BOOK VII 



I. Since, Publius Silvinus, we are now about to deal The 

 with the lesser farm- animals, our first subject shall 

 be that cheap and common animal the lesser * ass 

 from the region of Arcadia, to which the majority of 

 writers on agriculture consider that particular 

 attention should be paid when it is a question of 

 buying and tending beasts of burden ; and they are 

 quite right, for it can be kept even in a country which 

 lacks pasturage, since it is content with very little 

 fodder of any sort of quality, feeding on leaves 

 and the thorns of brier-bushes, or a bundle of 

 twigs which is offered to it; indeed it actually 

 thrives on chaff, which is abundant in almost every 

 region. 



Further, it endures most bravely the neglect of a 2 

 careless master and tolerates blows and want most 

 patiently ; for which reasons it is slower in breaking 

 down than any other animal used for ploughing, for, 

 since it shows the utmost endurance of toil and 

 hunger, it is rarely affected by disease. The per- 

 formance by this animal of very many essential tasks 

 beyond its share is as remarkable as the very little 

 care which it requires, since it can both break up with 

 a light plough easily worked soil, such as is found in 

 Baetica and all over Libya, and can draw on vehicles 



* I.e. the ass as compared with the mule. 



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