Cato's Farm Management 



Of Pastures 

 (l) Manure the pastures in early, 

 spring in the dark of the moon, 



its Roman name Medica. Varro (I, 42) praises it, 

 and Columella calls it the best of the legumes and 

 discusses its cultivation in interesting detail. Because 

 this plant in comparatively new in America and 

 because so many farmers are balked by the difficulty 

 of getting a stand of it, it is important to realize 

 the pains which the Romans took with the seed bed, 

 for it is on this point that most American farmers 

 fail. Says Columella (II, lo) : 



"But of all the legumes, alfalfa is the best, be- 

 cause, when once it is sown, it lasts ten years: be- 

 cause it can be mowed four times, and even six 

 times, a year: because it improves the soil: because 

 all lean cattle grow fat by feeding upon it: because 

 it is a remedy for sick beasts: because a jugerum 

 (two-thirds of an acre) of it will feed three horses 

 plentifully for a year. We will teach you the man- 

 ner of cultivating it, as follows: The land which 

 you wish to set in alfalfa the following spring 

 should be broken up about the Kalends of October, 

 so that it may mellow through the entire winter. 

 About the Kalends of February harrow it thor- 

 oughly, remove all the stones and break up the clods. 

 Later, about the month of March, harrow it for the 

 third time. When you have so got the land in 

 good order, lay it off after the manner of a garden, 

 in beds ten feet wide and fifty feet long, so that it 

 may be possible to let in water by the paths, and 

 access on every side may be had by the weeders. 

 Then cover the beds with well rotted manure. At 

 last, about the end of April, sow plentifully so that 

 a single measure (cyanthus) of seed will cover a 

 space ten feet long and five wide. When you have 

 done this brush in the seed with wooden rakes: this 

 is most important for otherwise the sprouts will be 

 withered by the sun. After the sowing no iron tool 



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