Chaps. 8-17.

Chap. 8. (8.)—Amurca.

But it is upon the praises of amurca [It has quite lost its ancient repute: the only use it is now put to is the manufacture of an inferior soap. See B. xxiii. c. 37.] more particularly, that Cato [De Re Rust. cc. 130, 169.] has enlarged. He recommends that vats and casks [Dolia and cadi. Fée observes, that this, if done with the modern vessels, would have a tendency to make the oil turn rancid.] for keeping oil should be first seasoned with it, to prevent them from soaking up the oil; and he tells us that threshing-floors should be well rubbed with it, to keep away ants, [On the contrary, Fée is inclined to think it would attract them, from its mucilaginous properties.] and to prevent any chinks or crannies from being left. The mortar, too, of walls, he says, ought to be seasoned with it, as well as the roofs and floors of granaries; and he recommends that wardrobes should be sprinkled with amurca as a preservative against wood-worms and other noxious insects. He says, too, that all grain of the cereals should be steeped in it, and speaks of it as efficacious for the cure of maladies in cattle as well as trees, and as useful even for ulcerations in the inside and upon the face of man. We learn from him, also, that thongs, all articles made of leather, sandals, and axle-trees used to be anointed with boiled amurca; which was employed also to preserve copper vessels against verdigrease, [Olive oil, however, has a tendency to generate verdigrease in copper vessels.] and to give them a better colour; as also for the seasoning of all utensils made of wood, as well as the earthen jars in which dried figs were kept, or of sprigs of myrtle with the leaves and berries on, or any other articles of a similar nature: in addition to which, he asserts that wood which has been steeped in amurca will burn without producing a stifling smoke. [This, as Fée remarks, is probably so absurd as not to be worth discussing.]

According to M. Varro, [Re Rust. B. i. c. 2.] an olive-tree which has been licked by the tongue of the she-goat, or upon which she has browsed when it was first budding, [If she happens to have destroyed the buds, but not otherwise.] is sure to be barren. Thus much in reference to the olive and the oils.

Chap. 9. (9.)—The Various Kinds of Fruit-trees and Their Natures. Four Varieties of Pine-nuts.

The other fruits found on trees can hardly be enumerated, from their diversity in shape and figure, without reference to their different flavours and juices, which have again been modified by repeated combinations and graftings.

(10.) The largest fruit, and, indeed, the one that hangs at the greatest height, is the pine-nut. It contains within a number of small kernels, enclosed in arched beds, and covered with a coat of their own of rusty iron-colour; Nature thus manifesting a marvellous degree of care in providing its seeds with a soft receptacle. Another variety of this nut is the terentina, [The Pinus cembro, probably, of Linnæus.] the shell of which may be broken with the fingers; and hence it becomes a prey to the birds while still on the tree. A third, again, is known as the “sappinia, [See B. xvi. c.. The nuts of the pine are sweet, and have an agreeable flavour.] ” being the produce of the cultivated pitch-tree: the kernels are enclosed in a skin more than a shell, which is so remarkably soft that it is eaten together with the fruit. A fourth variety is that known as the “pityis;” it is the produce of the pinaster, [Probably the wild pine, the Pinus silvestris of the moderns. The nuts are slightly resinous.] and is remarkable as a good specific for coughs. The kernels are sometimes boiled in honey [Neither the people of Turin nor of any other place are known at the present day to make this preparation.] among the Taurini, who then call them “aquiceli.” The conquerors at the Isthmian games are crowned with a wreath of pine-leaves.

Chap. 10. (11.)—The Quince. Four Kinds of Cydonia, and Four Varieties of the Struthea.

Next in size after these are the fruit called by us “cotonea,” [The quince, the Pirus Cydonia of Linnæus.] by the Greeks “Cydonia,” [From Cydonia, a city of Crete. The Latin name is only a corruption of the Greek one: in England they were formerly called “melicotones.”] and first introduced from the island of Crete. These fruit bend the branches with their weight, and so tend to impede the growth of the parent tree. The varieties are numerous. The chrysomelum [Or “golden apple.” The quince was sacred to Venus, and was an emblem of love.] is marked with indentations down it, and has a colour inclining to gold; the one that is known as the “Italian” quince, is of a paler complexion, and has a most exquisite smell: the quinces of Neapolis, too, are held in high esteem. The smaller varieties of the quince which are known as the “struthea,” [Apparently meaning the “sparrow quince.” Dioscorides, Galen, and Athenæus, however, say that it was a large variety. Qy. if in such case, it might not mean the ostrich quince?] have a more pungent smell, but ripen later than the others; that called the “musteum,” [“Early ripener.”] ripens the soonest of all. The cotoneum engrafted [Quinces are not grafted on quinces at the present day, but the pear is.] on the strutheum, has produced a peculiar variety, known as the “Mulvianum,” the only one of them all that is eaten raw. [Fée suggests that this is a kind of pear.] At the present day all these varieties are kept shut up in the antechambers of great men, [Probably on account of the fragrance of their scent.] where they receive the visits of their courtiers; they are hung, too, upon the statues [We learn from other sources that the bed-chambers were frequently ornamented with statues of the divinities.] that pass the night with us in our chambers.

There is a small wild [The Mala cotonea silvestris of Bauhin; the Cydonia vulgaris of modern botanists.] quince also, the smell of which, next to that of the strutheum, is the most powerful; it grows in the hedges.

Chap. 11.—Six Varieties of the Peach.

Under the head of apples, [“Mala.” The term “malum,” somewhat similar to “pome” with us, was applied to a number of different fruits: the orange, the citron, the pomegranate, the apricot, and others.] we include a variety of fruits, although of an entirely different nature, such as the Persian [Or peach.] apple, for instance, and the pomegranate, of which, when speaking of the tree, we have already enumerated [See B. xiii. c..] nine varieties. The pomegranate has a seed within, enclosed in a skin; the peach has a stone inside. Some among the pears, also, known as “libralia,” [Or “pound-weight” pears: the Pirus volema of Linnæus.] show, by their name, what a remarkable weight they attain.

(12.) Among the peaches the palm must be awarded to the duracinus: [Or “hard-berry”—probably in reference to the firmness of the flesh. It is generally thought to be the nectarine.] the Gallic and the Asiatic peach are distinguished respectively by the names of the countries of their origin. They ripen at the end of autumn, though some of the early [“Præcocia.” It is generally thought that in this name originates the word “apricot,” the Prunus Armeniaca of Linnæus. There is, however, an early peach that ripens by the middle of July, though it is very doubtful if it was known to Pliny.] kinds are ripe in the summer. It is only within the last thirty years that these last have been introduced; originally they were sold at the price of a denarius a piece. Those known as the “supernatia” [“From above.”] come from the country of the Sabines, but the “popularia” grow everywhere. This is a very harmless fruit, and a particular favourite with invalids: some, in fact, have sold before this as high as thirty sesterces apiece, a price that has never been exceeded by any other fruit. This, too, is the more to be wondered at, as there is none that is a worse keeper: for, when it is once plucked, the longest time that it will keep is a couple of days; and so sold it must be, fetch what it may.

Chap. 12. (13).—Twelve Kinds of Plums.

Next comes a vast number of varieties of the plum, the parti-coloured, the black, [Perhaps the Prunus ungarica of naturalists, the black damask plum; or else the Prunus perdrigona, the perdrigon.] the white, [Probably the Prunus galatensis of naturalists.] the barley [“Hordearia:” the Prunus præcox of naturalists; probably our harvest plum.] plum—so called, because it is ripe at barley-harvest—and another of the same colour as the last, but which ripens later, and is of a larger size, generally known as the “asinina,” [Or “ass”-plum. The Prunus acinaria of naturalists: the cherry plum of the French.] from the little esteem in which it is held. There are the onychina, too, the cerina, [Or “wax plum.” The Prunus cereola of naturalists: the mirabelle of the French.] —more esteemed, and the purple [Possibly the Prunus enucleata of Lamarck: the myrobalan of the French. Many varieties, however, are purple.] plum: the Armenian, [There are two opinions on this: that it is the Prunus Claudiana of Lamarck, the “Reine Claude” of the French; or else that it is identical with the apricot already mentioned, remarkable for the sweetness of its smell.] also an exotic from foreign parts, the only one among the plums that recommends itself by its smell. The plum-tree grafted on the nut exhibits what we may call a piece of impudence quite its own, for it produces a fruit that has all the appearance of the parent stock, together with the juice of the adopted fruit: in consequence of its being thus compounded of both, it is known by the name of “nuci-pruna.” [Or nut-prune.] Nut-prunes, as well as the peach, the wild plum, [The Prunus insititia of Linnæus.] and the cerina, are often put in casks, and so kept till the crop comes of the following year. All the other varieties ripen with the greatest rapidity, and pass off just as quickly. More recently, in Bætica, they have begun to introduce what they call “malina,” or the fruit of the plum engrafted on the apple-tree, [The result of this would only be a plum like that of the tree from which the graft was cut.] and “amygdalina,” the fruit of the plum engrafted on the almond-tree, [The same as with reference to the graft on the apple.] the kernel found in the stone of these last being that of the almond; [This is probably quite fabulous.] indeed, there is no specimen in which two fruits have been more ingeniously combined in one.

Among the foreign trees we have already spoken [B. xiii. c..] of the Damascene [The Prunus Damascena of the naturalists; our common damson, with its numerous varieties.] plum, so called from Damascus, in Syria, but introduced long since into Italy; though the stone of this plum is larger than usual, and the flesh smaller in quantity. This plum will never dry so far as to wrinkle; to effect that, it needs the sun of its own native country. The myxa, [Probably the Cordia myxa of Linnæus; the Sebestier of the French. It has a viscous pulp, and is much used as a pectoral. It grows only in Syria and Egypt; and hence Fée is inclined to reject what Pliny says as to its naturalization at Rome, and the account he gives as to its being engrafted on the sorb.] too, may be mentioned, as being the fellow-countryman of the Damascene: it has of late been introduced into Rome, and has been grown engrafted upon the sorb.

Chap. 13.—The Peach.

The name of “Persica,” or “Persian apple,” given to this fruit, fully proves that it is an exotic in both Greece as well as Asia, [I. e. Asia Minor.] and that it was first introduced from Persis. As to the wild plum, it is a well-known fact that it will grow anywhere; and I am, therefore, the more surprised that no mention has been made of it by Cato, more particularly as he has pointed out the method of preserving several of the wild fruits as well. As to the peach-tree, it has been only introduced of late years, and with considerable difficulty; so much so, that it is perfectly barren in the Isle of Rhodes, the first resting-place [Hospitium.] that it found after leaving Egypt.

It is quite untrue that the peach which grows in Persia is poisonous, and produces dreadful tortures, or that the kings of that country, from motives of revenge, had it transplanted in Egypt, where, through the nature of the soil, it lost all its evil properties—for we find that it is of the “persea” [See B. xiii. c.. The Balanites Ægyptiaca of Delille.] that the more careful writers have stated all this, [It was this probably, and not the peach-tree, that would not bear fruit in the isle of Rhodes.] a totally different tree, the fruit of which resembles the red myxa, and, indeed, cannot be successfully cultivated anywhere but in the East. The learned have also maintained that it was not introduced from Persis into Egypt with the view of inflicting punishment, but say that it was planted at Memphis by Perseus; for which reason it was that Alexander gave orders that the victors should be crowned with it in the games which he instituted there in honour of his [Perseus.] ancestor: indeed, this tree has always leaves and fruit upon it, growing immediately upon the others. It must be quite evident to every one that all our plums have been introduced since the time of Cato. [Fée remarks that the wild plum, the Prunus silvestris or insititia of Linnæus, was to be found in Italy before the days of Cato.]

Chap. 14. (14.)—Thirty Different Kinds of Pomes. At What Period Foreign Fruits Were First Introduced into Italy, and Whence.

There are numerous varieties of pomes. Of the citron [See B. xii. c..] we have already made mention when describing its tree; the Greeks gave it the name of “Medica,” [Of Media.] from its native country. The jujube [Its fruit will ripen in France, as far north as Tours. It is the Zizyphus vulgaris of Lamarck. It resembles a small plum, and is sometimes used as a sweetmeat. The confection sold as jujube paste is not the dried jelly of this fruit, but merely gum arabic and sugar, coloured.] -tree and the tuber [A variety of the jujube, Fée is inclined to think. A nut-peach has also been suggested.] are equally exotics; indeed, they have, both of them, been introduced only of late years into Italy; the latter from Africa, the former from Syria. Sextus Papinius, whom we have seen consul, [A.U.C. 779.] introduced them both in the latter years of the reign of Augustus, produced from slips which he had grown within his camp. The fruit of the jujube more nearly resembles a berry than an apple: the tree sets off a terrace [Or perhaps embankment: “agger.”] remarkably well, and it is not uncommon to see whole woods of it climbing up to the very roofs of the houses.

Of the tuber there are two varieties; the white, and the one called “syricum,” [A reddish colour. For the composition of this colour, see B. xxxv. c. 24.] from its colour. Those fruits, too, may be almost pronounced exotic which grow nowhere in Italy but in the territory of Verona, and are known as the wool-fruit. [“Lanata;” perhaps rather the “downy” fruit; a variety of quince, Fée thinks. Pliny probably had never seen this fruit, in his opinion, and only speaks after Virgil, Ecl. ii. l. 51. “Ipse ego cana legam tenera lanugine mala.”] They are covered with a woolly down; this is found, it is true, to a very considerable extent, on both the strutheum variety of quince and the peach, but still it has given its name to this particular fruit, which is recommended to us by no other remarkable quality.

Chap. 15.—The Fruits That Have Been Most Recently Introduced.

Why should I hesitate to make some mention, too, of other varieties by name, seeing that they have conferred everlasting remembrance on those who were the first to introduce them, as having rendered some service to their fellow-men? Unless I am very much mistaken, an enumeration of them will tend to throw some light upon the ingenuity that is displayed in the art of grafting, and it will be the more easily understood that there is nothing so trifling in itself from which a certain amount of celebrity cannot be ensured. Hence it is that we have fruits which derive their names from Matius, [See B. xii. c.. The Matian and the Cestian apple are thought by Dalechamps to have been the French “court-pendu,” or “short stalk.”] Cestius, Mallius, and Scandius. [The Scandian is thought to have been a winter pear.] Appius, too, a member of the Claudian family, grafted the quince on the Scandian fruit, in consequence of which the produce is known as the Appian. This fruit has the smell of the quince, and is of the same size as the Scandian apple, and of a ruddy colour. Let no one, however, imagine that this name was merely given in a spirit of flattery to an illustrious family, for there is an apple known as the Sceptian, [Adrian Junius takes this to be the “kers-appel” of the Flemish.] which owes its name to the son of a freedman, who was the first to introduce it: it is remarkable for the roundness of its shape. To those already mentioned, Cato [De Re Rust. cc. 7 and 143.] adds the Quirinian and the Scantian varieties, which last, he says, keep remarkably well in large vessels. [Dolia.] The latest kind of all, however, that has been introduced is the small apple known as the Petisian, [Hardouin says that this is the “Pomme d’api” of the French; it is the “Court-pendu” with Adrian Junius.] remarkable for its delightful flavour: the Amerinian [The “Pomme de Saint Thomas,” according to Adrian Junius: Dalechamps identifies it with the pomme de Granoi. See B. iii. c. 19, and cc. and of the present Book.] apple, too, and the little Greek [“Græcula.” So called, perhaps, from Tarentum, situated in Magna Græcia.] have conferred renown on their respective countries.

The remaining varieties have received their name from various circumstances—the apples known as the “gemella” [Twins. This variety is unknown.] are always found hanging in pairs upon one stalk, like twins, and never growing singly. That known as the “syricum” [Or “red” apple. The red calville of the French, according to Hardouin; the Pomme suzine, according to Dalechamps.] is so called from its colour, while the “melapium” [The Girandotte of the French; the appel-heeren of the Dutch.] has its name from its strong resemblance to the pear. The “musteum” [The “early ripener.” Dalechamps identifies it with the pomme Saint Jean, the apple of St. John.] was so called from the rapidity with which it ripens; it is the melimelum of the present day, which derives its appellation from its flavour, being like that of honey. The “orbiculatum,” [The Pomme rose, or rose apple, according to Dalechamps.] again, is so called from its shape, which is exactly spherical—the circumstance of the Greeks having called it the “epiroticum” proves that it came originally from Epirus. The orthomastium [Or “erect teat.” The Pomme taponne of the French, according to Dalechamps.] has that peculiar appellation from its resemblance to a teat; and the “spadonium” [Or eunuch. The Passe pomme, or Pomme grillotte of the French.] of the Belgæ is so nicknamed from the total absence of pips. The melofolium [Or “leaf apple.” Fée remarks that this occasionally happens, but the apple does not form a distinct variety.] has one leaf, and occasionally two, shooting from the middle of the fruit. That known as the “pannuceum” [The Pomme pannete, according to Dalechamps: the Pomme gelée of Provence.] shrivels with the greatest rapidity; while the “pulmoneum” [Or “lung” apple. The Pomme folane, according to Dalechamps.] has a lumpish, swollen appearance.

Some apples are just the colour of blood, owing to an original graft of the mulberry; but they are all of them red on the side which is turned towards the sun. There are some small wild [The Pirus malus of Linnæus, the wild apple, or estranguillon of the French.] apples also, remarkable for their fine flavour and the peculiar pungency of their smell. Some, again, are so remarkably [It is doubtful whether he does not allude here to a peculiar variety.] sour, that they are held in disesteem; indeed their acidity is so extreme, that it will even take the edge from off a knife. The worst apples of all are those which from their mealiness have received the name of “farinacea;” [Or “mealy” apples.] they are the first, however, to ripen, and ought to be gathered as soon as possible.

Chap. 16. (15.)—Forty-One Varieties of the Pear.

A similar degree of precocity has caused the appellation of “superbum” [Or “proud” pear. The Petite muscadelle, according to Dalechamps. Adrian Junius says that it is the water-peere of the Dutch.] to be given to one species of the pear: it is a small fruit, but ripens with remarkable rapidity. All the world are extremely partial to the Crustumian [From Crustumium in Italy; the Poire perle, or pearl pear, according to Dalechamps: the Jacob’s peere of the Flemish.] pear; and next to it comes the Falernian, [The Poire sucrée, or “sugar-pear,” according to Hardouin; the Bergamotte, according to Dalechamps.] so called from the drink [“Potu.” He would appear to allude to the manufacture of perry.] which it affords, so abundant is its juice. This juice is known by the name of “milk” in the variety which, of a black colour, is by some called the pear of Syria. [The Syrian pear is commended by Martial; it has not been identified, however.] The denominations given to the others vary according to the respective localities of their growth. Among the pears, the names of which have been adopted in our city, the Decimian pear, and the Pseudo-Decimian—an offshoot from it—have conferred considerable renown upon the name of those who introduced them. The same is the case, too, with the variety known as the “Dolabellian,” [The Poire musot, according to Dalechamps. Adrian Junius says that it is the Engelsche braet-peere of the Flemish.] remarkable for the length of its stalk, the Pomponian, [The Pirus Pompeiana of Linnæus. Dalechamps identifies it with the Bon chretien, and Adrian Junius with the Taffel-peere of the Flemish.] surnamed the mammosum, [The “breast-formed.”] the Licerian, the Sevian, the Turranian, a variety of the Sevian, but distinguished from it by the greater length of the stalk, the Favonian, [The Pirus Favonia of Linnæus: the Grosse poire muscadelle of the French.] a red pear, rather larger than the superbum, together with the Laterian [The Poire prevost, according to Dalechamps.] and the Anician, which come at the end of autumn, and are pleasant for the acidity of their flavour. One variety is known as the “Tiberian,” [The Poire foré, according to Dalechamps.] from its having been a particular favourite with the Emperor Tiberius; it is more coloured by the sun, and grows to a larger size, otherwise it would be identical with the Licerian variety.

The following kinds receive their respective names from their native countries: the Amerinian, [The Saint Thomas’s pear of the Flemish.] the latest pear of all, the Picentine, the Numantine, the Alexandrian, the Numidian, the Greek, a variety of which is the Tarentine, and the Signine, [The Poire chat of the French, according to Dalechamps; the Riet-peere of the Flemish.] by some called “testaceum,” from its colour, like earthenware; a reason which has also given their respective names to the “onychine” [“Like onyx.” The Cuisse-madame, according to Dalechamps.] and the “purple” kinds. Then, again, we have the “myrapium,” [The Calveau rosat, according to Dalechamps. Perhaps the Poire d’ambre, or amber pear, of the French.] the “laureum,” and the “nardinum,” [The Poire d’argent, or silver pear, according to Dalechamps.] so called from the odour they emit; the “hordearium,” [Or “barley pear.” The Poire de Saint Jean, according to Dalechamps; the musquette or muscadella, according to Adrian Junius.] from the season at which it comes [Barley-harvest.] in; and the “ampullaceum,” [So called from its resemblance to the “ampulla,” a big-bellied vessel with a small neck, identified with the Poire d’angoisse by Dalechamps.] so called from its long narrow neck. Those, again, that are known as the “Coriolanian” [The Poire de jalousie, according to Dalechamps.] and the “Bruttian,” owe their names to the places of their origin; added to which we have the cucurbitinum, [Or gourd-pear. This is the “isbout” according to Adrian Junius, the Poire courge of Dalechamps, and the Poire de sarteau, or de campane of others.] and the “acidulum,” so named from the acidity of its juice. It is quite uncertain for what reason their respective names were given to the varieties known as the “barbaricum” and the “Venerium,” [The Poire de Venus, according to Adrian Junius; the Poire acciole, according to Dalechamps.] which last is known also as the “coloratum;” [Coloured pear.] the royal pear [“Regium.” The Poire carmagnole, according to Dalechamps; the Mispeel-peere of the Flemish, according to Adrian Junius.] too, which has a remarkably short stalk, and will stand on its end, as also the patricium, and the voconium, [The Poire sarteau, according to Dalechamps.] a green oblong kind. In addition to these, Virgil [Georgics, ii. 87.] has made mention of a pear called the “volema,” [“A handful”—probably the pound or pounder pear: the Bergamotte, according to Hardouin; the Bon chretien of summer, according to Adrian Junius.] a name which he has borrowed from Cato, [De Re Rust. c. 7.] who makes mention also of kinds known as the “sementivum” [Or “Seedling.”] and the “musteum.” [The “early ripener.” Fée suggests that this may be a variety of the Bon chretien.]

Chap. 17.—Various Methods of Grafting Trees. Expiations for Lightning.

This branch of civilized life has long since been brought to the very highest pitch of perfection, for man has left nothing untried here. Hence it is that we find Virgil [Georgics, ii. 69. This statement of Virgil must be regarded as fabulous; grafting being impracticable with trees not of the same family, and not always successful even then.] speaking of grafting the nut-tree on the arbutus, the apple on the plane, and the cherry on the elm. Indeed, there is nothing further in this department that can possibly be devised, and it is a long time since any new variety of fruit has been discovered. Religious scruples, too, will not allow of indiscriminate grafting; thus, for instance, it is not permitted to graft upon the thorn, for it is not easy, by any mode of expiation, to avoid the disastrous effects of lightning; and we are told [This was probably some superstition taught by the augurs for the purpose of enveloping their profession in additional mystery and awe.] that as many as are the kinds of trees that have been engrafted on the thorn, so many are the thunderbolts that will be hurled against that spot in a single flash.

The form of the pear is turbinated; the later kinds remain on the parent tree till winter, when they ripen with the frost; such, for instance, as the Greek variety, the ampullaceum, and the laureum; the same, too, with apples of the Amerinian and the Scandian kinds. Apples and pears are prepared for keeping just like grapes, and in as many different ways; but, with the exception of plums, they are the only fruit that are stored in casks. [Cadis.] Apples and pears have certain vinous [He probably alludes here to cider and perry. See p., and B. xxiii. c. 62.] properties, and like wine these drinks are forbidden to invalids by the physicians. These fruits are sometimes boiled up with wine and water, and so make a preserve [“Pulmentarii vicem;” properly “a substitute for pulmentarium,” which was anything eaten with bread, such as meat, vegetables, &c. He alludes to marmalade. The French raisine is a somewhat similar preparation from pears and quinces boiled in new wine.] that is eaten with bread; a preparation which is never made of any other fruit, with the exception of the quinces, known as the “cotoneum” and the “strutheum.”