C at o' s Farm Management 



(III) In his youth, the farmer 

 ought, diligently to plant his land, 

 but he should ponder before he 

 builds. Planting does not require re- 

 flection, but demands action. It is 

 time enough to build when you have 

 reached your thirty-sixth year, if you 

 have farmed your land well mean- 

 while. When you do build, let your 

 buildings be proportioned to your 

 estate, and your estate to your build- 



states about B. C. 300. This was the civilization in 

 which Cato had been reared, but in his time another 

 important change was taking place. The Roman 

 frontier was again widened by the conquest of the 

 Mediterranean basin: the acquisition of Sicily and 

 Sardinia ended breadstuff farming as the staple on 

 the Italian peninsular. The competition of the broad 

 and fertile acres of those great Islands had the ef- 

 fect in Italy which the cultivation of the Dakota 

 wheat lands had upon the grain farming of New 

 York and Virginia. About 150 B. C. the vine and 

 the olive became the staples of Italy and corn was 

 susperseded. Although this was not accomplished 

 until after Cato's death he foresaw it, and recom- 

 mended that a farm be laid out accordingly, and his 

 scheme of putting one's reliance upon the vine and 

 the olive was doubtless very advanced doctrine, when 

 it first found expression. As to Cato's views upon 

 the value of pasture land on a large estate (the 

 latifundia) see post p. 52. 



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