We have already[1153] spoken of the corruda, by which term I mean the wild asparagus, by the Greeks called “orminos,” or “myacanthos,” as well as by other names. I find it stated, that if rams’ horns are pounded, and then buried in the ground, asparagus will come up.[1154] CHAP. 43.—THISTLES. It really might have been thought that I had now given an account of all the vegetable productions that are held in any degree of esteem, did there not still remain one plant, the cultivation of which is extremely profitable, and of which I am unable to speak without a certain degree of shame. For it is a well-known fact, that some small plots of land, planted with thistles,[1155] in the vicinity of Great Carthage and of Corduba more particularly, produce a yearly income of six thousand sesterces;[1156] this being the way in which we make the monstrous productions even of the earth subservient to our gluttonous appetites, and that, too, when the very four-footed brutes[1157] instinctively refuse to touch them. Thistles are grown two different ways, from plants set in autumn, and from seed sown before the nones of March;[1158] in which latter case they are transplanted before the ides of November,[1159] or, where the site is a cold one, about the time that the west winds prevail. They are sometimes manured even, and if[1160] such is the will of heaven, grow all the better for it. They are preserved, too, in a mixture of honey and vinegar,[1161] with the addition of root of laser and cummin—so that a day may not pass without our having thistles at table.[1162] CHAP. 44.—OTHER PLANTS THAT ARE SOWN IN THE GARDEN: OCIMUM; ROCKET; AND NASTURTIUM. For the remaining plants a brief description will suffice. The best time for sowing ocimum,[1163] it is said, is at the festival of the Parilia;[1164] though some say that it may be done in autumn as well, and recommend, when it is sown in winter, to drench the seed thoroughly with vinegar. Rocket,[1165] too, and nasturtium[1166] may be grown with the greatest facility either in summer or winter. Rocket, more particularly, is able to stand the cold, and its properties are quite different from those of the lettuce, as it is a great provocative of lust. Hence it is that we are in the habit of mixing these two plants in our dishes, the excess of cold in the one being compensated by the equal degree of heat in the other. Nasturtium has received that name from[1167] the smarting sensation which its pungency causes to the nostrils, and hence it is that a certain notion of smartness has attached itself to the word, it having become quite a proverbial saying, that a sluggish man should eat nasturtium, to arouse him from his torpidity. In Arabia, it is said, this plant attains a size that is quite marvellous. CHAP. 45.—RUE.