.epos* 
 
 KepaTia 
 
 KopovaTTOvs . . 
 Kvafios 
 
 KVTKTOS* .... 
 
 XiBoantpiiov . 
 
 Acorof 
 
 AwTos aypios* 
 
 MeXiXwTOf . . . 
 
 MrjSiKTi 
 
 Ovo^pvxis 
 
 OpojSos* 
 
 IloXvyaXov 
 
 noTrjpiov* 
 
 'STTapriov* 
 
 TtjXis* 
 
 TpayaKavdrj* ; 3.23 
 
 Tpi^vXXov* ' 3.123 
 
 4>aK0f I 2.129 
 
 ^aaioKos ' 
 
 3.167 
 3.21 
 
 1. 19 
 
 4.120 
 2.178 
 
 3-7 
 
 2.125 
 
 3.146 
 
 2- 133 
 2.132 
 1.158 
 2.158 
 
 4'"3 
 
 3- 158 
 1. 177 
 1. 171 
 
 3-48 
 
 2.177 
 3.170 
 2.132 
 4.142 
 
 3-^7 
 4.158 
 2.124 
 
 Anagyris foetida 
 
 Ononis arvensis 
 
 J Cytisus lanigerus, or Genista 
 \ acanthoclada 
 
 Astragalus Christianus L 
 
 Lathyrus Aphaca L 
 
 Glycirrhiza echinata 
 
 Cicer arietinum 
 
 Securigera coronilla 
 
 Lupinus augustifolius 
 
 pilosus 
 
 Ceratonia siliqua 
 
 Lotus ornithopodioides 
 
 Vicia Faba 
 
 Medicago arborea 
 
 Lathyrus Aphaca ? . . . . 
 
 Trigonella elatior L 
 
 r Trifolium officinale, vel T. "1 
 
 \ italicum J 
 
 Medicago sativa 
 
 Vicia Onobrychis 
 
 Ervum Ervillia 
 
 Astragali sp. incert 
 
 Astragalus creticus 
 
 Spartium junceum 
 
 Trigonella foenum grsecum . 
 
 Astragalus aristatus L 
 
 Psoralea bituminosa 
 
 Cicer Lens 
 
 Phaseolus nanus 
 
 Figure good 
 
 Pretty good 
 Bad 
 Doubtful 
 Good 
 
 Ditto 
 Ditto 
 
 Ditto 
 Ditto 
 
 Some resemblance 
 Doubtful 
 Fictitious 
 Pretty good 
 
 Ditto 
 
 Doubtful 
 Pretty good 
 Ditto 
 
 Pretty good 
 Good 
 
 Ditto 
 
 Pretty good 
 Good 
 
 ROSACEtE. 
 
 Aypiopr]\a . , 
 AfivySaKrj . . 
 
 Axpas 
 
 Baros 
 
 ibaia , 
 
 Kf paa-ia . . . , 
 KoKKvpi]\ia , 
 Kvbcovia . . . . 
 KwocT^arov 
 
 MfXifiTjXa . . 
 
 1-163 
 1. 176 
 1. 168 
 
 4-37 
 4-38 
 1. 157 
 1-174 
 1. 1 60 
 1. 123 
 
 1. 161 
 
 Pyrus malus 
 
 Amygdalus communis . 
 
 Pyrus communis 
 
 Rubus fruticosus 
 
 Ideeus 
 
 Prunus Cerasus 
 
 domestica 
 
 Cydonia vulgaris 
 
 Rosa sempervirens, nec R. canina 
 f Pyri mali fructus in Cydo 
 1. niam insiti. 
 
 Good 
 
arranged according to the Natural System. 
 
 807 
 
 ROSACE (continued). 
 
 Name given by Dioscorides. 
 
 MeaTTiXoi/ . . . , 
 erepou 
 
 O^vaKavda . . . . 
 
 Ova 
 
 TlevTacpvXkov . 
 
 'P080V* 
 
 '2i8rjpiTis erf pa 
 
 Reference 
 to Diosc. 
 lib. cap. 
 
 1. 169 
 
 1. 170 
 1.159 
 1. 122 
 2.182 
 4.42 
 1. 130 
 
 4-34 
 
 Modern Botanical Name. 
 
 J Crataegus tanacetifolius, vel 
 \ C. Azarola 
 
 Mespilus Germanica 
 
 Pyri mali fructus 
 
 Crataegus pyracantha 
 
 Pyrus domestica 
 
 Potentilla reptans 
 
 Rosa 
 
 Sanguisorba officinalis 
 
 Character of the Draw- 
 ing (if the Plant in the 
 Vienna MS. 
 
 HALORAGE^. 
 
 Mupio^uXXor . . . . 
 YLokvyovov BrfKv. . 
 Tpi^oXos evvdpos 
 
 4.I15 
 
 4.1 
 
 4-15 
 
 Myriophyllum spicatum 
 
 Hippuris vulgaris 
 
 Trapa natans L 
 
 Figure good 
 Pretty good 
 
 Doubtful 
 Good 
 Slight resemblance 
 
 Ovaypa 
 
 BfTTOVlKt] 
 
 ONA GRACES. 
 
 4.1 18 I Epilobium angustifolium 
 
 L Y T H R A R I E .E. 
 
 4.2 I Lythrum salicaria? 
 
 BaXavcrriov* 
 
 KvTlVOl* 
 
 Mvpa-ivT)* . . 
 
 'Poa* 
 
 2i8ia* 
 
 I-I54 
 1. 152 
 
 1. 151 
 
 M Y R T A C E ^. 
 
 Punicae granati flores .... 
 culti flores 
 
 Myrtus communis 
 
 Punica granatum 
 
 Punicae granati putamina 
 
 MvpiKTj* . 
 
 T A M A R I S C I N E JG. 
 I.I 16 I Tamarix Gallica 
 
 Good 
 
 CUCURBITACEJE. 
 
 KoXoKVvda . . 
 KoXoKvvBis 
 
 UfTTCdV . . . , 
 
 S(KVf aypios* 
 f)fitpos 
 
 2.162 
 4.178 
 2.164 
 
 4-154 
 2.163 
 
 Cucumis sativus .... 
 
 colocynthis . . 
 
 Cucurbita pepo .... 
 Momordica Elaterium 
 Cucumis melo ? 
 
 Good 
 
 Kvhpa)(yr} aypia^ 
 
 PORTULACCACEtE. 
 
 I 3,150 I Portulacca oleracea I Good 
 
 X a 
 
308 
 
 Catalogue of Plants noticed hy Dioscorides, 
 
 PARONYCHIACEiE. 
 
 Name given by Dioscorides. 
 
 EniTraKTis . 
 
 Reference 
 to Diosc. 
 lib. cap. 
 
 4.II9 
 4-54 
 
 Modern Botanical Name. 
 
 Herniaria glabra, Sp 
 
 lllecebrum Paronychia, L. 
 
 Character of the Draw- 
 ing of the Plant in the 
 Vienna MS. 
 
 CRASSULACE^. 
 
 Af i^coov TO fieya* 
 
 Aei^toov TO fiiKpov 
 
 KrjTraia* 
 
 'K.OTvXrjSav 
 
 AflfJLl 
 
 AfifxeoviaKTi* 
 
 AvTjdov 
 
 Aviaov 
 
 AavKos* 
 
 AavKos erepos* 
 
 TpiTOS 
 
 'E'Ka(f)o^ocrKoi> 
 
 'EXeiocrekivov 
 
 'Upvyyiou 
 
 Qa-^ia* 
 
 'iTTTTopapadov 
 
 'ln7ro(TeKivov 
 
 KavKokis 
 
 Kopiavvov* 
 
 Kpap^T] Bdkadcria 
 
 ^pidpou 
 
 Kvpivov aypiov* 
 
 fjptpov 
 
 ■Kavfiov 
 
 Aayfonovi* . . . 
 
 Ai$av(jL>Tis eTepa* 
 
 AtyvcTTiKov 
 
 Mapadpov 
 
 Mt]OP 
 
 Mvppis 
 
 'Napdrj^ 
 
 OpeoaeXivov 
 
 Tlava^ aa-KkrjTriov* 
 
 UfTpoatXivov 
 
 TlevKfdavou 
 
 SeXivov aypiov 
 
 Kfjiraiov 
 
 SfcreXt AidioTTiicov* . . . . 
 
 Maa(raXfa>TiKov* 
 
 UfkonovvrjcriaKov 
 
 Siov TO fv ubaa-iv 
 
 ^i<rapov 
 
 ^Kav8v^ 
 
 4.89 
 4.90 
 3.168 
 
 Sempervivum arboreum 
 Sedum ochroleucum . . 
 
 Cepsea 
 
 Cotyledon umbilicus . . 
 
 UMBELLIFER^. 
 
 iEthusa Ammi ? 
 
 Ferula orientalis, or F. tingitana 
 
 Anethum graveolens 
 
 Pimpinella Anisum 
 
 Athamanta Cretensis ? 
 
 Seseli aramoides 
 
 Pastinaca Graeca 
 
 Apium graveolens 
 
 Eryngium campestre . , . 
 
 Thapsia garganica 
 
 Cachrys sicula 
 
 Smyrnium olusatrum . , . 
 Hasselquistia iEgyptiaca 
 Coriandrum sativum . . . 
 Crithmum maritiraum . . . 
 maritimum 
 
 Lagaecia cuminoides 
 
 Cuminum sativum 
 
 Conium raaculatum 
 
 Trifolium arvense L 
 
 Ferula nodiflora, nec Rosmarinus 
 
 Laserpitiura cicer 
 
 Anethum Foeniculum 
 
 Meum Athamanticum 
 
 Myrrhis odorata, Gaertner .... 
 
 Ferula communis 
 
 Apiiim petroselinum 
 
 Echinophora tenuifolia 
 
 Athamanta Macedonica 
 
 Peucedanum Alsaticum 
 
 Apium graveolens . . . , 
 Bupleurum fruticosum 
 Echinophora tenuiflora 
 Angelica sylvestris . . . , 
 
 Slum nodillorum 
 
 Pastinaca sativa , 
 
 Scandix pecten Veneris 
 
 Figure good 
 Good 
 
 Good 
 Good 
 Good 
 Bad 
 
 Pretty good 
 
 Pretty good 
 Pretty good 
 Good, except root 
 Pretty good 
 Very doubtful 
 
 Pretty good 
 Slight resemblance 
 Doubtful 
 
 Doubtful 
 
 Slight resemblance 
 Pretty good 
 
 Shght resemblance 
 Pretty good 
 
 Doubtful 
 
 Good 
 
 Doubtful 
 
 Doubtful 
 Fictitious 
 
 Slight resemblance 
 Doubtful 
 Pretty good 
 Pretty good 
 Slight resemblance 
 
 Good 
 
arranged according to the Natural System. 
 
 309 
 
 UMBELLIFERvE (continued). 
 
 Name given by Dioscorides. 
 
 Reference 
 to Diosc. 
 lib. cap. 
 
 ^fivpviov* 
 
 STa(f)vXivos aypios* 
 
 KTjiracos . . 
 
 Stoi^t;* 
 
 Stcrcoj/ 
 
 2(f)ov8v\iou 
 
 Top8v\iov* 
 
 Tpayiop aXXo 
 
 3-79 
 3-159 
 3-15 
 4.12 
 
 3-64 
 3-9° 
 3-63 
 4.50 
 
 Modern Botanical Name. 
 
 Smyrnium perfoliatum 
 
 Daucus guttatus 
 
 carota? 
 
 Pimpinella spinosa 
 
 Sison amomum 
 
 Heracleum sphondylium. 
 Tordylium officinale . . . 
 Tragiura columnse 
 
 Character of the Draw- 
 ing of the Plant in the 
 Vienna MS. 
 
 Slight resemblance 
 Figure pretty good 
 Doubtful 
 Pretty good 
 
 Pretty good 
 
 Kicra-os 
 
 Kpavia'* 
 
 LORANTH ACE JE. 
 
 I / Viscum album ? Loranthus Eu- 
 3' 2 \\ ropseus 
 
 ARALIACEJ5. 
 
 2.210 I Hedera helix 
 
 Good 
 
 CORNACEiE. 
 I 1. 1 72 I Cornus mascula 
 
 CAPRIFOLIACEiE. 
 
 AfCTi; j 4.174 
 
 Xap.ai,aKTr) | 4.175 
 
 Sarabucus nigra | Good 
 
 Ebulus L Ditto 
 
 R U B I A C E iE. 
 
 Airaptvr]* . . . . 
 
 TdKXiov 
 
 Epv6po8avov* 
 
 Napdos optiVT} 
 ^ov* 
 
 3- 104 
 
 4.96 
 
 3.160 
 
 Galium verrucosum, 
 
 luteum 
 
 Rubia tinctorum . . . 
 
 Some resemblance 
 Good 
 
 Pretty good 
 
 VALERIANACEiE. 
 
 1.8 
 1. 10 
 
 AiylroKop I 3.13 
 
 Valeriana tuberosa 
 J Valeriana Dioscoridis nec V, 
 \ officinalis 
 
 D I PS ACE ^. 
 I Dipsacus sylvestris | Bad 
 
 COMPOSITiE. 
 
 A^poravov . . . 
 AyrjpaTou . . . 
 AkovQu aypia* 
 
 3- 29 
 
 4- 59 
 2.122 
 
 Artemisia abrotanura 
 
 Achillea viscosa 
 
 Cnicus syriacus 
 
 Pretty good 
 Ditto 
 
310 
 
 Catalogue of Plants noticed by Dioscorides^ 
 
 COMPOSITtE (continued). 
 
 Name given by Diosoorides. 
 
 KKavBa apa^iKt] 
 
 XfVKr]* 
 
 AkuvOiov 
 
 Akovitov 
 
 Afx^pocria 
 
 Avdefiis* 
 
 fX(\avav6ris 
 
 irop(f)vpav6r]s* . . 
 
 ApKTiov* 
 
 ApTtpLaia Xe7TTo(f)vXXos 
 POVokXchvos .... 
 
 AcrTTjp arriKos 
 
 ArpaKTvXis* 
 
 A;^iXXetos 
 
 A'^Lvdl.QV 
 
 daXaaaiov 
 
 Savromoi'* .... 
 
 Bov((>BaXpov 
 
 Tva(f)aXtov* 
 
 'EXfviov* 
 
 EXixpva-oi>* 
 
 Ewartapioi' 
 
 Hpiyepav . 
 
 Opi8a^ aypia 
 
 rjpepos 
 
 'lepuKiov TO fjLeya* 
 
 ■ TO pLiKpou* . . . . 
 
 KaKaXia* 
 
 Kipcriov 
 
 KovdpiXXrj* 
 
 irepa* 
 
 JS-Ovv^a 
 
 KpoKodfiXiov* 
 
 AfovTonoSiov 
 
 Af vKUKavda*, OTAk. XevKt) 
 
 Savdiov 
 
 Tlapdtviov 
 
 HeTaa-iTTjs 
 
 TlTappiKT} 
 
 '2epis 
 
 2(Xui3off 
 
 l^KoXvpos* . . . , 
 
 ^oy^os aKaudaiBeaTtpos . . 
 
 Tpaxys . . 
 
 Reference 
 to Diosc. 
 lib. cap. 
 
 3.20 
 
 3- 1 4 
 3.18 
 
 4- 77 
 3.129 
 
 3-154 
 
 4.106 
 3.128 
 3.127 
 
 4.120 
 
 3- 107 
 
 4- 36 
 3.26 
 
 3-27 
 3.28 
 3.126 
 
 3- 132 
 1.27 
 
 4- 57 
 4.41 
 
 4-97 
 2.166 
 2 
 3 
 3 
 4 
 4 
 
 165 
 72 
 
 73 
 123 
 119 
 
 161 
 
 2.261 
 
 3- 136 
 3.12 
 
 4- 131 
 3-14 
 4.138 
 
 3- 155 
 4.108 
 2.192 
 2.160 
 
 4- 159 
 3.16 
 
 2.159 
 
 2.159 
 
 Modern Botanical Name. 
 
 Onopordon arabicum 
 
 f Cnicus acarna 
 
 1 Echinops lanuginosus 
 
 r Onopordum Acanthium, or 
 
 \ O. lUyricum 
 
 Doronicum Pardalianches . , . 
 
 Artemisia campestris 
 
 Anthemis chia 
 tinctoria 
 
 C'liaractei- of the Draw- 
 ing of the Plant in the 
 Vienna MS. 
 
 Conyza Candida 
 
 Artemisia arborescens 
 
 campestris 
 
 vulgaris . . . 
 
 Aster amellus 
 J Carthamus, or Kentrophyl- \ 
 t lura leucocaule (Sibthp.) j 
 Achillea sp. 
 Artemisia pontica 
 
 maritima 
 
 Achillea pubescens 
 
 Chrysanthemum segetum 
 
 Santolina maritima 
 
 Inula Helenium 
 
 J Elichrysum augustifolium Ta- 
 \ nacetum amellum Lind. 
 
 Eupatorium cannabinum 
 
 Senecio vulgaris 
 
 Laf'tuca Scariola 
 
 sativa 
 
 Arnopogon picroides, L 
 
 Scorzonera elongata, L 
 
 Inula Candida (Conyza ?) 
 
 Cirsium tenuiflorum 
 J Chondrilla ramosissima, or 
 \ C. juncea 
 
 fThrincia tuberosa, or Apargia 
 \ tuberosa 
 
 Erigeron 
 
 Echinops spheerocephalus . . 
 Micropus erectus 
 
 Echinops lanuginosus 
 
 Xanthium strumarium 
 
 Py ret brum Parthenium 
 
 Tussilago petasites 
 
 Xeranthemum annuum 
 
 Cichorium Endivia. L 
 
 Silybum 
 
 Scolymus hispanicus 
 
 f Helminthia echioides 
 \ Picris 
 
 Sonchus arvensis 
 
 Figure pretty good 
 Some resemblance 
 
 Pretty good 
 
 Fictitious 
 Pretty good 
 
 Pretty good 
 
 Ditto 
 Ditto 
 
 Ditto 
 
 Ditto 
 Ditto 
 
 Good 
 Doubtful 
 
 Some resemblance 
 
 Bad 
 
 Good, except root 
 Doubtful 
 Pretty good 
 Good 
 
 Pretty good 
 
 Good 
 
 Doubtful 
 Ditto 
 
 Pretty good 
 
 Ditto 
 
 Doubtful 
 Ditto 
 
 Pretty good 
 Ditto 
 
arranged according to the Natural System. 
 
 311 
 
 COMPOSITiE (continued). 
 
 Name given by Dioscorides. 
 
 '2,oy)(os Tpv(f)€pos . . 
 
 TpayoTTCiyaiv 
 
 X.afxai\ea>v 6 \fVKOs* 
 • 6 fxfXas* . . 
 
 XafiaikevKT] 
 "KpvcravdfiJ.ov 
 Xpva-avdov, or EXixpv(Tov* 
 Xpv(TOKop.ri* 
 
 Reference 
 to Diosc. 
 lib. cap. 
 
 2.IS9 
 2.173 
 3.10 
 
 4.127 
 4.58 
 
 4-57 
 4-55 
 
 Modem Botanical Name. 
 
 Sonchus oleraceus 
 
 Tragopogon villosum ...... 
 
 Acarna gumnifera 
 
 Carthamus corymbosus . . . . 
 Chamsepeuce mutica ? 
 Chrysanthemum coronarium 
 
 Gnaphahum Stoechas 
 
 Chrysocoma Linosyris 
 
 Character of the Draw- 
 ing of the Plant in the 
 Vienna MS. 
 
 Epetfc?; 
 
 CAMPANUL ACEiE. 
 
 4.18 I Campanula laciniata 
 
 ERICACE^. 
 
 Figure pretty good 
 
 Ditto 
 
 Ditto 
 
 Ditto 
 
 Fictitious 
 
 Good 
 
 Doubtful 
 
 Fictitious 
 
 I. 117 
 
 Kop-apos* ! I'l75 
 
 Erica herbacea, vel E. arborea 
 Arbutus Andrachne 
 
 STYRACEtE. 
 
 1.79 I Styrax officinalis 
 
 O L E A C E iE. 
 
 EXata* . 
 MeXia* . 
 ^iKKvpfo!* 
 
 1. 138. 140 
 1. 108 
 1-125 
 
 Olea Europsea 
 Ornus Europsea 
 Phillyrea latifolia 
 
 ASCLEPIADEiE. 
 
 AnoKvvov* j 4-8 1 
 
 Aa-K\r}mas* | 3-^°^ 
 
 KipKaia 3-134 
 
 f Cynanchumerectumormars- "1 
 1 denia erecta J 
 
 Asclepias vmcetoxicum 
 Cynanchum nigrum 
 
 Pretty good 
 Pretty good 
 
 APOCYNACEiE. 
 
 KX»;/LiaTis 4-7 
 
 Nr/ptov* I 4-82 
 
 Vinca minor 
 Nerium oleander 
 
 KeVTOVplOV TO p.iKpov 
 
 GENTIANACE JE. 
 
 3.9 j Chironia centaurium 
 
 BORAGINACEiE. 
 
 ■ iTtpa* 
 
 423 
 4-438 
 
 Anchusa tinctoria 
 Echium creticum . 
 
 Good 
 
 Good 
 Good 
 
312 
 
 Catalogue of Plants noticed by Dioscorides, 
 
 BORAGINACEJE (continued). 
 
 Name given by Dioscorides. 
 
 'QovyKaacrov* 
 
 E]^ioi> 
 
 'HXtorpoTrioi/ /xe-ya 
 Kvvoy\a)(Taov 
 
 AVKO'^IS 
 
 MvocrcoTis 
 
 Ovoaiia 
 
 SKopTTtoetSef* , 
 
 2,KopTriovpoi>'f 
 
 irepov 
 
 'SvfKpvTOv . j 4.9 
 
 Trj'KeCpLov* 
 
 Reference 
 to Diosc. 
 lib. cap. 
 
 4.128 
 4.27 
 
 4-193 
 4.129 
 4.26 
 
 2.215 
 
 3- 147 
 
 4- 195 
 
 Modern Botanical Name. 
 
 Anchusa paniculata 
 
 Echium vulgare 
 
 Heliotropium Europasum ... 
 
 Cynoglossum officinale , 
 
 Echium Italicum , 
 
 f Lithospermum purpureo cae- 
 1 ruleuin 
 
 Onosma Sp. incert 
 
 Lithospermum apulum , 
 
 Boraginea queedam 
 
 Ditto 
 
 Symphytum Sp. ? 
 
 Cerinthe minor 
 
 2.217 
 
 CONVOLVULA CE^ 
 
 Aopv\viov* 
 
 EX^ivt] Kia(Tap.7T€Xos^ 
 
 'Emdvp-ov 
 
 KXvfifvov 
 
 Tl€piKKvp.evov .... 
 ^Kafxp,(ovia 
 
 4-75 
 
 4-39 
 
 4-179 
 
 4-13 
 
 4.14 
 
 4.171 
 
 f Convolvulus Cneorum, or C. 
 \ Dorycnium 
 Convolvulus arvensis 
 
 Cuscuta Epithymum 
 
 Convolvulus Sepium 
 
 arvensis 
 
 farinosus 
 
 Mav8payopas^ 
 
 Mavdpayopas p.opiov . . 
 
 'Pap.vos* 
 
 'Srpvxvos aXiKaKajios* . 
 
 — — — fiaviKos 
 
 • fjLeXas KYjTraios 
 
 V1VV(x)TlKOS* . . . 
 
 'YocTKvafios fie\as . . . . 
 
 XfVKOS* 
 
 p.rj\oi8(s* . . . , 
 
 AvTippivov 
 EXarivi] . . 
 
 4.76 
 4.76 
 I.I 19 
 4.72 
 
 4-74 
 4.71 
 
 4-73 
 4.69 
 4.69 
 4.69 
 
 SOLANACE JS. 
 
 Atropa Mandragora, L. 
 Belladonna ? 
 
 Lycium Europaeum . 
 Physalis alkekengi ? . 
 Solanum Sodomeum 
 
 nigrum . . . 
 
 Physalis somnifera 
 Hyoscyamus niger . 
 
 albus, L. 
 
 aureus, L. 
 
 Physalis alkekengi . . , 
 
 4-133 
 
 4-95 
 
 4.40 
 
 4.150 
 4-39 
 
 'EXX((3opos XevKos* . . 
 
 EX^ivt] KvaaafineXos . . 
 
 2i8r]pi.Tis rpLTTj* 4.35 
 
 4>Xo/Ltos* 4.104 
 
 XfvKrj npprjv* . . 4.IO4 
 
 XfVKT] drjXfta .. 4. 104 
 
 ' jLieXaiya* 4-I04 
 
 S C R 0 P II U L A R I N E yE. 
 
 I Antirrhinum Orontium 
 
 Scrophularia peregrina 
 
 ! Linai'ia spuria 
 f Digitalis ferruginea. Vera- "1 
 
 I \ tium album, L j 
 
 J^gyptiaca, Sibthp. 
 
 Scrophularia lucida ? 
 
 j Verbascam 
 
 j plicatum 
 
 Thapsus 
 
 nigrum 
 
 Character of the Draw- 
 ing of the Plant in the 
 Vienna MS. 
 
 Figure bad 
 Good 
 
 Pretty good 
 Good 
 
 Pretty good 
 
 Ditto 
 
 Ditto 
 
 Ditto 
 
 Ditto 
 
 Good 
 
 Cuscuta omitted 
 Figure bad 
 Good 
 Fictitious 
 
 Like nature 
 
 Pretty good 
 Good, for somni- 
 [feraj 
 
 Good 
 
 Pretty good 
 Good + 
 
 Figure pretty good 
 Pretty good 
 
 Pretty good 
 
 t N. B. Where no reference to Diosc. is given, as is the case here, the reader may conclude, 
 that in the V. MS. a plate to the name attached occurs, although the latter has not been found 
 in the edition of Diosc, in my possession. 
 
 I More like this plant than the drawing of 5. aAiKaicaPa. 
 
arranged according to the Natural System. 
 
 313 
 
 OROBANCHACE^. 
 
 Name given by IJioscorides. 
 
 Reference 
 to Uiosc. 
 lib. cap. 
 
 Modem Botanical Name. 
 
 Character of the Draw- 
 ing of the Plant iu the 
 Vienna MS. 
 
 
 2.172 
 
 Orobanche caryophyllea 
 
 
 
 ACANTHACE.E. 
 
 
 AKavda epntKavOa* .... 
 
 315 
 
 
 Good 
 
 Aypiopiyavos | 
 
 AidiOTTis I 4.105 
 
 Akivos* 
 BaWtoTT] 
 
 AiKTapvov 
 
 lAXo 
 
 "EXeXia-ffiaKov .... 
 
 'EpTTuXXos 
 
 ^ Cvyis* . . 
 
 'Hdvocrpov aypiov 
 
 rjpepou . . 
 
 Qvp^pa* 
 
 Qvpos* 
 
 Kakanivdr)* .... 
 
 Kearpov 
 
 KX 
 
 IV0T70010V 
 
 AfVKas 
 
 Ai^avdTLs* 
 
 Mapov* 
 
 MeXi(T(To(f)vXKou 
 Opiyavos rjpaKXfOTiKTj 
 
 OVITIS* 
 
 Opptivov f]p,€pOV 
 
 IloXiov* 
 
 Tlpaaiov 
 
 '2,ap.'^v)(ov 
 
 lib-qpiTis* 
 
 2l(TVp0pLOV 
 
 2KOp8tOI» 
 
 'Sra^vs 
 
 2rt;^as* 
 
 Tpayopiyavos* 
 
 aXXof* 
 
 3-50 
 3-1 17 
 3-36 
 
 3-37 
 3-39 
 3-4° 
 3-46 
 3-46 
 3-42 
 3-41 
 3-45 
 3-44 
 
 3-43 
 
 4.1 
 
 3.109 
 
 3113 
 3-89 
 3-49 
 3.118 
 
 3-32 
 3-33 
 3-145 
 3.124 
 
 3-119 
 
 3- 47 
 
 4- 33 
 2.155 
 3-125 
 3.120 
 3-31 
 3-35 
 
 3-35 
 
 LABI ATtE. 
 
 Origanum vulgare 
 Salvia iEthiopis 
 Thymus Acinos .... 
 Lamium striatum ? . . 
 Mentha pulegium. . . . 
 Origanum Dictamnus 
 
 Salvia officinalis 
 
 Thymus Serpyllum 
 
 striatus ( ? T. Tygris) 
 
 Mentha gentilis 
 
 sativa 
 
 Satureia Thymbra 
 
 capitata 
 
 f Mentha sylvestris, vel Me- \ 
 
 1 lissa altissima j 
 
 Betonica alopecurus 
 
 / Melissa Clinopodium, (Cli- "1 
 1 nopodium vulgare / 
 Lamium maculatum 
 
 Rosmarinus officinalis 
 
 Origanum sipyleum 
 
 Melissa officinalis 
 
 Origanum heracleoticum 
 
 onites 
 
 'Y<Tcr<onos* I 3.30 
 
 ^Xopos aypia* ! 4.104 
 
 Salvia horminum 
 
 Teucrium Polium 
 
 Marrubium vulgare 
 
 Origanum Marjorana 
 
 Sideritis Roraana 
 
 Mentha hirsuta 
 
 Teucrium Scordium 
 
 Stachys Palsestina 
 
 Lavandula Stoechas 
 
 Thymus graveolens 
 
 Micromeria Juliana (Sibthp.) 
 
 vel Thymus Tragoriganum 
 
 (Sprengl.) 
 
 Thymbra spicata 
 
 Phlorais fruticosa 
 
 Pretty good 
 
 Pretty good 
 
 Some resemblance 
 
 Fictitious 
 
 Fictitious 
 
 Good 
 
 Bad 
 
 Pretty good 
 Pretty good 
 Slight resemblance 
 Pretty good 
 
 Pretty good 
 
 Doubtful 
 
 Slightly I esembling 
 
 Pretty good 
 
 Pretty good 
 
 Good 
 
 Good 
 
 Fictitious 
 
 Pretty good 
 
 Slightly resembling 
 
 Doubtful 
 
 Pretty good 
 
 Doubtful 
 
 Doubtful 
 
 Fictitious 
 
 Pretty good 
 
 Doubtful 
 
 Pretty good 
 
314 
 
 Catalogue of Plants noticed by Dioscorides, 
 
 LAB I AT J]] (continued). 
 
 Name given by Dioscorides. 
 
 Xafiai8pvs .... 
 XafiaiKia-aos . . 
 XajiaiTTLrvs 
 
 TpiTt) . . 
 
 Reference 
 to Diosc. 
 lib. cap. 
 
 Modern Botanical Name. 
 
 3.1 12 ; Teucrium Chamaedrys 
 
 4.126 j Glechoma hederacea 
 
 3.175 ' Ajuga Chameepitys 
 
 3.176 j ■ Chamaepitys 
 
 3.38 I Marrubium pseudo-Dictaranus 
 
 Character of the Draw- 
 ing of the Plant in the 
 Vienna MS. 
 
 Figure doubtful 
 F'ictitious 
 Pretty good 
 
 Fictitious 
 
 VERBENACEJ5. 
 
 Ayi/os* I 3.29 
 
 'lepa ^oravT) 4.61 
 
 UfpiaTepecov 6 opdos .... 4.60 
 
 O VTTTVOS . . 4.60 
 
 Vitex agnus castus Good 
 
 Verbena officinalis 
 
 Verbena, Sp 
 
 Verbena, Sp 
 
 AvayaXhts . . . 
 KvK\ap,ivos . 
 
 • erepa 
 
 Avtri/iax'Of . 
 
 2.209 
 2.194 
 2.195 
 4-3 
 
 PRIM U LACE ^. 
 
 Anagallis arvensis 
 j Cyclamen hederifolium 
 
 I Lysimachia vulgaris 
 
 PL AN TAG IN EiE. 
 
 ApvoyXaaaou '^.ISS 
 
 piKpov I 2.153 
 
 ^vXXioi/ 4-7° 
 
 Good 
 Good 
 Doubtful 
 Doubtful 
 
 Good 
 
 Plantago major et P. Lagopus 
 
 Lagopus I 
 
 Psyllium, L i Good 
 
 AMARANTH ACE iE. 
 BXltov I 2.143 J Amaranthus Blitum 
 
 CHEIROPODIACEiE. 
 
 Good 
 
 AXi fios • 
 
 ArpaKTvXis 
 
 BoTpvs 
 
 Tevrkov neXav aypiov 
 
 1. 120 
 3.107 
 
 3-130 
 2.149 
 
 Atriplex hortensis 
 
 hortensis, Sprengel 
 
 Chenopodium Botrys 
 
 Beta vulgaris 
 
 POLYGONACE^. 
 
 'iTTTTokaTradov^ ] 2. 141 
 
 Kvvaia 
 
 Aana3ov ' 2. 1 40 
 
 p.iKpov 
 
 o^vXaTradov . 
 
 UoKvyovov appev . 
 'Fa, or 'Poiov . . . . 
 'YbponeTTfpi . . . . 
 
 2.140 
 
 2.140 
 
 4.4 
 
 3-2 
 
 2. 191 
 
 Rumex aquaticus | Pretty good 
 
 Thelygonum Cynocrambe . . . . j Bad 
 Rumex patientia ' Pretty good 
 
 J bucephalophorus, or R. I 
 
 \ scutatus 
 
 J crispus, acetosa, aceto- | 
 
 \ sella, or acutus aliorum | 
 
 Polygonum aviculare j Pretty good 
 
 Radix Rhei Rhapontici | Tolerable 
 
 Polygonum hydropiper i 
 
arranged according to the Natural System. 
 
 315 
 
 T H Y M E L A C E iE. 
 
 Name given by Dioscorides. 
 
 Aa(f)voeiB€s. 
 QvufXaia* . 
 "X-afxeXaia . . 
 
 Reference 
 to Uiosc. 
 lib. cap. 
 
 Modern Botanical Name. 
 
 Cbaracter of the Draw- 
 ing of the Plant in the 
 Vienna MS. 
 
 4.148 
 
 4-173 ! 
 
 4.172 ! 
 
 Daphne Mezereon, L Figure doubtfvd 
 
 Gnidium Ditto 
 
 oleoides Fictitious 
 
 kcrapov 1.9 
 
 ASARINE^. 
 
 I Asarum Europseum I Good 
 
 SANTALACEiE. 
 
 OiTvpis* I 4.143 j Osyris alba 
 
 'Yttokvcttis* . 
 iTtpa 
 
 ApiarToXoxia KXrjpaTiTis 
 
 paKpa* 
 
 CTTpoyyvXr]* , . . 
 
 Attios 
 
 Kporav t] klki* 
 
 Aadvpos 
 
 Aivo^axTTis 
 
 UfTrKiov 
 
 TleirXos 
 
 HiTvovcra 
 
 TidvpaXos 8fv8piTr]s* . 
 fjXiocrKOTnos . . 
 
 Kvnapiaaios 
 pvpcnviTr}s* 
 
 Tpayiov 
 ^V'XXov 
 
 napaXios 
 7rXaTv(l)vXXos 
 Xapaxtas . . . 
 
 A<aXv(f)Tj 
 
 erf pa 
 
 EX^ivt) 
 AoOTOS . . . . 
 'EuKT] aypia 
 
 CYTINACEiE. 
 
 1. 127 I Cytinus hypocistis j Pretty good 
 
 I Cynornorium coccineum | 
 
 ARISTOLOCHIiE. 
 
 3-6 
 3-5 
 3-4 
 
 1 Aristolochia boetica 
 j parvifolia 
 
 pallida 
 
 EUPHORBIACEiE. 
 
 4-177 
 4.164 
 4.167 
 4.192 
 4.169 
 4.168 
 
 4.165 
 4.165 
 4.165 
 4.165 
 4.165 
 4.165 
 4.165 
 
 Euphorbia Apios 
 Ricinus communis 
 Euphorbia Lathyris 
 Mercurialis annua . 
 Euphorbia Peplis . . 
 falcata 
 
 — SP 
 
 — dendroides 
 
 — helioscopia 
 
 — aleppica, or Cyparissias 
 
 — myrsinites 
 
 — parahas 
 
 — pilosa 
 
 — characias 
 
 — officinalis 
 
 Mercurialis ? , 
 
 URTICACE^. 
 
 4-94 
 
 4.94 
 
 4.86 
 
 4.112 
 
 1.184 
 
 Urtica pilulifera 
 
 urens 
 
 Parietaria 
 
 Celtis australis 
 Ficus Carica 
 
 Good 
 Ditto 
 
 Good 
 Bad 
 
 Pretty good 
 Ditto 
 
 Fictitious 
 Good 
 Answers to paralias 
 Pretty good 
 Ditto [copia 
 Answers to helios- 
 Fictitious 
 Good 
 Ditto 
 Fictitious 
 
 Fictitious 
 
316 
 
 Catalogue of Plants noticed by Dioscorides, 
 
 ULMACE^. 
 
 
 Reference 
 
 
 Character of the Draw- 
 
 Name given by Dioscorides. 
 
 to Diosc. 
 
 Modern Botanical Name. 
 
 ing of the Plant in the 
 
 
 lib. cap. 
 
 
 Vienna MS. 
 
 
 I. Ill 
 
 Ulmus campestris 
 
 
 CUPULIFER^. 
 
 Apv; 
 
 K.apva TTOVTLKa 
 Kacrravov . . . . 
 
 KOKKOS ^a<f)lKT] 
 
 KvirapicTfTias . . 
 
 Upivos 
 
 ^Tjyos 
 
 AfVKas 
 
 liXaravos* . 
 
 ApKevdos fieyaXt] 
 fiiicpa . , 
 
 KeSpos 
 
 fiiKpa . . , 
 
 T.142 
 1. 179 
 I-I45 
 4.48 
 1. 102 
 1. 144 
 T.144 
 
 Quercus ^Egilops 
 Corylus Avellana 
 Castanese vescag nux 
 Quercus coccifera 
 Cupressus sempervirens 
 Quercus Ilex ? Q. coccifera 
 iEsculus 
 
 SALICACE^. 
 3. 113 j Populus alba 
 
 PLATANACE^. 
 
 1. 1 07 I Platanus orientalis 
 
 CONIFERS. 
 
 IlfVKr]* 
 
 IllTVS . , 
 
 Tpa-yos" 
 
 1. 103 
 1. 103 
 
 1. 105 
 
 1. 105 
 1.86 
 1.86 
 2.115 
 
 J uniperus phoenicea ? 
 communis ? 
 
 / oxycedrus, or J. phoe- 
 
 \ nicea 
 
 communis 
 
 Pinus maritima 
 pinea 
 
 Ephedra distachya 
 
 Figure pretty good 
 Ditto 
 
 Doubtful 
 
 MONOTOCYLEDONEiE. 
 
 ALISMACE.E. 
 
 AXtcr/xa ' 3-169 j Alisma Plantago j 
 
 Aafiaa-oviop ^ | j Plantago Fictitious 
 
 2TpaTi(OTT)s6epToisv8a<Tiui 4.102 i Stratiotes aloides I Pretty good 
 
 POTAMOGETONEJE. 
 
 JJoTapLoyfiToiv | 4.101 ] Potamogeton ....I Doubtful 
 
 ■ €Tfpos I I natans Ditto 
 
arranged according to the Natural System. 
 
 317 
 
 Reference 
 
 Name given by Pioscorides. to Diosc. 
 
 lib. cap. 
 
 A II A C E tE. 
 
 Modern Botanical Name. 
 
 Character of the Draw- 
 ing of the liaiit in the 
 Vienna M.S. 
 
 AKopov 
 
 Apia-apov* 
 
 Apov* 
 
 ApUKOvTiov fieya* 
 piKpov , 
 
 ^napyaviov 
 
 Tv(j>r] 
 
 ^OKOS 6 CTTt TOiV TeXpaTcov 
 
 'EWf^optvr] 
 
 Aoyxi-Tis* 
 
 OPX'S 
 
 ^arvpiou 
 
 fpvdpoviov^ 
 
 ' irepov , . . 
 
 2.T97 
 
 2.196 
 2.196 
 4.21 
 
 3-133 
 
 2.129 
 
 3. 161 
 
 3.141 
 
 3-144 
 
 ^fpanias 
 
 Acorus Calamus Figure pretty good 
 
 J Arum arisarum, or Arisarum 
 \ vulgare ; 
 Dioscoridis 
 
 dracunculus Ditto 
 
 maculatum ; Ditto 
 
 Sparganium ramosum Ditto 
 
 Typha latifolia 1 Ditto 
 
 Lemna minor ' Fictitious 
 
 ORCHIDE^. 
 
 Orchis ? ! Fictitious 
 
 Serapias lingua Pretty good 
 
 Orchis rubra 
 
 Ophrys I Pretty good 
 
 Serapias cordigera i Ditto 
 
 Ophrys I Ditto 
 
 Orchis ' Ditto 
 
 Ipts* I.I 
 
 KpoKos 1.25 
 
 Sifpiov 
 tSvpis . 
 
 4.20 
 4.102 
 
 IRI DACE^. 
 
 Iris Germanica, L. . 
 
 Crocus sativus 
 
 Gladiolus communis 
 
 Iris foetidissima i Good 
 
 Good 
 
 Slight resemblance 
 Pretty good 
 
 AMARYLLIDACEiE. 
 
 BoXiSoy eperiKos 
 
 UpaKkdov rj navKpariov* 
 NapKiaaos* 
 
 Narcissi species, forsan N. Jon- 
 
 4.161 
 
 quilla 
 
 Pancratium maritimum 
 
 Narcissus poeticus, or Tazetta 
 
 Doubtful 
 Pretty good 
 
 MELANTHACEiE. 
 
 iBaia pi^a I 
 
 KoXxiKov I 4. J 
 
 Uvularia amplexifolia 
 Colchicum autumnale 
 
 LILIACE^. 
 
 AXoj; 
 
 AaTTapayos* 
 
 Aa(f)o8e\os 
 
 BoXjSoff eScdSt/ios . . 
 
 fperiKos . . 
 
 Aa(f)vrj 
 
 - a\f^av8pfia 
 'E\a(po(TKopo8ov* . , 
 
 'H^epoKoXXtf 
 
 Kpivof ^acriXiKov . 
 
 Kpappvov* 
 
 AevKoa-Kopodov* ... 
 
 3-25 
 
 2.152 
 
 2.199 
 
 2.200 
 
 2.201 
 
 1. 106 
 
 4.147 
 
 2.182 
 
 3-136 
 3.I16 
 2.181 
 2.182 
 
 Aloe vulgaris Good 
 
 Asparagus acutifolius 
 
 Asphodelus ramosus Ditto 
 
 Hyacinthus comosus Doubtful 
 
 Ornithogalum stachyoides 
 
 Ruscus aculeatus 
 
 hypoglossum 
 
 Allium subhirsutum 
 
 Lilium chalcedonicum j Some resemblance 
 
 candidum Ditto 
 
 Allium cepa Pretty good 
 
 ampeloprasum 1 Ditto 
 
 Pretty good 
 
318 
 
 Catalogue of Plants noticed by Dioscorides, 
 
 LTLIACE^ (continued). 
 
 Nair.e given by Diossoiides. 
 
 MvpaLVT] aypia . 
 
 McaXv 
 
 OpvidoyaXov . . . 
 0(()io(rKopo8ov , . 
 
 UayKpariov* . . . 
 
 UoKvyovarov . , . 
 
 Upaaov 
 
 SxtXXa 
 
 ^KopoSoTTpaaov* 
 
 ^Kopodov 
 
 Xfia*. . . 
 
 Tpa)(fia 
 
 YaKLvdos 
 
 'iTT'TToyXaxraov . . 
 fpakayyiov* . . . 
 "KafiaidaffiVT} . . . 
 
 Reference 
 to Uiosc. 
 lib. cap. 
 
 4.182 
 
 3-54 
 
 2.174 
 I, 
 
 4.6 
 
 3- "9 
 2.202 
 2.183 
 2.182 
 4.80 
 4.144 
 
 4- 63 
 4.132 
 3.122 
 4.129 
 
 Modern Botanical Name. 
 
 Ruscus aculeatus 
 
 Allium Dioscoridis 
 
 Ornithogalum umbellatum 
 
 Allium Scorodoprasum 
 
 Scilla Pancratium, alias Pan- 
 cratium maritimum^ nec S, 
 maritima 
 
 Convallaria Polygonatum .... 
 
 Allium Porrum 
 
 Scilla maritima 
 
 Allium descendens 
 
 sativum 
 
 Smilax 
 
 aspera 
 
 Scilla bifolia ? 
 
 Ruscus hypoglossum 
 
 Anthericum Graecum 
 
 Ruscus hypophylluTO, L. 
 
 Character of the Draw- 
 ing of tlie Plant in the 
 Vienna MS. 
 
 Figure fictitious 
 Pretty good 
 
 Fictitious 
 Pretty good 
 No flower shewn 
 Figure pretty good 
 Pretty good 
 Fictitious 
 Pretty good 
 More like S. amoe- 
 [na 
 
 Fictitious 
 Good 
 
 J U N C x\ C E tE. 
 
 O^voTKoivos I 4. .52 j Juncus acutus 
 
 Pretty good 
 
 KuTTfipos 
 
 O\ocr)(0ivos . . . 
 
 aKapTcos 
 
 "S-xoivos 
 
 CYPER ACE^. 
 
 T.4 
 
 4.52 
 
 4-52 
 4-52 
 
 Cyperus rotundas , 
 
 r Scirpus mucronatus, or Cla- 
 \ dium Germanicum 
 Eleoecharis palustris 
 Isolepis holoschoenus 
 
 Pretty good 
 
 GRAMINE Ji:. 
 
 Aypcoo-ris* 
 
 AiyiXwv//-* 
 
 Kipa 
 
 BpOfJLOS 
 
 Aova^ 
 
 EXvfios 
 
 Zeia 
 
 KaXanaypcocTTis . . . 
 Kakap.os avpiyyios* 
 
 Ktyxpos 
 
 Naaros 
 
 0\vpa 
 
 Opvfa 
 
 ^aXapis* 
 
 ^payfiiTtjs 
 
 ^oivi.^ 
 
 Xovbpos 
 
 1135 
 4-139 
 2.122 
 4.T40 
 I.I 14 
 2.120 
 2. Ill 
 
 4-31 
 I.II4 
 2. 119 
 1. 114 
 2.II3 
 2. 117 
 
 3- II9 
 1. 114 
 
 4- 43 
 2.118 
 
 Panicum dactylum . . . 
 
 zEgilops ovata 
 
 Loiium timviientum . . . 
 
 A vena fatua 
 
 Arundo Donax 
 Panicum Italicum . . . 
 Triticum Spelta 
 Cynosurus .-Egyptiaca . 
 Erianthus Ravennae 
 Panicum miliaceum . . . 
 Cenchrus frutescens 
 Tritici Speltse varietas 
 Oryza sativa 
 Phalaris canariensis. . . 
 Phragmites communis 
 Hordeura raurinum ? . 
 Hordeum ? 
 
 Good 
 
 Pretty good 
 Pretty good 
 Good 
 
 Good 
 
 Pretty good 
 Good 
 
 Pretty good 
 
 Pretty good 
 Good 
 
arranged according to the Natural System. 319 
 
 F I L I C E S. 
 
 Name given by Dioscorides. 
 
 Reference 
 to Uiosc. 
 lib. cap. 
 
 Modern Botanical Name. 
 
 Character of the Draw- 
 ing of the Plant in the 
 A'ienna MS. 
 
 
 4.136 
 
 4.189 
 4.187 
 4-46 
 
 4-47 
 3.162 
 4.188 
 4.186 
 
 4-137 
 3.121 
 
 Adiantum capillus veneris .... 
 Asplenium adiantum nigrum ? 
 
 No resemblance 
 
 Doubtful [drium 
 Like a Scolopen- 
 Doubtful 
 Like Hippuris 
 Pretty good 
 Pretty good 
 Good 
 Good 
 
 Pretty good 
 Fictitious 
 
 LICHENES. 
 
 Ai)(rjv 6 em rcov Tverpav. . | 1 Lichen | Pretty good 
 
 FUNGI. 
 
 Boletus laricis 
 Fungi varii 
 Tuber cibarium 
 
 AyapLKOv 
 
 MvKqres 
 
 'Ybvov 2.175 
 
 ^vKos daXaa-aiov 
 
 ALGtE. 
 
 4.100 I Fucoidearum species varise 
 
INDEX. 
 
 A. 
 
 Acacia nilotica, the same as one 
 
 kind of acanthus, 241. 
 Achras, 259. 
 Acanthus, 241. 
 
 Aconitum of Dioscorides, 279. of 
 Virgil, 
 
 Agriculture, system of, the same in 
 the main in all the Scrijjtores 
 Res Rusticae, 9. 
 
 Alhum, 249, 
 
 Altilis, epithet applied to asparagus, 
 
 and to oxen, its meaning, 251. 
 Amaracus, 272. 
 Amaranthus, 235. 
 Amellus, 243. 
 Aminean Grape, 150. 
 Anethum, 250. 
 
 Anticyra, hellehorus not now found 
 
 about it, 282. 
 Apiastrum of Pliny, 268. 
 Apium, 250. 
 
 Apuleius, description of an ergas- 
 tulum, 60. of a robber's cave, 71. 
 
 Arable land, least profitable of any. 
 according to Cato, 16. reasons 
 why this might have been the 
 case in his time, 17. 
 
 Aratio, 119. 
 
 Aratrum, 96. 
 
 Arbos Livia, 259. 
 
 Arbusta, meaning of the term, 165. 
 Arinca, 108. 
 
 Aristomachus, devoted 58 years to 
 the study of bees, 200. 
 
 Aristophanes, quoted as to whole 
 
 oxen being setved up at table by 
 
 the Persians, 175. 
 Armamenta of vines, what, 165. 
 Arnold, Dr., quoted on the climate 
 
 of ancient Italy, 31. 
 Arts useful, why in a backward 
 
 state at Rome, 297. 
 Arundo donax, used for binding 
 
 up vines, 165. 
 Asparagus, 250. 
 
 Athenseus, does not include beef 
 and mutton in his enumeration 
 of the dishes served up at a 
 Roman banquet, 174. gives a 
 list of Howera used for chaplets, 
 247. 
 
 Athenian captives at Syracuse re- 
 leased, 70. 
 
 Atticus, Julius, his doctrine as to 
 the cuttings of vines, 154. 
 
 Atinea, tree known by that name, 
 168. 
 
 Avena, 109. 
 
 B. 
 
 Baccaris, 280. 
 Balsam um, 272. 
 
 Beef, not much eaten by the Ro- 
 mans, 172. 
 
 Bee hunter, N. American, his plan 
 of proceeding, 198. 
 
 Bees, domestic economy of, 201. 
 knowledge of the ancients re- 
 specting the Drones, 204. fables 
 respecting their reproduction. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 321 
 
 207. geographical distribution, 
 192. mode of discovering their 
 haunts, 197. plants suited for 
 them, 195. treatment of, 191. 
 
 Bees' wax, amount imported, 193. 
 
 Beckman's History of Inventions 
 quoted vi^ith reference to Roman 
 chimneys, 56. 
 
 Beta, 251. 
 
 Bidens, 105. 
 
 Brassica, 251. 
 
 Britain, supplied a kind of marl 
 which improved land, 134. 
 
 Brood mares, their treatment, 180. 
 fables respecting their impregna- 
 tion, 180. 
 
 Bryonias, 273. 
 
 Bulls, qualities to be recommended 
 
 in, 177. 
 Buris, loi. 
 
 Busbequius purchased the V. MS. 
 
 of Dioscorides, 231. 
 Butyrum, alluded to by Columella, 
 
 182. 
 
 C. 
 
 Cabbage, commended by Cato, 25. 
 Caltha, 233. 
 
 Calvena, first introduced the Ars 
 
 topiaria at Rome, 2x7. 
 Campania, famous for its vines, 144. 
 Cannabis, 117. 
 Capparis, 253. 
 
 Carbunculus, a kind of soil, 33. 
 
 Cariosa terra, 83. 
 
 Casei, ovini, and bubuli, 181. 
 
 Castel, his work on the villas of 
 the ancients referred to, 49. 
 
 Castor Antonius, had a Physic Gar- 
 den in Rome, 293. 
 
 Cato the Elder, his work on Hus- 
 bandry, 10. his character, 12. 
 eflFects of his hatred of Carthage, 
 13. opinion as to high-farming, 
 15. as to live-stock, 173. produce 
 of his vineyard, 148. treatment of 
 diseased or aged slaves, 20. 
 
 Cavaedium, 50. 
 
 Caylus, Ct., his drawing of an an- 
 cient wheeled plough, 102, 
 
 Centaurea, 281. 
 
 Cepa, 250. 
 
 Cerinthe, 267. 
 
 Cervisia, 112. 
 
 Cheerophyllum, 273. 
 
 Charms, recommended by Cato, 25. 
 by Columella, 229. 
 
 Chateauvieux, on the agriculture of 
 Italy, quoted, 64. 
 
 Cheese, process of making from 
 ewes, hard and soft, t8i. 
 
 Cheiranthus cuspidatus, probably 
 the leucojum of the ancients, 240. 
 
 Chimneys, none in Roman houses, 
 56. 
 
 Cicer columbinum, 117. arietinum, 
 
 117. 
 Cicera, 116. 
 
 Cicero de Senectute. on the delights 
 
 of agriculture, 278. 
 Cicuta, 281. 
 
 CitruUus, or water melon^ whether 
 known, 264. 
 
 Citrus medica, 266. 
 
 Cochlearia, their construction, 190. 
 
 Coelia, or Ceria, a liquor made 
 from barley in Spain, 112. 
 
 Cole, Mr. William, theory of signa- 
 tures, 26. 
 
 Colocasia, 243. 
 
 Coloni, 59. 
 
 Columella, his history, his work 
 
 de Re Rustica, 41. 
 Conservatories of the Romans, 291. 
 Coriandrum, 273. 
 Coronamentorum genera, 246. 
 Corruda, 251. 
 
 Cows, qualities to be recommended 
 
 in, 177. 
 Crambe, 253. 
 
 Creta, added to give whiteness to 
 
 bread, no. 
 Creta, a kind of soil, 33. 
 Cubiculum as distinguished from 
 
 dormitorium, 50. 
 
322 
 
 I N D E X. 
 
 Crates, viminese, T03. 
 
 Craven, Keppel, quoted as to the 
 
 migrations of sheep, 185. 
 Crocus, 243. 
 
 Crops, cultivated by the Romans, 
 
 107 et seq. 
 Cucumis, 259. 
 Cucurbita, 260. 
 
 Currant grape, known to the 
 
 ancients, 162. 
 Cycle in the weather, according to 
 
 Eudoxus, 151. 
 Cynara, 252, 
 
 Cytisus, what shrub intended, 
 valued as increasing the milk of 
 cattle, and the honey of bees, 169. 
 
 D. 
 
 Daphnones referred to, 218. 
 Decandolle on grafting, 158. on 
 
 the indefinite duration of a tree, 
 
 160. 
 
 Delirare, origin of the term, 122. 
 Delphinium Ajacis alluded to, 236. 
 Dentale, loi. 
 Dictamnus, 282. 
 
 Digby, sir Kenelm, his sympathetic 
 powder, 26, 
 
 Dioscorides, mentions Kovpfii as a 
 drink made from barley, 112. 
 Vienna MS. of, history of it, 231. 
 test of plants of his, that are sup- 
 posed to be identified, 303 et seq. 
 
 Dormice, preserves for, according 
 to Varro, 38, 189. 
 
 Dormitorium, 50. 
 
 Drains, how to be constructed, 85. 
 Dyeing, not regarded as one of the 
 liberal arts by Pliny, 297. 
 E. 
 
 Ergastulum, 59, 60. 
 Eruca, 273. 
 Ervum, 116. 
 
 Eubulus, quoted with respect to 
 
 the melon, 263. 
 Eudoxus, his cycle of the weather, 
 
 151. 
 
 F. 
 
 Faba, 113. 
 
 Facultas Aquas, valued by the 
 
 Romans, 136. 
 Fallowing, 125. 
 
 Falx arboracea, fcenaria, messoria, 
 stramentaria, vinitoria, 106. 
 
 Farm, according to Cato, 14, its 
 qualities, its proper size, xr^. 
 according to Columella, its re- 
 quisites, 44. its proper size, 45. 
 its salubrity to be attended to, 46. 
 
 Farrago, 108. 
 
 Faselus, 253. 
 
 Ferula, 268. 
 
 Fish-ponds, according to Varro, 38. 
 Fraga, 265. 
 Fruits, list of, 286. 
 Frumentum, 107. 
 
 G. 
 
 albanum, 282. 
 
 Galen points out the differences 
 between the melo and the melo- 
 pepo, 264. 
 
 Gardens of the ancients, 210. at 
 Rome in early times, 212. in 
 later ones, 214. Pliny's, 215. in 
 Nineveh, 221. in Egypt, 222. of 
 Alcinous, 224. Columella's poem 
 respecting them analysed, 225. 
 
 Gardener's Chronicle on grafting, 
 quoted, 162. 
 
 Gestatio, 214. 
 
 Glarea, 32. 
 
 Glass, whether used for windows 
 amongst the Romans, 294. flex- 
 ible, 295. whether perfectly trans- 
 parent, 295. 
 
 Glires, 189. 
 
 Golden pippin, its disappearance, 
 160. 
 
 Graecula, vitis, perhaps the Corinth 
 
 vine, 161. 
 Grafting, by incision, 155. by pegs, 
 
 155. by inoculation, 156. whether 
 
 it can be performed on any kind 
 
 of stock, 156. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 323 
 
 Gundlach, Nat. Hist, of Bees, 
 quoted, 192. 
 
 H. 
 
 Halicastum, 109. 
 Helleborus, 282. 
 
 Henderson on Wines quoted, 164. 
 
 Hercules, cleansing the Augean sta- 
 ble, alluded to, 23. 
 
 Herodotus, quoted, as to the greater 
 fondness of the Persians than the 
 Greeks for large joints of meat, 
 17s. 
 
 Hesiod, description of the plough, 
 98. 
 
 Hibiscus, 244. 
 
 Hippodromus, 214. 
 
 Hirrius C, his fish-ponds, 190. 
 
 Holidays, things allowed, and things 
 prohibited on, 135. 
 
 Homer, quoted, with respect to the 
 gardens of Alcinoiis, 224. with 
 respect to bees, 200. alludes to 
 manure, 23. mentions sheep as 
 furnishing part of a feast, 183. 
 describes reaping, 138. 
 
 Honey, its aereal nature, 194. its 
 importance in ancient dietetics, 
 191. proportion of it to wax, 193. 
 
 Hops, whether used in brewing, 1 13. 
 
 Horace, his villa, 52. his landlord at 
 Beneventum, 56. his description 
 of the vindemiator explained, 74. 
 
 Hordearii, why this term was ap- 
 plied to gladiators, 113. 
 
 Hordeum hexastichum, galaticum, 
 112, 
 
 Horses, qualities to be recommend- 
 ed in, 179. 
 
 Hortus, synonymous to heredium, 
 212. pinguis, the kitchen garden, 
 213. 
 
 Hyacinthus, 237. 
 
 Hybrias, epigram by, tran8lated,300. 
 I. 
 
 Implements of Roman Husbandry, 
 96-104. 
 
 Imporcator, God thus named, 123. 
 
 Insalubrity of ancient Italy, 30. 
 Intybum, 254. 
 Inula, 273. 
 Irpex, 103. 
 Irrigation, 136. 
 
 J. 
 
 Josephus, quoted with respect to 
 
 the mandrake, 275. 
 Juga, of vines, what, 163. 
 Jugerum, size compared to our acre, 
 
 15- 
 
 K. 
 
 Knight, Andrew, on the dying out 
 of varieties, 159. 
 
 L. 
 
 Lactantius, quoted on glass win- 
 dows, 295. 
 Lactuca, 254. 
 
 Lactucarii, a family named from 
 
 the lettuce, 212. 
 Lagenaria, or bottle-gourd, 261. 
 Lamartine quoted, 10. 
 Landlord, inquiries to be made by 
 
 him on visiting his farm, 18. 
 Lapathos, 255. 
 Lapis specularis, 294. 
 Lappa, 269. 
 
 Leo, a flower so called, 238^ 
 Leucojuni, 240. 
 Libum, 24. 
 
 Liebig quoted on the conversion of 
 sugar into wax, 192. with refer- 
 ence to cheese-making, 186. on 
 the advantage of keeping sheep 
 warm, 184. 
 
 Ligo, 104. 
 
 Ligustrum, 239. 
 
 Lilium, 233. 
 
 Lindley, Theory of Horticulture 
 quoted, 159. identification of 
 Greek plants, 303. 
 
 Linum, 118. 
 
 Lirse, term applied to land, 123. 
 Livy quoted, as to the unhealthi- 
 
 ness of the Campagna, 31. 
 Lois Weedon, culture alluded to, 
 
 126. 
 
 Y a 
 
I N D E X. 
 
 LucuUus, grafted various fruits on 
 one tree, 158. his fish-ponds, 190. 
 his gardens, 314. his villa, 46. 
 M. 
 
 Mago, his work on Agriculture, 43. 
 Maize not known to the ancients, 
 1 10. 
 
 Majois's Palais de Scaure quoted, 
 296. 
 
 Malleolus, what, 151. 
 
 Mandragora, 274. 
 
 Manure, of less importance in early 
 
 times, 23. kinds distinguished by 
 
 Varro, 37 ; by Columella, 133. 
 
 whether they act as stimuli, 80. 
 
 value according to Cato, 21. 
 Maritari, meaning of the word as 
 
 applied to vines, 163. 
 Marling, 134. 
 Marra, 105. 
 
 Martial, quoted with respect to Ro- 
 man gardens, 214. as to eating 
 mutton, 174. respecting gardens 
 in windows, 213. respecting Ro- 
 man conservatories, 291, 293. on 
 the country-house of his friend 
 Faustinus, 218. on an inhospita- 
 ble though ostentatious friend, 
 291. on the forcing of roses, 293. 
 
 Martyn on the Virgilian plough, 102. 
 
 Meadow-land, its kinds, 135. 
 
 Mediastinus, 73. 
 
 Medica, 1 15. 
 
 Medicago arborea, shewn to be the 
 cytisus, 170. 
 
 Medicinal plants, list of, 287. 
 
 Megaris bulbi, 277. 
 
 Melanthium, 233. 
 
 Meleagrides, what, 189. 
 
 Melisphyllum, 284. 
 
 Melons, whether known to the Ro- 
 mans, 262. water, not known, 264. 
 
 Melopepo, mentioned by Pliny, 262. 
 
 Mentha, 276. 
 
 Mercenarii, 59. 
 
 Mergites, 138. 
 
 Metae, hayricks, 137. 
 
 Metayer system of farming alluded 
 to ; Sismondi's remarks upon it . 
 Arthur Young's ditto, 63. 
 
 Milesia vellera, alluded to, 184. 
 
 Mihum, 109. 
 
 Millet seed may retain its vitality 
 for 100 years according to Varro, 
 37- 
 
 Mimulus, what plant meant, 137. 
 Misletoe of the Druids, the Loran- 
 
 thus, 284. 
 Momordica elaterium, 261. 
 Morum, 265. 
 
 Musa, the physician, said to have 
 cured Augustus by means of let- 
 tuce, 255. 
 
 Myrica, 276. 
 
 N. 
 
 Napus, 118. 
 Narcissus, 234. 
 
 Nero, his taste in gardening better 
 
 than that of his age, 218. 
 Nessotrophium, 189. 
 Nicander quoted, with reference to 
 
 the plants used as garlands, 248. 
 
 with reference to the Hyacinth, 
 
 237- 
 
 Novalis, as applied to land, 125. 
 Nubilarium, 139. 
 
 O. 
 
 Oborator, God thus named, 123. 
 
 Occatio, 130. 
 
 Ocinum of Cato, 137. 
 
 Ocymura of Columella, 137, 277. 
 
 Odart, Count, his Ampelographie 
 quoted, 146. 
 
 Olive, its nulture, 165. not requir- 
 ing much care, 166. localities 
 favourable to it, 166. different 
 kinds, 259. 
 
 Olus puUum, or atrum, 255. 
 
 Olyra, 108. 
 
 Operations of Husbandry, 119 to 
 139- 
 
 Orchades, a kind of ohve, 259. 
 Ornamental plants, list of, 285. 
 Ornithones, two kinds, 187. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 325 
 
 Oryza, io8. 
 
 Ovid, states the doctrine of Pytha- 
 goras respecting beef and mutton 
 as articles of food, 174. quoted 
 with reference to the Hyacinth' 
 236. the Megarean bulbs, 277. 
 
 Oxen, chiefly used for farm culture 
 by the Romans, 176. qualities to 
 be recommended, 176. 
 
 Oxford Botanic Garden formerly 
 shewed signs of the prevalence of 
 the Ars Topiaria, 217- 
 
 Oxylapathos, 255. 
 
 P. 
 
 Pala, 105. 
 Paliurus, 269. 
 
 Palladius on grafting, quoted, 157, 
 161. on the service-tree, 265. fa- 
 miliar with the lemon, 266. 
 
 Panax, 278. 
 
 Panica, 259. 
 
 Panicum, 109. 
 
 Papaver, its several kinds, 278. 
 Paradise of the Persian monarchs, 
 221. 
 
 Paring and Burning, its uses ac- 
 cording to Virgil, 9 1 . 
 
 Pastinatio explained, 15.1. 
 
 Pastinum, what, 154. 
 
 Pastio agrestis and villatica ex- 
 plained, according to Varro, 38. 
 according to Columella, 171. 
 
 Pausia, a kind of olive, 259. 
 
 Pedamenta of vines, what, 163. 
 
 Pellitae, as applied to sheep, 184. 
 
 Persica, sent from Persia to Egypt 
 to poison the natives, 258. • 
 
 Phengites, a stone used for win- 
 dows, 297. 
 
 Philiscus lived in desert places to 
 study the habits of bees, 200. 
 
 Phosphorite, mineral, perhaps al- 
 luded to by Pliny, 135. 
 
 Piscinae, according to Varro, 39. 
 their size, &c., 190. 
 
 Placenta, 24. 
 
 Platanones, 218. 
 
 Plautus on the contents of the Ro- 
 man markets, 174. 
 
 Pliny the Elder, on the reproduction 
 of bees, 207. respecting the me- 
 lopepo, 262. his opinion as to the 
 cause of the decline of Agricul- 
 ture, 60, 299. list of flowers used 
 as chaplets, 247. on the term 
 prevaricare, 122. on grafting one 
 tree upon another, 157. on honey- 
 dew, 194. on the domestic eco- 
 nomy of bees, 201. 
 
 Pliny the Younger, his villa, 47. his 
 sentiments as to slave labour, 60. 
 his garden, 215. 
 
 Plough derived from the hoe, 96. 
 of Hesiod, 98. of Virgil, 100. 
 wheeled, mentioned by Pliny, 102. 
 
 Ploughing, 119. 
 
 Plutarch quoted with respect to me- 
 lons, 263. with reference to gar- 
 dens, 225. censures Cato's con- 
 duct towards his slaves, 12. 
 
 Polenta, a preparation of barley, 
 
 113- 
 
 Politor, 63. 
 
 Pompeii, mimic garden in, 213. 
 Pope quoted with respect to land- 
 scape gardening, 220. 
 Porcae applied to land, 123. 
 Porrum, 250. 
 
 Pot-herbs mentioned by Columella, 
 249. list of, 285. 
 
 Poultry, feeding and fattening, di- 
 rections for, 187, 188. 
 
 Prasia, plots, origin of the name, 
 224. 
 
 Prevaricare, origin of the term, 123. 
 
 Procurator, his province, 57. 
 
 Prunus, its several kinds, 258. 
 
 Pulla terra, what, 83. 
 
 Punica, 259. 
 
 Putre solum, what, 84. 
 
 R. 
 
 Ranunculus, probably some species 
 of, was the Herba Sardoa, 283. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Rapa, 1 18. 
 
 Rastrum, 103, 104. 
 
 Reaping, described by- Homer, 138. 
 
 machine for, mentioned by Pliny, 
 
 139- 
 
 Religious rites not allowed to slaves, 
 26. 
 
 Reparator, God so named, 123. 
 
 Restibilis, as applied to land, 125. 
 
 Rham, mechanical analysis of soils 
 referred to. 
 
 Rhododaphne, 270. 
 
 Rifault, M., his statement respect- 
 ing maize, 1 1 1 . 
 
 Risus Sardonicus explained, 283. 
 
 Robus, 1 10. 
 
 Rocca Monfina, memoir on quoted. 
 Rosellini, account of an Egyptian 
 
 garden, 221. 
 Roses, made to blossom in winter, 
 
 293- 
 
 Rotation of crops hinted at by Var- 
 
 ro, 37- 
 Rubrica, 33. 
 
 Rumpi, meaning of that term, 168. 
 Runcatio, 131. 
 Ruscus, 270. 
 Rata, 278. 
 
 S. 
 
 Sabina, 271. 
 Saliunca, 245. 
 
 Salmasius, quoted with respect to 
 
 the melon, 263. 
 Salsa terra, how detected, 90. 
 Sampsucum, 279. 
 Sarcling, 130. 
 Sarculum, 104. 
 Sardoa Herba, 283. 
 Sarritio, 279. 
 
 Sasernee, their works on agricul- 
 ture, 43. 
 Satureia, 256. 
 
 Schiibler, his classi6cation of soils, 
 34- 
 
 Science, importance of, to agricul- 
 ture, according to Columella, 41. 
 Scilla, 273. 
 
 Sea-birds, dung of, not valued, 37. 
 
 Seamna, 122, 
 
 Semen adoreum, 107. 
 
 Seneca, quoted on the produce of 
 
 his vineyard, 148. on the use of 
 
 specularia in forcing-houses, 290. 
 
 with respect to Roman gardens, 
 
 214. 
 Serpyllum, 285. 
 Secale, 108. 
 Sesamum, 108. 
 
 Sheep, their different sorts, 180. 
 their fleeces, 183. their migra- 
 tions, 184. their cheeses, 181. 
 little used for food, 180. 
 
 Sibthorp, Dr., his two journies in 
 Greece, 2. presented with a copy 
 of the plates of V.MS, of Diosco- 
 rides, 232. quoted, respecting the 
 Cytisus, 170. the Cerinthe, 267. 
 
 Sicilire prata, what, 140. 
 
 Siebold, quoted respecting the re- 
 production of bees, 208. 
 
 Siligo, III. 
 
 Sinapis, 255. 
 
 Siser, 256. 
 
 Sismondi, his Tuscan villa, 53. on 
 the metayer system, 63. 
 
 Slaves, their treatment in ancient 
 Rome, 59. in modern times, 68. 
 Cicero's remarks concerning 
 them, 69, 72, Juvenal's, 70. 
 value of their labour, 79. cost of 
 maintenance, 76. amount of re- 
 turn from it, 77. 
 
 Snails, preserves for, according to 
 Varro, 38. 
 
 Soil, whether it has become effete, 
 79. its different kinds according 
 to Varro, 32. according to Schii- 
 bler, 34. fragrance of it newly 
 turned-up, according to Pliny, 90. 
 classification of, according to Co- 
 lumella, 81. 
 
 Sophocles, quoted respecting the 
 olive, 168. 
 
 Sorbus, 265. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Sowing, 130. 
 
 Spartium villosum, 242. 
 
 Specularia, 291. 
 
 Sphgeristerium, 51. 
 
 Sprengel, quoted respecting the 
 
 melon, 265. 
 Staphylinus, 255. 
 Stiva, 101. 
 
 Superstitious customs in Roman 
 
 gardening, 229. 
 Surculus, the graft, whether it has 
 
 a definite period of vitahty, 159. 
 Syris, 108. 
 
 T. 
 
 Tabellae, with reference to a plough, 
 
 what, 121. 
 Tacitus, quoted with respect to 
 
 slaves, 73. with respect to Nero's 
 
 plans of laying out his garden, 
 
 218. 
 
 Talc used for windows, 296. 
 Tamni, 271. 
 
 Tarentum, its wool, 183. 
 Temo, loi. 
 Tenera terra, 84. 
 
 Tenore, on the Hyacinth, quoter*, 
 238. 
 
 Theophrastus quoted, with reference 
 to flowers used as garlands, 247. 
 to manure, 23. to the Pahurus, 
 269. 
 
 Thymbra, 256, 
 
 Tiberius, his mode of raising cu- 
 cumbers all the year, 292. 
 
 Topiarii, applied to gardeners, and 
 Topiaria ars, to gardening, why 
 so designated, 218. 
 
 Torcello, cathedral of, had no glass 
 windows, 297. 
 
 Tournefort quoted respecting the 
 cytisus, 170. 
 
 Trellis for vines, 163. 
 
 Tremellius Scrofa, his work on 
 agriculture, 43. 
 
 Tribulum, 271. 
 
 Trimestre, 11 1. 
 
 Triticum, 107. 
 
 U. 
 
 Ulpica, 250. 
 Urpex (see Irpex). 
 
 V. 
 
 Vaccinium, 266. 
 
 Valeriana celtica, supposed to be 
 the saliunca, 246. 
 
 Varro, his life, 27. his work De 
 Lingua Romana, 28. De Re 
 Rustica, ib. his classification of 
 the science of agriculture, 29. his 
 fondness for etymologies, 39. 
 
 Vegetius, his treatise alluded to, 3. 
 
 Verbena, 246. 
 
 Vervactum, what; Vervactor, god 
 presiding over the vervactum, 
 123. 
 
 Vicia, 116. 
 
 Villa, according to Varro, 36. Ho- 
 ratian, ib. Phny's Laurentine de- 
 scribed, 47. according to Colu- 
 mella, 46, 51. Sismondi's, 53. 
 urbana, 54. rustica, 55. fruc- 
 tuaria, 58. 
 
 Villicus, his duties, 66. 
 
 Vindemiator, why insolent and 
 stubborn, 74. 
 
 Vines, culture, 142. situation fitted 
 for, 143. varieties of, 145. their 
 produce in ancient times, 148. 
 preparing the ground for, 152. 
 grafting, 153. pruning, 163. sup- 
 porting on trellis, ib. constant 
 labour required, 164. 
 
 Viola, 239. 
 
 Virgil alludes to manure, 24. his 
 description of the clearing of a 
 forest, 80. Georgics of, its merits 
 as a didactic poem, Mr. Glad- 
 stone's remarks on, 4. description 
 of the Mantuan plough, 100. 
 his opinion as to grafting, 157. 
 quoted, as to the fable respecting 
 the impregnation of brood mares, 
 180. as to the qualities of a good 
 bullock, 177. as to the qualities of 
 a good steed, 177. with reference 
 
328 
 
 I N D E X. 
 
 to the acanthus, 242. respecting 
 gardening, 211. respecting the 
 fertility of Italj', 282. on the 
 degeneration of species, 145. on 
 the contempt of the Romans for 
 peaceful arts, 300. 
 Viscum, 284. 
 
 Vitality of seeds, statements respect- 
 ing it, 39, 130. 
 Viviradices, 155. 
 
 Volney, average produce of its vine- 
 yards, 148. 
 
 W. 
 
 Walpole, Horace, on gardening, 
 
 quoted, 217. 
 Wheat, stated to retain its vitality 
 
 for 50 years, 37. 
 
 Winnowing, 140. 
 
 X. 
 
 Xenophon, humane advice as to the 
 treatment of slaves, 20. picture 
 of the insecure life of a husband- 
 man, 1 7 . quoted as to the honey 
 ofTrebisond, 196. 
 
 Xystus, 49. 
 
 Y. 
 
 Yates, James, quoted with refer- 
 ence to sheep, 185. with refer- 
 ence to the acanthus, 242. 
 
 Z. 
 
 Zea, no, 
 Zythum, 112. 
 
 PUBLICATIONS 
 
Publications by the Author. 
 
 A DESCRIPTION OF ACTIVE AND EXTINCT VOLCANOS, 
 OF EARTHQUAKES, AND OF THERMAL SPRINGS; 
 With remarks on their Causes, Products, and Influence on the 
 Condition of the Globe. Second edition, greatly enlarged. With 
 Twelve Maps and Plates. Taylor and Frances, London, 1848. 
 
 BRIEF REMARKS ON THE CORRELATION OF THE NA- 
 TURAL SCIENCES. Drawn up with reference to the scheme 
 for the extension of the better management of the Studies of the 
 University. 
 
 Oxford ; Printed and Published by J. Vincent, 1848. 
 
 A POPULAR GUIDE TO THE BOTANIC GARDEN OF 
 OXFORD, AND TO THE FIELDING HERBARIUM AN- 
 NEXED TO IT. Second edition. Sold only at the Garden. 
 
 AN INTRODUCTION TO THE ATOMIC THEORY. Second 
 edition, greatly enlarged, 1852. Pubhshed at the Oxford Univer- 
 sity Press. 
 
 CAN PHYSICAL SCIENCE OBTAIN A HOME IN AN 
 ENGLISH UNIVERSITY? An inquiry suggested by some 
 remarks contained in a late number of the Quarterly Review. 
 
 1853. Vincent, Oxford. 
 
 ON THE IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY OF CHEMISTRY 
 AS A BRANCH OF EDUCATION FOR ALL CLASSES. 
 A Lecture delivered at the Royal Institution of Great Britain, 
 
 1854. J.W. Parker, West Strand. 
 
1 /