

THE SIZE OF FARMS 



commanded the attention of agricultural writers 

 since ancient times. "The ancients," says Pliny, 

 "were of opinion, that, above all things, the extent 

 of farms ought to be kept within proper bounds. 

 Wherefore it was a maxim amongst them, to sow 

 less and plow better. Such, too, I find, was the 

 opinion entertained by Virgil, and indeed, if we 

 must confess the truth, it is the wide-spread do- 

 mains that have been the ruin of Italy, and soon 

 will be that of the provinces as well. . . . With that 

 greatness of mind which was so peculiarly his 

 own, and of which he ought not to lose the credit, 

 Cneius Pompeius would never purchase the lands 

 that belonged to a neighbor." 1 



Columella, another Roman agricultural writer, 

 also taught moderation in the size of farms. "To 

 the other precepts," says he, "we add this, which 

 one of the seven wise men has pronounced as a 

 maxim, that holds true in all ages, that there ought 

 to be limits and measures of things; and this 

 ought to be understood, as applied not only to 

 those that do any other business, but also those 

 that buy land, that they may not buy more than 

 they are fully able for. To this is applicable the 

 famous sentence of our poet, You may admire a 

 large farm, but cultivate a small one; which 

 ancient precept this most learned man [Virgil], 



1 Natural History, Book XVIII, Chapter 7. The first part 

 of this quotation is taken from the translation as given by 

 Adam Dickson, Husbandry of the Ancients, Vol. I, p. 193 ; 

 the latter part is from Bohn's edition, Vol. IV, pp. 14 and 15. 



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