While upon this subject, it will be as well, too, to speak of
the leek,[1] on account of the affinity which it bears to the plants
just mentioned, and more particularly because cut-leek has
recently acquired considerable celebrity from the use made of
it by the Emperor Nero. That prince, to improve his voice,[2]
used to eat leeks and oil every month, upon stated days, abstaining from every other kind of food, and not touching so
much as a morsel of bread even. Leeks are reproduced from
seed, sown just after the autumnal equinox; if they are intended for cutting,[3] the seed is sown thicker than otherwise.
The leeks in the same bed are cut repeatedly, till it is quite exhausted, and they are always kept well manured. If they are
It is a remarkable fact, that, though the leek stands in need of manure and a rich soil, it has a particular aversion to water; and yet its nature depends very much upon the natural properties of the soil. The most esteemed leeks are those grown in Egypt, and next to them those of Ostia and Aricia.[4] Of the leek for cutting, there are two varieties: that with grass-green[5] leaves and incisions distinctly traced on them, and the leek with paler and rounder leaves, the incisions being more lightly marked. There is a story told, that Mela[6], a member of the Equestrian order, being accused of mal-administration by order of the Emperor Tiberius, swallowed in his despair leek-juice to the amount of three denarii in weight of silver, and expired upon the spot without the slightest symptom of pain. It is said, however, that a larger dose than this is productive of no injurious effects whatever[7].
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