BOOK I. VI. 20-23 



them from becoming tainted, on the other hand, by 

 too much smoldng. 



As for the situation of the villa and the arrange- 

 ment of its several parts, enough has been said. It 21 

 A\all be necessary, next, that the villa have the 

 following near it: an oven and a gristmill, of such 

 size as may be required by the number of hands that 

 are to be employed ; at least two ponds, one to serve 

 for geese and cattle, the other in which we may soak 

 lupines, elm-withes, t>\igs, and other things which 

 are adapted to our needs." There should also be 

 two manure-pits, one to receive the fresh dung and 

 keep it for a year, and a second from which the old 

 is hauled ; but both of them should be built shelving 

 with a gentle slope, in the manner of fish-ponds, and 

 built up and packed hard with earth so as not to let 

 the moisture drain aAvay- For it is most important 22 

 that manure shall retain its sti-ength with no drying 

 out of its moisture and that it be soaked constantly 

 with liquids, so that any seeds of bramble or grass 

 that are mixed in the straw or chaff shall decay, and 

 not be carried out to the field to fill the crops ^\^th 

 weeds. And it is for this reason that experienced 

 farmers, when they carry out any refuse from folds 

 and stables, throw over it a covering of brush and do 

 not allow it to diy out or be burned by the beating 

 of the sun. 



The threshing-floor is to be so placed, if possible, 23 

 that it can be viewed from above by the master, or 

 at least by the farm-manager. Such a floor is best 



" Cf. Varro, B.B. I. 13. 3; Palladius, I. 31. 

 ' vel.add. Lundstrom. 



77 



