Delphi Complete Works of Pliny the Elder

by Pliny the Elder

  Those which are intended for keeping seed, are usually not cut before the winter sets in; they are then dried in the smoke, and are extensively employed for preserving seeds, and for making other articles for domestic use. There has been a method discovered, also, of preserving the gourd for table, and the cucumber as well, till nearly the time when the next year’s crop is ripe; this is done by putting them in brine. We are assured, too, that if put in a hole dug in a place well shaded from the sun, with a layer of sand beneath, and dry hay and earth on the top of them, they may be kept green for a very long time. We also find wild cucumbers and gourds; and, indeed, the same is the case with pretty nearly all the garden plants. These wild varieties, however, are only possessed of certain medicinal properties, and for this reason we shall defer any further mention of them till we come to the Books appropriated to that subject.

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  CHAP. 25.

  RAPE. TURNIPS.

  The other plants that are of a cartilaginous nature are concealed, all of them, in the earth. In the number of these is the rape, a subject upon which it would almost appear that we have treated at sufficient length already, were it not that we think it as well to observe, that; medical men call those which are round “male,” while those which are larger and more elongated, are known to them as “female” rape: these last are superior in sweetness, and better for keeping, but by successive sowings they are changed into male rape.

  The same authors, too, have distinguished five different va- rieties of the turnip: the Corinthian, the Cleonæan, the Liothasian, the Bœotian, and the one which they have characterized as peculiarly the “green” turnip. The Corinthian turnip grows to a very large size, and the root is all but out of the ground; indeed, this is the only kind that, in growing, shoots upwards, and not as the others do, downwards into the ground. The Liothasian is known by some persons as the Thracian turnip; it is the one that stands extreme cold the best of all. Next to it, the Bœotian kind is the sweetest; it is remarkable, also, for the roundness of its shape and its shortness; while the Cleonæan turnip, on the other hand, is of an elongated form. Those, in general, which have a thin, smooth leaf, are the sweetest; while those, again, the leaf of which is rough, angular, and prickly, have a pungent taste. There is a kind of wild turnip, also, the leaves of which resemble those of rocket. At Rome, the highest rank is given to the turnips of Amiternum, and those of Nursia; after them, those grown in the neighbourhood of the City are held in the next degree of esteem. The other particulars connected with the sowing of the turnip have been already mentioned by us when speaking of the rape.

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  CHAP. 26.

  RADISHES.

  Radishes are composed of an outer coat and a cartilaginous substance, and in many instances the rind is found to be thicker than the bark of some trees. This plant is remarkable for its pungency, which increases in proportion to the thickness of the rind: in some cases, too, the surface of it assumes a ligneous nature. Radishes are flatulent to a remarkable degree, and are productive of eructations; hence it is that they are looked upon as an aliment only fit for low-bred people, and this more particularly if coleworts are eaten directly after them. If, on the other hand, they are eaten with green olives, the eructations produced are not so frequent, and less offensive. In Egypt the radish is held in very high esteem, on account of the abundance of oil that is extracted from the seed. In- deed, the people of that country sow this plant in preference to any other, whenever they can get the opportunity, the profits derived from it being larger than those obtained from the cultivation of corn, and the imposts levied upon it considerably less: there is no grain known that yields a larger quantity of oil.

  The Greeks have distinguished the radish into three different kinds, according to the characteristic features of the leaves, there being the crisped leaf, the smooth leaf, and the wild radish, the leaf of which is smooth, but shorter than that of the others; it is round also, grows in great abundance, and spreads like a shrub. The taste of this last variety is acrid, and it acts medicinally as a strong purgative. In the first kind, again, there are certain differences, determined by the seed, for in some varieties the seed is of an inferior quality, and in others remarkably small: these defects, however, are only found to exist in the kind that has the crisped leaf.

  Our own people, again, have found other varieties of the radish: there is the Algidan radish, long and transparent, so called from the place of its growth: another, similar to the rape in form, is known as the Syrian radish; it is pretty nearly the mildest and the most tender of them all, and is well able to bear the winter. The very best of all, however, is the one that has been brought from Syria, very recently it would seem, as we do not find it mentioned by any of our writers: it lasts the whole of the winter through. In addition to these kinds, there is another, a wild variety, known by the Greeks as “agrion,” and to the people of Pontus as “armon,” while others, again, call it “leuce, and our people “armoracia;” it has more leaves, however, than root.

  In testing the quality of the radish, it is the stem more par- ticularly, that is looked at; in those which are acrid to the taste, for instance, it is rounder and thicker than in the others, and grooved with long channels, while the leaves are more unsightly to the eye, being angular and covered with prickles.

  The radish requires to be sown in a loose, humid soil, has a great aversion to manure, and is content with a dressing solely of chaff: so fond is it of the cold, that in Germany it is known to grow as large as an infant in size. For the spring crop, it is sown immediately after the ides of February; and then again about the time of the Vulcanalia, this last crop being looked upon as the best: many persons, however, sow radishes in March, April, and September. When the plant begins to grow to any size, it is considered a good plan to cover up the leaves successively, and to earth up the root as well; for the part of it which appears above ground is apt to become hard and pithy. Aristomachus recommends the leaves to be taken off in winter, and the roots to be well moulded up, to prevent the water from accumulating about them; and he says, that by using these precautions, they will be all the finer in summer. Some authors have mentioned a plan of making a hole with a dibble, and covering it at the bottom with a layer of chaff, six fingers in depth; upon this layer the seed is put, and then covered over with manure and earth; the result of which is, according to their statement, that radishes are obtained full as large as the hole so made. It is salt, however, that conduces more particularly to their nutriment, and hence it is that they are often watered with brine; in Egypt, too, the growers sprinkle nitre over them, the roots being remarkable for their mildness The salt, too, has the similar effect of removing all their pungency, and when thus treated, they become very similar in their qualities to radishes that have been boiled: for when boiled they become sweet and mild, and eat, in fact, just like turnips.

  Medical men recommend raw radishes to be eaten fasting, with salt, for the purpose of collecting the crude humours of the viscera; and in this way they prepare them for the action of emetics. It is said, too, that the juices of this plant are absolutely necessary for the cure of certain diseases of the diaphragm; for it has been found by experiment, in Egypt, that the phthiriasis which attaches itself to the internal parts of the heart, cannot possibly be eradicated by any other remedy, the kings of that country having ordered the bodies of the dead to be opened and examined, for the purpose of enquiring into certain diseases.

  Such, too, is the frivolity of the Greeks, that, in the temple of Apollo at Delphi, it is said, the radish is so greatly preferred to all other articles of diet, as to be represented there in gold, the beet in silver, and the rape in lead. — You might be very sure that Manius Curius was not a native of that country, the general whom, as we find stated in our Annals, the ambassadors of the Samnites found busy roasting rape at the fire, when they came to offer him the gold which he so indignantly refused. Moschion, too, a Greek author, has written a
volume on the subject of the radish. These vegetables are considered a very useful article of food during the winter; but they are at all times very injurious to the teeth, as they are apt to wear them away; at all events, they give a polish to ivory. There is a great antipathy between the radish and the vine; which last will shrink from the radish, if sown in its vicinity.

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  CHAP. 27.

  PARSNIPS.

  The other kinds which have been classified by us among the cartilaginous plants, are of a more ligneous nature; and it is a singular thing, that they have, all of them, a strong flavour. Among these, there is one kind of wild parsnip which grows spontaneously; by the Greeks it is known as “staphylinos.” Another kind of parsnip is grown either from the root transplanted, or else from seed, at the beginning of spring or in the autumn; Hyginus says that this may be done in February, August, September, and October, the ground being dug to a very considerable depth for the purpose. The parsnip begins to be fit for eating at the end of a year, but it is still better at the end of two: it is reckoned more agreeable eating in autumn, and more particularly if cooked in the saacepan; even then, however, it preserves its strong pungent flavour, which it is found quite impossible to get rid of.

  The hibiscum differs from the parsnip in being more slender: it is rejected as a food, but is found useful for its medicinal properties. There is a fourth kind, also, which bears a similar degree of resemblance to the parsnip; by our people it is called the “gallica,” while the Greeks, who have distinguished four varieties of it, give it the name of “daucus.” We shall have further occasion to mention it among the medicinal plants.

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  CHAP. 28.

  THE SKIRRET.

  The skirret, too, has had its reputation established by the Emperor Tiberius, who demanded a supply of it every year from Germany. It is at Gelduba, a fortress situate on the banks of the Rhenus, that the finest are grown; from which it would appear that they thrive best in a cold climate. There is a string running through the whole length of the skirret, and which is drawn out after it is boiled; but still, for all this, a considerable proportion of its natural pungency is retained; indeed, when modified by the addition of honied wine, this is even thought to impart to dishes an additional relish. The larger parsnip has also a similar sting inside, but only when it is a year old. The proper time for sowing the skirret is in the months of February, March, April, August, September, and October.

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  CHAP. 29.

  ELECAMPANE.

  Elecampane is not so elongated as the preceding roots, but more substantial and more pungent; eaten by itself it is very injurious to the stomach, but when mixed with other condiments of a sweet nature, it is extremely wholesome. There are several methods employed for modifying its natural acridity and rendering it agreeable to the palate: thus, for instance, when dried it is reduced to a fine flour, and then mixed with some sweet liquid or other, or else it is boiled in vinegar and water, or kept in soak in it; it is also steeped in various other ways, and then mixed with boiled grape-juice, or else incorporated with honey or raisins, or dates with plenty of meat on them. Other persons, again, have a method of preparing it with quinces, or else sorbs or plums, while sometimes the flavour is varied by the addition of pepper or thyme.

  This plant is particularly good for weakness of the stomach, and it has acquired a high reputation from the circumstance that Julia Augusta used to eat it daily. The seed of it is quite useless, as the plant is reproduced, like the reed, from eyes extracted from the root. This vegetable, as well as the skirret and the parsnip, is sown both in spring and autumn, a considerable distance being left between the plants; indeed, for elecampane, a space of no less than three feet is required, as it throws out its shoots to a very considerable distance. Skirrets, however, are best transplanted.

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  CHAP. 30.

  BULBS, SQUILLS, AND ARUM.

  Next in affinity to these plants are the bulbs, which Cato, speaking in high terms of those of Megara, recommends most particularly for cultivation. Among these bulbs, the squill, we find, occupies the very highest rank, although by nature it is medicinal, and is employed for imparting an additional sharpness to vinegar: indeed, there is no bulb known that grows to a larger size than this, or is possessed of a greater degree of pungency. There are two varieties of it employed in medicine, the male squill, which has white leaves, and the female squill, with black ones. There is a third kind also, which is good to eat, and is known as the Epimenidian squill; the leaf is narrower than in the other kinds, and not so rough. All the squills have numerous seeds, but they come up much more quickly if propagated from the offsets that grow on the sides. To make them attain a still greater size, the large leaves that grow around them are turned down and covered over with earth; by which method all the juices are carried to the heads. Squills grow spontaneously and in vast numbers in the Baleares and the island of Ebusus, and in the Spanish provinces. The philosopher Pythagoras has written a whole volume on the merits of this plant, setting forth its various me- dicinal properties; of which we shall have occasion to speak more at length in the succeeding Book.

  The other species of bulbs are distinguished by their colour, size, and sweetness; indeed, there are some that are eaten raw even — those found in the Tauric Chersonesus, for instance. Next to these, the bulbs of Africa are held in the highest esteem, and after them those of Apulia. The Greeks have distinguished the following varieties: the bulbine, the seta- nion, the opition, the cyix, the leucoion, the ægilips, and the sisyrinchion — in the last there is this remarkable feature, that the extremities of the roots increase in winter, but during the spring, when the violet appears, they diminish in size and gradually contract, and then it is that the bulb begins to increase in magnitude. Among the varieties of the bulb, too, there is the plant known in Egypt by the name of “aron.” In size it is very nearly as large as the squill, with a leaf like that of lapathum, and a straight stalk a couple of cubits in length, and the thickness of a walking-stick: the root of it is of a milder nature, so much so, indeed, as to admit of being eaten raw.

  Bulbs are taken up before the spring, for if not, they are apt to spoil very quickly. It is a sign that they are ripe when the leaves become dry at the lower extremities. When too old they are held in disesteem; the same, too, with the long and the smaller ones; those, on the other hand, which are red and round are greatly preferred, as also those of the largest size. In most of them there is a certain degree of pungency in the upper part, but the middle is sweet. The ancients have stated that bulbs are reproduced from seed only, but in the champaign country of Præneste they grow spontaneously, and they grow to an unlimited extent in the territory of the Remi.

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  CHAP. 31. (6.)

  THE ROOTS, FLOWERS, AND LEAVES OF ALL THESE PLANTS. GARDEN PLANTS WHICH LOSE THEIR LEAVES.

  Nearly all the garden plants have a single root only, radishes, beet, parsley, and mallows, for example; it is lapathum, however, that has the longest root of them all, it attaining the length of three cubits even. The root of the wild kind is smaller and of a humid nature, and when up it will keep alive for a considerable period. In some of these plants, however, the roots are fibrous, as we find the case in parsley and mallows, for instance; in others, again, they are of a ligneous nature, as in ocimum, for example; and in others they are fleshy, as in beet, and in saffron even more so. In some, again, the root is composed of rind and flesh, as in the radish and the rape; while in others it is jointed, as in hay grass. Those plants which have not a straight root throw out immediately a great number of hairy fibres, orage and blite, for instance: squills again, bulbs, onions, and garlic never have any but a vertical root. Among the plants that grow spontaneously, there are some which have more numerous roots than leaves, spalax, for example, pellitory, and saffron.

  Wild thyme, southernwood, tur
nips, radishes, mint, and rue blossom all at once; while others, again, shed their blossom directly they have begun to flower. Ocimum blossoms gradu- ally, beginning at the lower parts, and hence it is that it is so very long in blossom: the same is the case, too, with the plant known as heliotropium. In some plants the flower is white, in others yellow, and in others purple. The leaves fall first from the upper part in wild-marjoram and elecampane, and in rue sometimes, when it has been injured accidentally. In some plants the leaves are hollow, the onion and the scallion, more particularly.

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  CHAP. 32.

  VARIETIES OF THE ONION.

  Garlic and onions are invoked by the Egyptians, when taking an oath, in the number of their deities. The Greeks have many varieties of the onion, the Sardian onion, the Samothracian, the Alsidenian, the setanian, the schistan, and the Ascalonian, so called from Ascalon, a city of Judæa. They have, all of them, a pungent smell, which draws tears from the eyes, those of Cyprus more particularly, and those of Cnidos the least of all. In all of them the body is composed of a cartilage of an unctuous nature. The variety known as the setanian is the smallest of them all, with the exception of the Tusculan onion, but it is sweet to the taste. The schistan and the Ascalonian kinds are used for storing. The schistan onion is left during the winter with the leaves on; in the spring it is stripped of them, upon which offsets make their appearance at the same divisions as the leaves; it is to this circumstance that this variety owes its name. Taking the hint from this fact, it is recommended to strip the other kinds of their leaves, to make them bulb all the better, instead of running to seed.