I] MOON AND SIXFOLD DIVISION 79 



When no work can be done in the fields, every- 

 thing that can be done in the farm-house should 

 then be finished off in the dark winter dawns. It is 

 good to have the rules which I have given written 

 out and hung well in view in the farm-house, in 

 order that all, and especially the bailiff, may know 

 them. 



CHAPTER XXXVII 



THE MOON AND THE SIXFOLD DIVISION OF THE YEAR 



I Attention must be paid also to the days of the 



moon, which may be regarded as divided into 



i two series; the one in which the moon waxes 



[ from new to full, the other in which it wanes to 



1 new moon until it reaches the day dividing two 



; months when the moon is said to be ending and 



beginning. Hence, at Athens this day is called m 



KM na (old and new), whilst others term it rpiaucai. 



crtain farm operations are better done when the 



..lOon is waxing than when it is waning, while with 



li certain others the reverse is the case, as the cut- 



ng of corn and timber. Why, said Agrasius, 



1 practise those precepts not only when shearing 



^heep, but in the matter of my hair even (following 



my father in this), for fear of growing bald if I cut 



It when the moon is waxing. Said Agrius: In 



hat sense has the moon four periods, and what 



ifluence has such a division on farming? Did 



