30 HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. Pjiut I. 



;md bTmigbl to trial. He produced in tlie forum a stout daughter, and his excellently 

 constructed iron spades, shears, and other tools, w iili his oxen, and said, " These, Romans, 

 arc my charms.' 1 He was acquitted. (Nat. Hist., lil>. xviii. cap. a.) 



161. Ostentatious or profuse culture is not less condemned than imperfect culture. 

 " The ancients," says Pliny, "assert that nothing turns to less account tlian to give land 

 a great deal of culture. To cultivate well is necessary, to cultivate in an extraordi- 

 nary manner is hurtful. In what manner, then," he asks, " are lands to be culti- 

 vated to the best advantage ?" To this be answers, "In the cheapest manner, if it is 

 good ;" or " by good bad things," which, he says, were the words in which the ancients 



used in express this maxim. 



162. Industry is recommended by numerous maxims. " The ancients," sa_\s 

 Pliny, " considered him a bail husbandman who buys what lus farm can produce to him ; 



a bad master of a family, who dues in the day-time what he may do at night, except in 

 the time of a Storm; a worse, who does on common days what is lawful on holidays; 

 the worst (if all, who on a good day is employed more within doors than in the fields." 

 (Xnt. Hist., lib. xviii. cap. 6.) 



163. Kindness and humanity t<> servants and slaves is strongly recommended. " Slaves," 

 says Varro, " must not be timid nor petulant. They who preside must have some degree 

 of learning and education ; they must be frugal, older than the workmen, for the latter are 

 more attentive to the directions of these, than they are to those of younger men. Besides, 

 it must be most eligible that they should preside, who are experienced in agriculture j 

 for they ought not only to give orders, but to work, that they may imitate him, and that 

 they may consider that he presides over them with reason, because he is superior in 

 knowledge and experience : nor is he to be suffered to be so imperious to use coercion 

 with stripes rather than words, if this can be done. Nor are many to be procured of the 

 same country, for domestic animosities very often arise from tliis source. You must en- 

 courage them who preside, by rewarding them, and you must endeavour to let them have 

 some privilege, and maid servants wedded to them, by whom they may have a family ; 

 for by these means they become more steady and more attached to the farm. On account 

 of these connections, the Epirotic families are so distinguished and attached. To give the 

 persons who preside some degree of pleasure, you must hold them in some estimation ; 

 and vou must consult with some of the superior workmen concerning the work that is to 

 be done : when you behave thus, they think that they are less despicable, and that they 

 are held in some degree of esteem by their master. They become more eager for work 

 by liberal treatment, by giving them victuals, or a large garment, or by granting them 

 some recreation or favour, as the privilege of feeding something on the farm, or some such 

 tiling. In relation to them, who are commanded to do work of greater drudgery, or who 

 are punished, let somebody restore their good will and affection to their master by afford 

 ing them the benefit of consolation." 



164. Knowledge in matters relative to agriculture is inculcated by all the rustic authors. 

 " Whoever," says Columella, " would be perfect in this science, must be well acquainted 

 with the qualities of soils and plants ; must not be ignorant of the various climates, 

 that so he may know what is agreeable, and what is repugnant, to each ; he must know 

 exactly the succession of the seasons, and the nature of each, lest, beginning his work 

 when showers and wind are just at hand, his labour shall be lost. He must be capable to 

 observe exactly the present temper of the sky and seasons ; for these are not always re- 

 gular, nor in every year does the summer and winter bring the same kind of weather, nor 

 is the spring always rainy, and the autumn wet. To know these things before they hap- 

 pen, without a very good capacity, and the greatest care to acquire knowledge, is, in my 

 opinion, in the power of no man." {Col., lib. i. prsef.) To these things mentioned by 

 Columella, Virgil adds several others. " Before we plough a field to which we are 

 strangers," says he, " we must be careful to attain a knowledge of the winds, from what 

 points they blow at the particular seasons, and when and from whence they are most 

 violent ; the nature of the climate, which in different places is very different ; the cus- 

 toms of our forefathers ; the customs of the country ; the qualities of the different soils ; 

 ami what arc the crops that each country and climate produces and rejects." ( Virg. 

 Georg.,i. 1.) 



165. The making of experiments is a thing very strongly recommended to the fanner by 

 some of our authors. " Nature," says Varro, " has pointed out to us two paths, which 

 lead to the knowledge of agriculture, viz. experience and imitation. The ancient hus- 

 bandmen, by making experiments, have established many maxims. Their posterity, for 

 the most part, imitate them ; we ought to do both, imitate others and make experiments 

 ourselves, not directed by chance, but reason." (Var., lib. i. cap. is.) 



Sect. V. Of the Produce and Proft of Roman Agriculture. 



166. The topics of produce and profits in agriculture} are very difficult to be discussed 



satisfactorily. In manufactures the raw material is purchased for a sum certain, and the 



