BOOK XVIII. I.XVIT. 258-261 



involves very Httle outlay ; it requires the following 

 remarks to be made about it. Land should be left 

 in grass where the soil is rich or damp or watered by 

 streams, and the meadows should be watered by the 

 rainfall or by a public aqueduct. If there are weeds, 

 the best plan is to plough up the land and then 

 harrow and hoe it, and sprinkle it with seed fallen 

 out of the hay from haylofts and from inangers be- 

 fore the weeds are harrowcd ; and it is best not to 

 irrigate the land in the first year, nor to use it for 

 grazing before the second cutting of the hay, so 

 that the grass may not be torn up by the roots or 

 trodden down and weakened. Meadows go off with 

 age, and need to be revived by sowing in them a crop 

 of beans or turnip or millet, and afterwards in the 

 following year corn, and in the third year they should 

 again be left fallow ; and moreover every time they 

 are cut they should be gone over with the sickle, for 

 the purpose of cutting all the growth that the mowers 

 have passed over; for it is very detrimental indeed 

 for any weeds to spring up that will scatter seeds. 

 The best crop in meadow land is trefoil, the next best 

 grass ; monev-wort is the worst, and it also bears a 

 terrible pod ; horse-hair," named from its resemblance 

 to horses' hair, is also a hateful weed. The time for 

 mowing is when the stalk has begun to shed its 

 blossom and to grow strong ; the grass must be cut 

 before it begins to dry up. ' Do not mow your hay 

 too late,' says Cato ; ' cut it before thc seed is ripe.' r.r. hin. 

 Some farmers irrigate the fields the day before 

 mowing, but where there is no means of doing this 

 it is better to mow when there are heavy falls of dew 

 at night. Some parts of Italy mow after harvest. 

 MoMnng was also a more expensive operation in 



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