BOOK II. X. 26-29 



garden, ten feet wide and fifty feet long, to allow 

 water to be supplied by way of the foot-paths and 

 to provide a means of access on both sides for the 

 weeders. Then spread old manure over it, and 27 

 at the end of April sow at the rate of one cyathus " 

 of seed to a space ten feet long and five wide. When 

 you have done so, the seed should be covered at once 

 with wooden rakes — a matter of great importance — 

 for the seed is very soon burned by the sun. After 

 the seed is sown, the place should not be touched with 

 iron; and so, as I have said, it must be hoed with 

 wooden implements and repeatedly freed of weeds, 

 so that no other kind of growth may kill out the weak 

 Medic. It will be best to make the first cutting 28 

 rather late, after it has dropped some of its seed. 

 Thereafter, when it has started up, you may cut it as 

 tender as you please and feed it to stock, but some- 

 what sparingly at first, until they become accustomed 

 to it, so that the novelty of the fodder may not harm 

 them ; for it causes bloating and greatly increases 

 the blood supply. After cutting, water it rather 

 frequently ; then, a few days later, when it begins to 

 send out new shoots, weed out all other kinds of 

 growth. If cared for in this way, it can be cut six 

 times a year and will last for ten years. ** 



Of vetch, however, there are two sowings : the first 29 

 about the time of the autumnal equinox, for the 

 purpose of forage, in which we sow seven viodii to the 

 iugerum ; the second in the month of January or even 

 later, when we scatter six viodii for the production of 

 seed. Both sowings may be made on untilled land, 

 but with better results on broken ground ; and this 



^ Pliny (loc. cit.) gives it more than thirty years of life. 



175 



