Rue,[1168] too, is generally sown while the west winds prevail, as well as just after the autumnal equinox. This plant has an extreme aversion to cold, moisture, and dung; it loves dry, sunny localities, and a soil more particularly that is rich in brick clay; it requires to be nourished, too, with ashes, which should be mixed with the seed as well, as a preservative against the attacks of caterpillars. The ancients held rue in peculiar esteem; for I find that honied wine flavoured with rue was distributed to the people, in his consulship,[1169] by Cornelius Cethegus, the colleague of Quintus Flamininus, after the closing of the Comitia. This plant has a great liking[1170] for the fig-tree, and for that tree only; indeed, it never thrives better than when grown beneath that tree. It is generally grown from slips, the lower end of which is inserted in a perforated[1171] bean, which holds it fast, and so nurtures the young plant with its juices. It also reproduces itself;[1172] for the ends of the branches bending downwards, the moment they reach the ground, they take root again. Ocimum[1173] is of a very similar nature to rue, except that it dries with greater difficulty. When rue has once gained strength, there is considerable difficulty in stubbing it, as it causes itching ulcerations on the hands, if they are not covered or previously protected by being rubbed with oil. Its leaves, too, are preserved, being packed in bundles for keeping.
CHAP. 46.—PARSLEY.
Parsley is sown immediately after the vernal equinox, the seed being lightly beaten[1174] first in a mortar. It is thought that, by doing this, the parsley will be all the more crisped, or else by taking care to beat it down when sown with a roller or the feet. It is a peculiarity of this plant, that it changes colour: it has the honour, in Achaia, of forming the wreath of the victors in the sacred contests of the Nemean Games.
CHAP. 47.—MINT.
It is at the same season, too, that mint[1175] is transplanted; or, if it has not yet germinated, the matted tufts of the old roots are used for the purpose. This plant, too, is no less fond of a humid soil than parsley; it is green in summer and turns yellow in winter. There is a wild kind of mint, known to us as “mentastrum:”[1176] it is reproduced by layers, like the vine, or else by planting the branches upside down. It was the sweetness of its smell that caused this plant to change its name among the Greeks, its former name with them being “mintha,” from which the ancient Romans derived their name[1177] for it; whereas now, of late, it has been called by them ἡδύοσμον.[1178] The mint that is used in the dishes at rustic entertainments pervades the tables far and wide with its agreeable odour. When once planted, it lasts a considerable length of time; it bears, too, a strong resemblance to pennyroyal, a property of which is, as mentioned by us more than once,[1179] to flower when kept in our larders.
These other herbs, mint, I mean, and catmint, as well as pennyroyal, are all kept for use in a similar manner; but it is cummin[1180] that is the best suited of all the seasoning herbs to squeamish and delicate stomachs. This plant grows on the surface of the soil, seeming hardly to adhere to it, and raising itself aloft from the ground: it ought to be sown in the middle of the summer, in a crumbly, warm soil, more particularly. There is another wild kind[1181] of cummin, known by some persons as “rustic,” by others as “Thebaic” cummin: bruised and drunk in water, it is good for pains in the stomach. The cummin most esteemed in our part of the world is that of Carpetania,[1182] though elsewhere that of Africa and Æthiopia is more highly esteemed; with some, indeed, this last is preferred to that of Egypt.
CHAP. 48.—OLUSATRUM.
But it is olusatrum,[1183] more particularly, that is of so singular a nature, a plant which by the Greeks is called “hipposelinum,”[1184] and by others “smyrnium.” This plant is reproduced from a tear-like gum[1185] which exudes from the stem; it is also grown from the roots as well. Those whose business it is to collect the juice of it, say that it has just the flavour of myrrh; and, according to Theophrastus,[1186] it is obtained by planting myrrh. The ancients recommended that hipposelinum should be grown in uncultivated spots covered with stones, and in the vicinity of garden walls; but at the present day it is sown in ground that has been twice turned up, between the prevalence of the west winds and the autumnal equinox.
The caper,[1187] too, should be sown in dry localities more particularly, the plot being hollowed out and surrounded with an embankment of stones erected around it: if this precaution is not taken, it will spread all over the adjoining land, and entail sterility upon the soil. The caper blossoms in summer, and retains its verdure till the setting of the Vergiliæ; it thrives the best of all in a sandy soil. As to the bad qualities of the caper which grows in the parts beyond the sea, we have already[1188] enlarged upon them when speaking of the exotic shrubs.