22 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Part I 



let them go upon even ground without a plough ; then yoked to a light plough in a sandy 

 soil. That they may be trained for carriages, they should first be put to empty carts, and 

 driven, if convenient, through a village or town ; the habit of hearing frequent noise, 

 and seeing a variety of objects, will soon make them iit for use." [Var. lib. i. cap. 20.) 



99. Trammg commences with the calve state; and "calves," says Virgil, "which 

 you intend for country labor, should be instructed while their youthful minds are 

 tractable, and their age manageable : first bind round their necks wide wreaths of tender 

 twigs ; then, when their free necks have been accustomed to servitude, put real collars 

 upon them ; join bullocks of equal strength, and make them step together ; at first let 

 them frequently be employed in drawing along the ground wheels without any carriage 

 upon them, so that they may print their steps only upon the top of the dust ; afterwards 

 let the beechen axle groan under the heavy load, and the pole draw the wheels joined to 

 the weighty carriage. " (Georg. iii. v. 163.) 



100. The food of laboring oxen was the mast or nuts of the beech or sweet chestnut, grape 

 stones, and husks after being pressed, hay, wheat and barley straw, bean, vetch, and lupine 

 chaff, all parts of corn and pulse, grass, green forage, and leaves. The leaves used 

 were those of the holm oak, ivy, elm (considered the best), the vine, the poplar, &c. 

 The poplar leaves were mixed with the elm leaves to make them hold out, and when there 

 was no elm leaves, then oak and fig leaves were used. (Cat. cap. 54.) The food pre- 

 ferred before all others by Columella, is good pasturage in summer, and hay and corn in 

 winter, but he says the food and manner of feeding, differ in different countries. 



101. Oxen were worked in jyairs abreast, both in the cart and plough, and stood in the 

 stables also in pairs, in bubUia or stalls formed on purpose. They were carefully 

 matched, in order that the stronger might not wear out the weaker. They were yoked 

 either by the horn or neck ; but the latter mode was greatly preferred. 



102. Yoking by the horns. Columella observes, " is condemned by almost all who have written on hus- 

 bandry ; because cattle can exert more strength from the neck and breast, than the horns ; as in the one 

 way, they press with the whole weight and bulk of their bodies ; whereas in the other way, they are tor- 

 mented with having their heads drawn back and turned up, and with difficulty stir the surface of the 

 earth with a light plough." {Col. lib. ii. cap. 11. 22.) 



103. Oxen, when in the plough, were not allowed to go a great way without turning; 

 one hundred and twenty feet was the length fixed upon, and further than this, it was 

 thought improper for them to pull hard without stopping. The Reverend A. Dickson 

 thinks it probable, that ** the breaks or plats for the difterent kinds of corn and pulse 

 were laid out nearly of this length and breadth" [Husb. of the Anc. ii. 452.) ; and there 

 appears grounds for concluding that the case was the same among the Jews and Greeks. 

 It was thought proper that oxen in ploughing should be allowed to stop a little at the 

 turning, and when they stopped, that the ploughman should put the yoke a little forward, 

 that so their necks might cool. " Unless their necks are carefully and regularly cooled," 

 says Columella, " they will soon become inflamed, and swellings and ulcers will arise." 

 The same author directs, that " the ploughman when he has unyoked his oxen, must rub 

 them after they are tied up, press their backs with his hands, pull up their hides, and not 

 suffer them to stick to their bodies ; for this is a disease that is very destructive to working 

 cattle." No food must be given them till they have ceased from sweating and high 

 breathing, and then by degrees, in portions as eaten ; and afterwards they are to be led to 

 the water, and encouraged by whistling." {Col. lib. ii. cap. 3.) 



104. In purchasing working oxen, Varro directs to choose such as have " spacious horns, 

 rather black than otherwise, a broad forehead, wide nostrils, a broad chest, and thick 

 dewlap." (Lib. i. cap. 20.) Ail the Roman authors agree that the best color of the body 

 is red or dark brown ; that the black are hardier, but not so valuable : that the hair should 

 be short and thick, and the whole skin very soft to the touch ; the body in general very 

 long and deep, or, as Columella and Palladius express it, compact and square. The par- 

 ticular parts they also describe at length in terms such as would for the most part be 

 approved by experienced breeders of cattle ; making due allowance for the difference be- 

 tween choice for working, and choice for fatting. They all concur in recommending 

 farmers to rear at home what oxen they want ; as those brought from a distance often 

 disagree with the change of soil and climate. 



105. The ass was the animal next in general use. Varro says, they were chiefly used to 

 carry burdens, or for the mill ; or for ploughing where the land is light, and that they 

 were most common in the south of Italy, especially in Campania. (Lib. ii. cap. 6.) He 

 gives directions for breeding and rearing of them : and states that the female should not 

 be allowed to work when in an advanced state of impregnation ; but that the male does 

 not improve by indulgence in labor. The foal is removed from the dam a year after being 

 foaled, and broke for labor in the third year. 



106. Mules, Columella says, " are very proper both for the road and the plough, provided 

 they are not too dear, and the stiff lands do not require the strength of the ox. " " Mules 

 and hinni." Varro observes, '< are of two kinds ; the first beingthe offspring of a mare and 

 an ass, and the second of a horse and an ass. A hinnus is less than an ass in the body, com- 



