BOOK XMII. VIII. 43-47 



forefathers that on a farm the best fertilizer is the 

 master's eye. 



The remaining riiles will be given in their proper xeighbour- 

 places, according as they belong to tlie various kinds ^^ylatment of 

 of agricultm'e. In the meantime we will not omit /'"■"» hands. 

 the principlcs of general application which occur to 

 us, and particularlv that most humane and most 

 profitable advice of Cato," to do your best to winthe 

 esteem of your neighboux's. Cato gives reasons for 

 this advice, but for our part we iinagine that nobody 

 can doubt what the reasons are. Also one of Cato's 

 first pieces of advice ** is a warning to keep your farm 

 hands in good condition. That in agriculture 

 nothing must be done too late is a rule universally 

 held, as is a second rule that each thing must be done 

 at its own time, and a third that it is no use calHng 

 back lost opportunities. The malediction uttered Keepthe 

 by Cato against rotten land has been pointed out at xvil s?*' 

 sufficient leng-th ; thouffh he is never tired of declar- 

 ing that whatever can be done by means of an ass 

 costs the least money. Bracken dies in two years if 

 you do not let it make leaf, the best way to kill 

 it is to knock off the stalk with a stick when 

 it is budding, as the juice trickling down out of 

 the fern itself kills the roots. It is also said that 

 ferns plucked up about midsummer do not spring up 

 again, nor do those cut with a reed or ploughed up 

 with a reed placed on the ploughshare. Similarly they 

 also advise ploughing up reed with bracken placed 

 on the ploughshare. A field grown over with rushes 

 shoukl be turned up with the spade after having 

 bcen first broken with two-pronged forks. Brush- 

 wood is best removed by setting fire to it. WTien inainag oj 

 land is too damp it is very useful to cut ditches ''^"'^* 



219 



