18 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTOBY. [Book XVIII, 



particularly that maxim of Cato, as profit-able as it is humane : 

 " Always act in such a way as to secure the love of your neigh- 

 bours." He then proceeds to state his reasons for giving this 

 advice, but it appears to me that no one surely can entertain 

 the slightest doubt upon the subject. One of the very first 

 recommendations that he gives is to take every care that the 

 farm servants are kept in good condition. 79 It is a maxim 

 universally agreed upon in agriculture, that nothing must be 

 done too late ; and again, that everything must be done at its 

 proper season ; while there is a third precept, which reminds 

 us that opportunities lost can never be regained. The male- 

 diction uttered by Cato against rotten ground has been treated 

 of at some length already ; 80 but there is another precept which 

 he is never tired of repeating, " Whatever can be done by the 

 help of the ass, will cost the least money." 



Fern will be sure to die at the end of a couple of years, if 

 you prevent it from putting forth leaves ; the most efficient me- 

 thod of ensuring this is to beat the branches with a stick while 

 they are in bud ; for then the juices that drop from it will kill 

 the roots. 81 It is said, too, that fern will not spring up again 

 if it is pulled up by the roots about the turn of the summer 

 solstice, or if the stalks are cut with the edge of a reed, or if it 

 is turned up with a plough-share with a reed placed 82 upon it. 

 In the same way, too, we are told that reeds may be effectually 

 ploughed up, if care is taken to place a stalk of fern upon the 

 share. A field infested with rushes should be turned up with 

 the spade, or, if the locality is stony, with a two-pronged 

 mattock : overgrown shrubs are best removed by fire. Where 

 ground is too moist, it is an advantageous plan to cut trenches 

 in it and so drain it ; where the soil is cretaceous, these trenches 

 should be left open ; and where it is loose, they should be 

 strengthened with a hedge to prevent them from falling in. 

 When these drains are made on a declivity, they should have 

 a layer of gutter tiles at the bottom, or else house tiles with the 

 face upwards : in some cases, too, they should be covered 83 



79 " Ne familias male sit." M In B. xvii. c. 3. 



ll The Pteris aquilina, or female fern. No such juices drop from it as 

 here mentioned by Pliny, Fee says. 



82 A superstition quite unworthy of our author ; and the same with 

 respect to that mentioned in the next line. 



83 Sub-soil drainage is now universally employed, with the agency of 

 draining-tiles, made for the purpose. 



