BOOK I. VI. 2,3-vii. 2 



when paved with hard stone, for the reason that the 

 gi-ain is threshed out quickly, since the ground does 

 not give under the beating of hoofs and threshing- 

 sledges," and the mnnowed grain is cleaner and is 

 free from small stones and clods which a dirt floor 

 nearly always casts up during the threshing. 

 Adjoining this there should be a shed * (and especi- 24 

 ally in Italy, because of the changeableness of the 

 weather), in which the half-threshed grain may be 

 stacked under cover if a sudden shower comes up. 

 In certain districts across the sea, where there is no 

 rain in sununer, this is unnecessary. The orchards, 

 too, and the gardens should be fenced all around and 

 should lie close by, in a place to which there may flow 

 all manure-laden sewage from barnyard and baths, and 

 the watery lees squeezed from olives ; for both vege- 

 tables and trees thrive on nutriment of this sort too. 

 VII. After all these arrangements have been 

 acquired or contrived, especial care is demanded of 

 the master not only in other matters, but most of all 

 in the matter of the persons in his ser\ice ; and 

 these are either tenant-farmers or slaves, whether un- 

 fettered or in chains. He should be civil in dealing 

 with his tenants, should show himself affable, and 

 should be more exacting in the matter of work than 

 of payments, as this gives less offence yet is, generally 

 speaking, more profitable. For when land is care- 

 fully tilled it usually brings a profit, and never a 

 loss, except v.hen it is assailed by unusually severe 

 weather or by robbers ; and for that reason the 

 tenant does not venture to ask for reduction of his 

 rent. But the master should not be insistent on 2 

 his rights in eveiy particular to which he has bound 

 his tenant, such as the exact day for payment, or 



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