BOOK IX. I. 1-4 



the farm buildings, and always give them food and 

 water by hand. Those on the other hand who look 

 for profit and revenue, when there is a wood near 

 the farm (for it is important that it should not be far 

 out of sight of the owner), reserve it without hesita- 

 tion for the above-mentioned animals, and if there 2 

 is no natural supply of water, either running-water 

 is introduced or else ponds are dug and lined with 

 mortar to receive and hold the rain-water. 



The extent of wood involved is in proportion to the 

 size of each man's property and, if the cheapness of 

 stone and labour make it advisable, certainly a wall 

 built with unhewn stone and lime is put round it ; 

 otherwise it is made with unburnt brick and clay. 

 When neither of these methods serves the purpose 3 

 of the master of the house, reason requires that they 

 should be shut up with a post fence ; for this is the 

 name given to a certain kind of lattice made of oak 

 or cork-wood, since olive-wood is only rarely obtain- 

 able ; in a word, according to local conditions, any 

 kind of wood is chosen for this purpose which resists 

 injury from rain better than any other. Whether it 

 be the round trunk of a tree or cleft into stakes, as its 

 thickness demands, it has several holes bored through 

 its side and is erected firmly in the ground at fixed 

 intervals all round the park ; then bars are put across 

 through the holes in the sides of the posts to prevent 

 the passage of the wild beasts. It is enough to fix 4 

 the posts at intervals of eight feet and to fasten them 

 to the cross-bars in such a way that the width of 

 space which occurs where holes are left may not offer 

 the animals a means of escape. In this manner you 

 can even enclose very wide regions and tracts of 

 mountains, as the vast extent of ground permits in 



423 



