ROMAN AGRICULTURE. 395 



as in one way they press with the whole weight and bulk of 

 their bodies, whereas in the other way they are tormented with 

 having their heads drawn up and turned back, and with diffi- 

 culty stir the surface of the earth with a light plow." Oxen, 

 when in the plow, 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 Rev. A. Dixon thinks it 

 "probable that the breaks or plats for the different kinds of 

 corn and pulse, were laid out nearly of this length and breadth," 

 and there appear to be grounds for concluding that the case 

 was the same among the Jews and Greeks. It was thought 

 proper that oxen, in plowing, should be allowed to stop a little 

 at the turning, and when they stopped that the plowman should 

 put -the yoke a little forward, that 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 plowman, 

 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 breath- 

 ing, and then by degrees, in portions as eaten, and afterward 

 they are to be led to the water and encouraged by whistling." 



In purchasing working oxen, Varro directs fo choose such as 

 have " spacious horns, rather black than otherwise, a broad 

 forehead, wide nostrils, a broad chest, and thick dewlaps." All 

 the Roman authors agree that the best color 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 

 particular 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 between 

 choice for working and choice for fatting, they all concur in 

 recommending farmers to rear at home what oxen they want, as 



