BOOK VI 



PREFACE 



I am well aware, Publius Silvinus, that there are 

 some intelligent farmers who have refused to keep 

 cattle and have consistently rejected the pursuit 

 of the master of a flock as harmful to their profession. 

 I do not deny that they have some reason for so 

 doing on the ground that the aim of the farmer is 

 contrary to that of the shepherd, since the former 

 rejoices in land which is tilled and cleared to the 

 greatest possible extent, while the latter takes 

 pleasure in ground which is fallow and grassy ; the 

 one hopes for the fruits of the earth, the other for 

 the produce of his cattle, and so the cultivator detests 

 while on the other hand the grazier longs for a rich 

 yield of grass. But, in spite of these irreconcilable 2 

 desires, there exists a sort of alliance and union 

 between them, because, firstly, it is generally better 

 to use the food provided by one's own farm in feeding 

 one's own cattle rather than those of other people, 

 and, secondly, because it is owing to the plentiful 

 use of manure, which is derived from flocks, that the 

 fruits of the earth abound. Nor indeed is there any 3 

 region in which nothing but cereals is grown and 

 which is not cultivated quite as much by the aid 

 of cattle as of men. Hence also draught-animals 

 (iumentd) and animals which draw the plough (armentd) 



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