BOOK XVIII. VI. 26-28 



repented. Those about to buy land should before 

 all things give an eye to ' the water supply, the road, 

 and the neighbour '. Each of these rules admits 

 of an important and unquestionable interpretation. 

 Cato advises that in regard to the neighbouring i- 2. 

 farmers further consideration should be given to the 

 (|uestion how prosperous they look ; ' for in a good 

 district ', he says, ' the people look in good condition '. 

 AtiUus Regulus who was twice consul during the 

 Punic war " used to say that it is a mistake to buy 

 unhealthy land in the most fertile districts or the 

 most healthy land in districts that have been worked 

 out. The healthy (juality of the district is not always 

 disclosed by the complexion of the inhabitants, 

 because people can carry on even in very unhealthy 

 localities when they are used to them. Moreover 

 some districts are healthy during portions of the 

 year, but no place is really salubrious unless it is 

 healthy all the year round. ' Land with which the 

 owner has a continual struggle is bad land.'* Cato 

 bids us as one of the first points to see that the kmd i. B- 

 in the position stated above has a good quahty of xvii. 36. 

 its own, that there is a supply of hibour near. and a 

 thriving town, routes for carrying produce away by 

 water or by road, and that the farm is furnished 

 with good buildings and has been well fai*mcd — it 

 is in this that I notice most people make a mistake, 

 as they think that the purchaser scores from slack 

 farming on the part of the prcvious landlord, whereas 

 nothing is a greater source of loss than a farm that 

 has been neglected. Lor this reason Cato says that 

 it is better to purchase from a good landlord, and that 

 the lessons to be learnt from others should not be 

 despised, and that it is the samc with land as with a 



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