BOOK XVIII. xLviii. i73-.\u.x. 176 



the share turns the turves over ; men at once scatter 

 the seed on it and draw toothed harrows over the 

 furrows. Fields that have been sown in this way do 

 not need hoeing, but this method of ploughing re- 

 quircs teams of two or three pairs of oxen. It is a 

 fair estimate for forty acres of easy soil and thirty 

 of ditficult to be rated as a year's work for one team 

 of oxen. 



XLIX. In ploughing it is extremely important to Heasonjor 

 obey the oracular utterance of Cato : ' What is good ^./"^'Lxi. 

 farming ? Good ploughing. Wliat is second best ? 

 Ploughing. Whatthird? Manuring.' 'Donotplough 

 a crooked furrow. Plough in guod time.' In com- 

 parativcly mild places brcaking the ground should 

 begin at midNnnter, but in colder districts at the 

 spring equinox ; and it should begin earUer in a dry 

 region than in a damp one, and earher in a dense 

 soil than a loose onc and in a rich soil than in a poor 

 one. Where the summers are dry and oppressive 

 and the land chalky or thin, it pays better to plough 

 between midsummer and the autumnal equinox, but 

 in the middle of the hot weather in places where 

 summer heat is moderate, rainfalls frequent and the 

 soil rich and grassy. It is the rule to stir a deep 

 lieavy soil even in the winter, but a very thin and 

 dry one a Uttle before sowing. 



Ploughing also has rules of its own : Do not touch nuiesfor 

 a muddy soil. Plougli with all your might. Break 7''''«ff«"i?- 

 the ground before you plough. The value of the 

 last process is that turning the turf kills the roots of 

 the weeds. Some people recommend beginning to 

 break the ground at all events at the spring equinox. 

 Land ploughed once in spring is called ' spring- 

 worked land ', from the fact of thc date ; spring- 



299 



