174 VARRO ON FARMING [bk. 



made about three ^ feet high, and a little more than 

 three feet wide, not any lower than this from the 

 ground lest a sow when pregnant should attempt to 

 jump out and so miscarry. The height should be 

 such that the swineherd can see the whole sty at a 

 glance, and prevent any little pig from being 

 crushed by its mother; and may also be able to 

 clean out the hutch without difficulty. There shoulc 

 be a door to the sty, and the threshold ^ shoulc 

 be one and a third feet high, to prevent th( 

 little pigs from jumping over it when their mothei 



15 goes out. It is the swineherd's duty, every time h( 

 cleans out a sty, to throw sand into it or somethinj 

 of the kind, which will absorb moisture ; an( 

 after a sow has littered, to keep up her strengtl 

 with a more generous diet, so that she may be th( 

 better able to provide milk. It^ is usual to giv^ 

 them about two pounds of barley apiece, soaked 

 in water, and this allowance some people double,] 

 giving it night and morning, if they have nothinj 



16 else to feed them with. After pigs have been weanec 



. ^ Trium pedum altam. Columella (vii, 9, 10) says four. 



2 Limen inferius. Columella (vii, 9, 13) prescribes in tantai 

 altitudinem consurgat quantam possit nutrix evaderCy lactet 

 autem supergredi non possit. 



^ In quibus. Keil deletes the in without good reason, I 

 think. In quibus, meaning ** and in their case," is good Latin 

 and very common in Varro. 



* Aqua madefactas probably means "boiled." Columella 

 (vii, 9, 13): Quibus partus submittitur cocto sunt hordeo 

 sustinendae. And Aristotle (H. A., vi, 18, 35) prescribes the 

 same food — reroicvii^ dk ry vi KpiOdg e^Odg. 



