224 VARRO ON FARMING [bk. 



of stout leather going round the neck and furnished 

 with nails having heads. Under these heads a 

 piece of soft leather is sewn, so that the hardness of 

 the iron may not hurt the dog's neck. If a wolf or 

 any other animal has been wounded by this collar 

 it makes all the other dogs safe from him, even 

 i6 those that do not wear it. The number of dogs is 

 usually made proportionate to the size of the flock, 

 and it is thought to be in most cases proper for one 

 dog to follow each shepherd. As to the number, how- 

 ever, people differ in their estimate, for if the district 

 be one where wild beasts abound, more dogs are 

 needed — which is the case with those who have to 

 journey with their flocks to winter or summer 

 quarters by long tracks ' through the forest. But 

 for a flock staying at the farmstead two are thought 

 enough for the farm — a dog and a bitch. For so 

 they stick better to their work, since the same * dog 



^ Calles. Cf. Isidore, xv, i6 (towards the end): Callis est 

 iter pecudum inter monies angustum et tritum, a callo pecudum 

 vocatum, sive callo pecudum perduratum, i.e., a "sheep-walk." 



2 Quod cum altero item, etc. The archetype has quod cum 

 altero idem fit acrior et si alter videmfiter aeger est ne sine cane 

 grex sity which Keil emends arhitrio suo. He objects to the 

 idem, which seems pure Varro (cf. i, 23, 6). The same dog 

 becomes another dog — much keener — when he has a comrade. 

 Crescentius also has idem. As to the rest Keil's emendation 

 diverges widely from the MSS., and the ne sine cane grex sit 

 seems impossibly harsh. 



Is it not possible to keep much closer to the archetype by 

 reading et si alter uter {or quidem) fit aeger, est ne sine cane 

 grex sit? The use of est (which is needed for the apodosis) is 

 common when followed by an affirmative clause. Cf. Horace's 



