142 VARRO ON FARMING [bk. 



As to the rearing of them : if too many lambs are 

 born, you must follow the practice of some farmers 

 and part with some of them ; the result of doing so 

 is generally that the rest thrive better. 



25 I am afraid, said Atticus, that you are mistaken, 

 and thatyour nine divisions are applicable only to the 

 smaller and greater cattle. For how will they apply 

 to mules and shepherds, where there is no question 

 either of '* admission " or of '' gestation "; for I see 

 that in speaking of dogs the nine divisions may be 



26 used. I grant, however, that the number nine may 

 be retained in the case of human beings as well ; for 

 farmers keep women in the winter-quarters of the 

 slaves — in the farm buildings, I mean — while some 

 do so even in their summer quarters; their object 

 being to make it easier to keep the shepherds with 

 their flocks, to increase the number of the slaves 

 by child-bearmg, and thus to make their stock farm- 

 ing a more profitable business. 



Said I : This number is not given as an exact one, 

 any more than when we say that a thousand ships 

 went to Troy, or speak of the court of the Centum- 

 viri^ (hundred men) at Rome. So strike off, if you 

 like, in the case of mules, the two things, impregna- 



p. 247) : Reiculas oves, aut aetate aut morbo graves. Varro, 

 Cato vel de liberis educandis : et ut in grege opilio oves minus 

 idoneas removere solet, quas reiculas appellant. 



^ Centumviri. They formed a court for the trial of certain 

 civil causes at Rome — for the most part connected with 

 property and especially with matters of inheritance. It con- 

 sisted in Varro's time of 105 members chosen from the tribes 

 (three from each of the thirty-five). 



