THE PROBLEM OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS 31 



lands in Greece were mostly used for pasture, and not kept for hay. 

 With regard to their live stock, the Greeks from very early times took 

 pains with the breed, and endeavored to improve it. Thus we hear 

 that Polycrates imported into Samos sheep from Athens and Miletus, 

 and dogs from Lacedaemon and Epirus. The horse was not used for 

 purposes of farming, and was at all times somewhat scarce in Greece. 

 Oxen, sheep, and goats found abundant pasture in early tunes in 

 Greece. The shepherds were very numerous in proportion to the 

 sheep they tended, one to fifty, or at least one to a hundred, the 

 labour of slaves being very cheap and very ineffective. 



6. CONTEMPORARY ACCOUNTS OF ROMAN FARMING 

 a) BY MARCUS PORCIUS CATO' 



In buying a farm, notice how many wine presses and jars there 

 are; where they are lacking one can infer what yield there is. How- 

 ever, it is not the amount of equipment but what is accomplished with 

 it that counts. Where there are few implements the farm will not 

 be expensive to operate. One should realize that with a farm not 

 less than with a man, no matter how much it produces, little gain will 

 be left if the farm has a habit of spending. 



If you have bought a farm of one hundred jugera, in the best loca- 

 tion, it should be planted as follows: first a vineyard, if it promises 

 to yield well, second a watered garden, third an oiser bed, fourth an 

 olive orchard, fifth a meadow, sixth a grain field, seventh a woodlot, 

 eighth a cultivated orchard, and ninth an aocrn grove. 



As a young man, the farm-owner should plant his land with care, 

 but build only after long reflection. Planting does not require 

 reflection but action. When you have reached the age of thirty-six, 

 then you should build if you have a farm well planted. In building, 

 do not let the farmhouse be insufficient for the farm, or the farm for 

 the house. The farm-owner should have his country home well 

 built, with oil and wine cellar, and many jars, so that he may wait 

 for the highest price; a home, in short, which will be to your profit, 

 your credit, and your reputation. 



When the owner has come to the farmhouse and has greeted the 

 household, he should go over the farm that same day if possible; other- 

 wise, the next day. When he finds how the work of cultivation has 

 gone, what tasks are done, what undone, he should call the overseer 



Adapted from De agricultura, i, ii, iii. 



