BOOK XVIII
.
THE NATURAL HISTORY OF GRAIN.
CHAP. Page
1. Taste of the ancients for agriculture 1
2. When the first wreaths of corn were used at Rome 3
3. The jugerum of land 4
4. How often and on what occasions corn has sold at a remarkably low price 7
5. Illustrious men who have written upon agriculture 9
6. Points to be observed in buying land 11
7. The proper arrangements for a farm-house 13
8. Maxims of the ancients on agriculture 16
9. The different kinds of grain 19
10. The history of the various kinds of grain _ib._
11. Spelt 24
12. Wheat 25
13. Barley: rice 27
14. Polenta 28
15. Ptisan 29
16. Tragum _ib._
17. Amylum _ib._
18. The nature of barley 30
19. Arinca, and other kinds of grain that are grown in the East 31
20. Winter wheat. Similago, or fine flour 32
21. The fruitfulness of Africa in wheat 35
22. Sesame. Erysimum or irio. Horminum 36
23. The mode of grinding corn _ib._
24. Millet 38
25. Panic _ib._
26. The various kinds of leaven _ib._
27. The method of making bread: origin of the art 39
28. When bakers were first introduced at Rome 40
29. Alica 41
30. The leguminous plants: the bean 43
31. Lentils. Pease 46
32. The several kinds of chick-pease _ib._
33. The kidney-bean 47
34. The rape _ib._
35. The turnip 48
36. The lupine 49
37. The vetch 51
38. The fitch _ib._
39. Silicia _ib._
40. Secale or asia 52
41. Farrago: the cracca _ib._
42. Ocinum: ervilia _ib._
43. Lucerne 53
44. The diseases of grain: the oat 54
45. The best remedies for the diseases of grain 57
46. The crops that should be sown in the different soils 59
47. The different systems of cultivation employed by various nations 60
48. The various kinds of ploughs 62
49. The mode of ploughing _ib._
50. The methods of harrowing, stubbing, and hoeing, employed for each description of grain. The use of the harrow 66
51. Extreme fertility of soil 67
52. The method of sowing more than once in the year 68
53. The manuring of land _ib._
54. How to ascertain the quality of seed 69
55. What quantity of each kind of grain is requisite for sowing a jugerum 71
56. The proper times for sowing 72
57. Arrangement of the stars according to the terrestrial days and nights 74
58. The rising and setting of the stars 77
59. The epochs of the seasons 78
60. The proper time for winter sowing 79
61. When to sow the leguminous plants and the poppy 81
62. Work to be done in the country in each month respectively _ib._
63. Work to be done at the winter solstice 82
64. Work to be done between the winter solstice and the prevalence of the west winds 83
65. Work to be done between the prevalence of the west winds and the vernal equinox 84
66. Work to be done after the vernal equinox 86
67. Work to be done after the rising of the Vergiliæ: hay-making 88
68. The summer solstice 92
69. Causes of sterility 97
70. Remedies against these noxious influences 101
71. Work to be done after the summer solstice 102
72. The harvest 103
73. The methods of storing corn 104
74. The vintage, and the works of autumn 107
75. The revolutions of the moon 111
76. The theory of the winds 113
77. The laying out of lands according to the points of the wind 114
78. Prognostics derived from the sun 117
79. Prognostics derived from the moon 119
80. Prognostics derived from the stars 120
81. Prognostics derived from thunder 121
82. Prognostics derived from clouds _ib._
83. Prognostics derived from mists 122
84. Prognostics derived from fire kindled by man _ib._
85. Prognostics derived from water _ib._
86. Prognostics derived from tempests 123
87. Prognostics derived from aquatic animals and birds _ib._
88. Prognostics derived from quadrupeds 124
89. Prognostics derived from plants 125
90. Prognostics derived from food _ib._
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