[1236] A mere puerility, of course, though it is very possible that the insects may collect in it, and so be more easily taken. Garden-pots, on sticks, are still employed for this purpose.
[1237] See B. xvi. c. 30.
[1238] “Culices,” including both flies and gnats, probably.
[1239] See B. xii. c. 56.
[1240] An almost literal translation of Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. B. vii. c. 6.
[1241] This is certainly not true with reference to the leguminous and gramineous plants. It is pretty generally known as a fact, that wheat has germinated after being buried in the earth two thousand years: mummy-wheat, at the present day, is almost universally known.
[1242] Rain-water, if collected in cisterns, and exposed to the heat of the sun, is the most beneficial of all; rain has the effect also of killing numerous insects which have bred in the previous drought.
[1243] From Theophrastus, B. vii. c. 5. Evening is generally preferred to morning for this purpose; the evaporation not being so quick, and the plant profiting more from the water.
[1244] It should, however, be of a middling temperature, and warmed to some extent by the rays of the sun.