58 VARRO ON FARMING [bk. 



put their necks into furcae^^ which are fastened 

 to them, and then give them food, in a few days 

 they will become tame and easy to break in. 

 This you may then proceed to do, but gradually, 

 pairing the one new to the work with one who 

 knows it — for they learn to obey most easily 

 through imitation. You should begin on level 

 ground, and without a plough, then with a light 

 one, and the first land ploughed should be sand or 

 3 soft soil. Draught oxen should similarly be trained 

 by making them draw in the first instance empty 

 wagons — if possible through a village or a town 

 where the frequent creakings and variety of objects 

 rapidly accustom them to these things, and pre- 

 pare them for useful work. Again if you put a 

 draught ox on the right side, you must not keep 

 him persistently in that position, for if he is left- 

 hand and right-hand ox by turns, the change is 

 a rest to him when he is distressed by being too 



^ Furcae. According to Plutarch (Coriol., 24, and Quaest. 

 Rom., 70) the furca was a fork-shaped piece of wood by 

 which the pole was supported {^vkov afid^rjg <^ rbv pvfibv vTrepei- 

 dovmv). It was shaped like the letter A, and was used for the 

 punishment of slaves. The neck was inserted at the fork and 

 the arms tied to the instrument. Nero, when in hiding, was 

 told that the Senate had ordered him to be punished 7?tore 

 matorum, which meant nudi kominis cervicem insert furcae 

 corpus virgis ad necevi caedi (Sueton., Nero, 49): "To be 

 stripped naked, his neck put in the furca, and to be beaten to 

 death with rods." He then committed suicide ! 



Vergil (Georg., ill, 166) puts the necks of his oxen into 

 ** loose collars of pliant osier," as a preliminary to breaking 

 them in. 



