BOOK II. V. i-vi. 2 



ploughing, it will be best to manure it ; for on such 

 food, so to speak, it grows fat. On level ground 

 piles of manure, about five modii "■ to the pile, should 

 be placed farther apart, and on hilly land closer to- 

 gether : on the level it will suffice to leave an inter- 

 val of eight feet each way, on a slope two feet less. 

 My own preference is that this be done when the 

 moon is waning, for this frees the crops from weeds. 

 Furthei'more, one iugerum, if manured heavily, 

 requires twenty-four loads ; '' if lightly, eighteen. 

 Then the manure, once it is spread, should be 2 

 ploughed in immediately and covered over, that it 

 may not lose its strength from the heat of the sun 

 and that the soil, being mixed with it, may grow 

 fat on the aforesaid nourishment. And so, when 

 piles of manure are distributed in a field, the 

 number of those so scattered should not exceed 

 what the ploughmen can dig in on the same day. 



VI. Inasmuch as we have given directions for the 

 preparation of the ground for sowing, let us now 

 treat of the kinds of seed. The seeds of first im- 

 portance and most useful to mankind are grains of 

 wheat and emmer.*^ We know of several varieties of 

 wheat; but of this number that called robus or 

 " ruddy " is most suitable for sowing, because it is 

 supei-ior in both weight and brightness. Second 2 

 place must be given to siligo or winter wheat, which 

 is of excellent appearance in bread '^ but lacking in 

 weight. The third shall be the three-months 

 wheat, the use of which is most gratifying to farmers ; 

 for when, because of rains or some other reason, an 

 early sowing has not been made, recourse is had to 



^ Because of its whiteness; c/. II. 9. 13, and Pliny, N.H. 

 X Vni. 86. 



137 



