44 VARRO ON FARMING [bk. 



CHAPTER XIV 



FENCES AND WALLS 



1 Now concerning the fences which are to be made 

 to protect the farm or part of it: of these protections 

 there are four kinds — one is the natural fence, the 

 second is of timber, the third that used for military 

 purposes, and the fourth of masonry. Each of these 

 kinds has several species. The first kind — the 

 natural fence — is a quick-set hedge, to form which 

 brushwood or thorn trees are usually planted. This 

 has roots, and need not fear the lighted torch of a 



2 mischievous passer-by. The second is of forest- 

 timber, not live wood. It is made of stakes set 

 close together and interwoven with brushwood ; or 

 of broad stakes through which holes have been 

 bored, while through the holes in each upright two 

 or three poles are passed; or it is made of tree 

 trunks set up in a row and sunk into the ground. 

 The third, the military fence, is a trench-and-ram- 

 part arrangement, but the trench is suitable only if 

 it can hold all the rain-water that comes down, or 

 has a fall so that the water may run off the farm. 



3 That rampart is good which is continuous on the 

 inside with a ditch, or is so high that it is not easy 

 to get over it. Fences of this kind are usually made 

 parallel with highways, or following the course of 

 streams. On the Via Salaria, in the neighbourhood 



