8 SKETCHES OF RURAL AFFAIRS. 



nations of antiquity, oxen were the principal animals 

 employed to draw them. 



The Greek plough consisted of three parts the share- 

 beam, the draught-pole, and the plough-tail ; and is 

 supposed to have been not unlike a very simple plough 

 still used in Sicily. Some ancient drawings of early 

 Greek ploughs represent them as having wheels. The 

 Greek ploughmen, living in a beautiful climate, were 

 accustomed to work during the summer months without 

 any clothing ; but in winter they wore coats of kid- 

 skins, worsted socks, and half-boots of ox-hides. They 

 were required to be at their work very early, and to 

 pay great attention to it, not letting their eyes wander 

 while at the plough, but cutting a straight furrow. 

 Care was taken to give them proper rest, and good food, 

 and they were encouraged in their labours by a yearly 

 feast. The best age for a ploughman was considered to 

 be forty. The Greek farmers were accustomed to pro- 

 vide a spare plough, that no accident might interfere 

 with their work. 



The Roman plough was of the simplest construction, 

 and was generally drawn by one pair of oxen, which 

 were guided by the ploughman, without the aid of a 

 driver. Great attention was paid to the straightness 

 and breadth of the furrow, and no balks, or portions of 

 unploughed soil, were to be left. To ascertain that the 

 work was well done, the Roman farmer traversed his 

 fields with a pole in his hand, which he thrust into the 

 ground in various places. The land was ploughed in 

 square lots of one hundred and twenty feet to the side, 

 two of which lots made their acre ; and the ploughman 

 was expected, in breaking up stiff land, to plough half 

 an acre a-day ; in free land an acre ; and in light land 

 an acre and a half were to be accomplished in the same 

 time. Sometimes they ploughed in ridges; at other 

 times not. They did not make a circuit when they 

 came to the end of a field, but returned close to the 

 furrow. 



