288 VARRO ON FARMING [bk. 



row, on which little mats made of hemp are placed. 

 The lowest row should not be less than three feet 

 from the ground, between the other rows there 

 should be nine inches, and between the top row 

 and the ceiling six inches; the row should be of the 

 breadth the shelf can be made to project from the 

 wall, and upon these shelves the birds feed ^ day and 

 night. For food they are given dry wheat, about 

 half a peck a day for every 120 turtle-doves. Their 

 quarters are swept out daily lest they suffer harm 

 from the dung,^ which is, moreover, kept for tillage. 

 The best time for fattening them is near the time ol 

 harvest,^ for the mother-birds are then at their best 



vacua esty quoniam id genus in omithone nee parit nee excudit. 

 He goes on to say that they are fattened as soon as caught, 

 and that the best time to do so is in summer, as it is difficult 

 to fatten them in winter, and the price obtained for them 

 is lowered by reason of the abundance of fieldfares at that 

 season. 



^ Paseuntur. Columella (viii, 9, 3) closely follows Varro, 

 but enters into greater detail : "The places made for turtle- 

 doves are not boxes or little chambers hollowed out in the 

 walls as is the case for pigeons. Instead shelves (brackets) 

 are fastened to the walls in a straight line, and these are 

 covered with little hempen mats. Nets are thrown over them 

 to prevent the birds from flying, as they lose flesh if they do. 

 On these shelves they are diligently fed with millet or wheat, 

 which must not be other than dry." 



^ A stereore. Columella ijoc. cit) continues: **The mats 

 must be carefully cleaned lest the dung burn the feet of the 

 birds." 



^ Circiter messem. Columella {loc. cH.) says: "About har- 

 vest time when the young broods have now grown strong. " 



The practice of fattening turtle-doves in large numbers was 



