Chaps. 7-11.

Chap. 7. (6.)—The Proper Arrangements for a Farm-house.

The proper plan to be pursued is this: [Cato, c. 3. Varro and Columella give the same advice.] the farm-house must not be unsuitable for the farm, nor the farm for the house; and we must be on our guard against following the examples of L. Lucullus and Q. Scævola, who, though living in the same age, fell into the two opposite extremes; for whereas the farm-house of Scævola was not large enough for the produce of his farm, the farm of Lucullus was not sufficiently large for the house he built upon it; an error which gave occasion to the reproof of the censors, that on his farm there was less of ground for ploughing than of floor for sweeping. The proper arrangements for a farm-house are not to be made without a certain degree of skill. C. Marius, who was seven times consul, was the last person who had one built at Misenum; [See B. iii. c. 9.] but he erected it with such a degree of that artistic skill which he had displayed in castrametation, that Sylla Felix [Sylla the Fortunate, the implacable enemy of Marius.] even made the remark, that in comparison with Marius, all the others had been no better than blind. [Because, though the last comer, he had obtained the best site in the locality.]

It is generally agreed, that a farm-house ought neither to be built near a marsh, nor with a river in front of it; for, as Homer [Od. v. 469. If the river has a bed of sand and high banks, it is really advantageous than otherwise.] has remarked, with the greatest correctness, unwholesome vapours are always exhaled from rivers before the rising of the sun. In hot localities, a farm-house should have a northern aspect, but where it is cold, it should look towards the south; where, on the other hand, the site is temperate, the house should look due east. Although, when speaking [In B. xvii. c. 3.] of the best kinds of soil, I may seem to have sufficiently discussed the characteristics by which it may be known, I shall take the present opportunity of adding a few more indications, employing the words of Cato [Not to be found in his works which have come down to us.] more particularly for the purpose. “The dwarf-elder,” says he, “the wild plum, [Prunus spinosa of Linnæus.] the bramble the small bulb, [See B. xix. c.; probably one of the genus Allium sphærocephalum of Linnæus.] trefoil, meadow grass, [“Herba pratensis.” It is not known with certainty to what plant he alludes. Fée suggests that it may be the Poa pratensis, or else a phleum, alopecurus, or dactylis. All the plants here mentioned by Pliny will thrive in a calcareous soil, and their presence, as Fée remarks, is of bad augury.] the quercus, and the wild pear and wild apple, are all of them indicative of a corn land. The same is the case, too, where the land is black, or of an ashy colour. All chalky soils are scorching, unless they are very thin; the same, too, with sand, unless it is remarkably fine. These remarks, however, are more applicable to champaign localities than declivities.”

The ancients were of opinion, that before everything, moderation should be observed in the extent of a farm; for it was a favourite maxim of theirs, that we ought to sow the less, and plough the more: such too, I find, was the opinion entertained by Virgil, [He alludes to the famous maxim in the Georgics, B. ii. l. 412:— ——Laudato ingentia rura, Exiguum colito—— “Praise a large farm, cultivate a small one.”] and indeed, if we must confess the truth, it is the wide-spread domains that have been the ruin [By introducing slovenly cultivation.] of Italy, and soon will be that of the provinces as well. Six proprietors were in possession of one half of Africa, [That small part of it known to the Romans. Hardouin says that the province of Zeugitana is alluded to, mentioned in B. v. c. 3.] at the period when the Emperor Nero had them put to death. With that greatness of mind which was so peculiarly his own, and of which he ought not to lose the credit, Cneius Pompeius would never purchase the lands that belonged to a neighbour. Mago has stated it as his opinion, that a person, on buying a farm, ought at once to sell his town house; [And reside on the farm.] an opinion, however, which savours of too great rigidity, and is by no means conformable to the public good. It is with these words, indeed, that he begins his precepts; a good proof, at all events, that he looks upon the personal inspection of the owner as of primary importance.

The next point which requires our care is to employ a farm-steward [Villicus.] of experience, and upon this, too, Cato [De Re Rust. c. 5.] has given many useful precepts. Still, however, it must suffice for me to say that the steward ought to be a man nearly as clever as his master, though without appearing to know it. It is the very worst plan of all, to have land tilled by slaves let loose from the houses of correction, as, indeed, is the case with all work entrusted to men who live without hope. I may possibly appear guilty of some degree of rashness in making mention of a maxim of the ancients, which will very probably be looked upon as quite incredible—“That nothing is so disadvantageous as to cultivate land in the highest style of perfection.” L. Tarius Rufus, a man who, born in the very lowest ranks of life, by his military talents finally attained the consulship, [A.U.C. 737.] and who in other respects adhered to the old-fashioned notions of thriftiness, made away with about one hundred millions of sesterces, which, by the liberality of the late Emperor Augustus, he had contrived to amass, in buying up lands in Picenum, and cultivating them in the highest style, his object being to gain a name thereby; the consequence of which was, that his heir renounced [Probably because it entailed too great an expense. It may have been deeply mortgaged: otherwise it is not clear why the heir refused to take it, as he might have sold a part.] the inheritance. Are we of opinion, then, that ruin and starvation must be the necessary consequence of such a course as this? Yes, by Hercules! and the very best plan of all is to let moderation guide our judgment in all things. To cultivate land well is absolutely necessary, but to cultivate it in the very highest style is mere extravagance, unless, indeed, the work is done by the hands of a man’s own family, his tenants, or those whom he is obliged to keep at any rate. But besides this, even when the owner tills the land itself, there are some crops which it is really not worth the while to gather, if we only take into account the manual labour expended upon them. The olive, too, should never be too highly [He means to say that it is so much labour lost, as it will take care of itself; but this is hardly in accordance with his numerous directions given in B. xv. Virgil, Geor. B. ii. 421, et seq., speaks of the olive as requiring no attention when it has once taken root.] cultivated, nor must certain soils, it is said, be too carefully tilled, those of Sicily, [See B. xvii. c. 3.] for instance; hence it is, that new comers there so often find themselves deceived. [In throwing away money and labour upon land that does not require it.]

Chap. 8.—Maxims of the Ancients on Agriculture.

In what way, then, can land be most profitably cultivated? Why, in the words of our agricultural oracles, “by making good out of bad.” But here it is only right that we should say a word in justification of our forefathers, who in their precepts on this subject had nothing else in view but the benefit of mankind: for when they use the term “bad” here, they only mean to say that which costs the smallest amount of money. The principal object with them was in all cases to cut down expenses to the lowest possible sum; and it was in this spirit that they made the enactments which pronounced it criminal for a person who had enjoyed a triumph, to be in possession, among his other furniture, of ten pounds’ weight of silver plate: which permitted a man, upon the death of his farm-steward, to abandon all his victories, and return to the cultivation of his lands—such being the men the culture of whose farms the state used to take upon itself; and thus, while they led our armies, did the senate act as their steward.

It was in the same spirit, too, that those oracles of ours have given utterance to these other precepts, to the effect that he is a bad agriculturist who has to buy what his farm might have supplied him with; that the man is a bad manager who does in the day-time what he might have done in the night, except, indeed, when the state of the weather does not allow it; that he is a worse manager still, who does on a work-day what he might have done on a feast-day; [Virgil, Georg. I. 268, et seq., speaks of the work that might be done on feast days—making hedges, for instance, irrigating land, catching birds, washing sheep, and burning weeds.] but that he is the very worst of all, who works under cover in fine weather, instead of labouring in the fields.

I cannot refrain from taking the present opportunity of quoting one illustration afforded us by ancient times, from which it will be found that it was the usage in those days to bring before the people even questions connected with the various methods employed in agriculture, and will be seen in what way men were accustomed to speak out in their own defence. C. Furius Chresimus, a freedman, having found himself able, from a very small piece of land, to raise far more abundant harvests than his neighbours could from the largest farms, became the object of very considerable jealousy among them, and was accordingly accused of enticing away the crops of others by the practice of sorcery. Upon this, a day was named by Spurius Calvinus, the curule ædile, for his appearance. Apprehensive of being condemned, when the question came to be put to the vote among the tribes, he had all his implements of husbandry brought into the Forum, together with his farm servants, robust, well-conditioned, and well-clad people, Piso says. The iron tools were of first-rate quality, the mattocks were stout and strong, the plough-shares ponderous and substantial, and the oxen sleek and in prime condition. When all this had been done, “Here, Roman citizens,” said he, “are my implements of magic; but it is impossible for me to exhibit to your view, or to bring into this Forum, those midnight toils of mine, those early watchings, those sweats, and those fatigues.” Upon this, by the unanimous voice of the people, he was immediately acquitted. Agriculture, in fact, depends upon the expenditure of labour and exertion; and hence it is that the ancients were in the habit of saying, that it is the eye of the master that does more towards fertilizing a field than anything else.

We shall give the rest of these precepts in their appropriate places, according as we find them adapted to each variety of cultivation; but in the meantime we must not omit some of a general nature, which here recur to our recollection, and more particularly that maxim of Cato, as profitable as it is humane: “Always act in such a way as to secure the love of your neighbours.” He then proceeds to state his reasons for giving this advice, but it appears to me that no one surely can entertain the slightest doubt upon the subject. One of the very first recommendations that he gives is to take every care that the farm servants are kept in good condition. [“Ne familiæ male sit.”] It is a maxim universally agreed upon in agriculture, that nothing must be done too late; and again, that everything must be done at its proper season; while there is a third precept, which reminds us that opportunities lost can never be regained. The malediction uttered by Cato against rotten ground has been treated of at some length already; [In B. xvii. c. 3.] but there is another precept which he is never tired of repeating, “Whatever can be done by the help of the ass, will cost the least money.”

Fern will be sure to die at the end of a couple of years, if you prevent it from putting forth leaves; the most efficient method of ensuring this is to beat the branches with a stick while they are in bud; for then the juices that drop from it will kill the roots. [The Pteris aquilina, or female fern. No such juices drop from it as here mentioned by Pliny, Fée says.] It is said, too, that fern will not spring up again if it is pulled up by the roots about the turn of the summer solstice, or if the stalks are cut with the edge of a reed, or if it is turned up with a plough-share with a reed placed [A superstition quite unworthy of our author; and the same with respect to that mentioned in the next line.] upon it. In the same way, too, we are told that reeds may be effectually ploughed up, if care is taken to place a stalk of fern upon the share. A field infested with rushes should be turned up with the spade, or, if the locality is stony, with a two-pronged mattock: overgrown shrubs are best removed by fire. Where ground is too moist, it is an advantageous plan to cut trenches in it and so drain it; where the soil is cretaceous, these trenches should he left open; and where it is loose, they should be strengthened with a hedge to prevent them from falling in. When these drains are made on a declivity, they should have a layer of gutter tiles at the bottom, or else house tiles with the face upwards: in some cases, too, they should be covered [Sub-soil drainage is now universally employed, with the agency of draining-tiles, made for the purpose.] with earth, and made to run into others of a larger size and wider; the bottom, also, should, if possible, have a coating of stones or of gravel. The openings, too, should be strengthened with two stones placed on either side, and another laid upon the top. Democritus has described a method of rooting up a forest, by first macerating the flower of the lupine [The flower of the lupine could not possibly produce any such effect; and the juice of cicuta, or hemlock, in only a very trifling degree.] for one day in the juice of hemlock, and then watering the roots of the trees with it.

Chap. 9. (7.)—The Different Kinds of Grain.

As the field is now prepared, we shall proceed to speak of the nature of the various kinds of grain; we must premise, however, that there are two principal classes of grain, the cereals, [This word answers to the Latin “frumenta,” which indicates all those kinds of corn from which bread was prepared by the ancients.] comprising wheat and barley, and the legumina, such as the bean and the chick-pea, for instance. The difference between these two classes is too well known to require any further description.

Chap. 10.—The History of the Various Kinds of Grain.

The cereals are divided again into the same number of varieties, according to the time of the year at which they are sown. The winter grains are those which are put in the ground about the setting of the Vergiliæ, [See c. of this Book.] and there receive their nutriment throughout the winter, for instance, wheat, [Triticum hibernum of Linnæus, similar to the “siligo” mentioned in the sequel. Winter wheat was greatly cultivated in Apulia.] spelt, [“Far.” This name is often used in the classics, to signify corn in general; but in the more restricted sense in which it is here employed, it is “Triticum dicoccum,” the “Zea” of the Greeks. It consists of two varieties, the single grained, the Triticum monococcum of Linnæus, and the double-grained, the Triticum spelta of Linnæus, which is still called “farra” in Friuli.] and barley. [Hordeum sativum of Linnæus.] The summer grains are those which are sown in summer, before the rising of the Vergiliæ, [See c. of this Book.] such as millet, [Panicum Italicum of Linnæus.] panic, [Panicum miliaceum of Linnæus. This was probably one of the first grains from which bread was made.] sesame, [The Sesamum orientale of Linnæus. It is no longer cultivated in Europe, though formerly it was much used in Greece.] horminum, [It is very doubtful if this is the same as clary, the Salvia horminum of Linnæus, as that is one of the Labiatæ, whereas here, most probably, a leguminous plant is spoken of.] and irio, [It has been asserted that this is identical with the Sisymbrium polyceratium of Linnæus, rock-gentle, rock-gallant, or winter-cress. Fée, however, is strongly of opinion that it can only be looked for in the Sisymbrium irio of Linnæus.] in accordance, however, with the usage of Italy only; for in Greece and Asia all the grains are sown just after the setting of the Vergiliæ. There are some, again, that are sown at either season in Italy, and others at a third period, or, in other words, in the spring. Some authors give the name of spring-grain to millet, panic, lentils, [Ervum lens of Linnæus.] chick-peas, [The Cicer arietinum of naturalists, the Garbanzo of the Spaniards. It abounds in the south of Europe and in India.] and alica, [A variety of spelt was called by this name; but it was more generally applied to a kind of flummery, pottage or gruel.] while they call wheat, barley, beans, turnips, and rape, sementive or early sowing seeds. Certain species of wheat are only sown to make fodder for cattle, and are known by the name of “farrago,” [Hence our word “forage.”] or mixed grain; the same, too, with the leguminous plants, the vetch, for instance. The lupine, [Lupinus hirsutus and pilosus of Linnæus.] however, is grown in common as food for both cattle and men.

All the leguminous [From Theophrastus, Hist. Plant. B. viii. c. 2.] plants, with the exception of the bean, have a single root, hard and tough, like wood, and destitute of numerous ramifications; the chick-pea has the deepest root of all. Corn has numerous fibrous roots, but no ramifications. Barley makes its appearance [All this, of course, depends upon numerous circumstances.] above ground the seventh day after sowing; the leguminous plants on the fourth, or at the very latest, the seventh; the bean from the fifteenth day to the twentieth: though in Egypt the leguminous plants appear as early as the third day after they are sown. In barley, one extremity of the grain throws out the root, and the other the blade; this last flowers, too, before the other grain. In the cereals in general it is the thicker end of the seed that throws out the root, the thinner end the blossom; while in the other seeds both root and blossom issue from the same part.

During the winter, corn is in the blade; but in the spring winter corn throws out a tall stem. As for millet and panic, they grow with a jointed and grooved [This is certainly the fact, as Fée says, but it is the same with all the graminea.] stalk, while sesame has a stem resembling that of fennel-giant. The fruit of all these seeds is either contained in an ear, as in wheat and barley, for instance, and protected from the attacks of birds and small animals by a prickly beard bristling like so many palisades; or else it is enclosed in pods, as in the leguminous plants, or in capsules, as in sesame and the poppy. Millet and panic can only be said to belong to the grower and the small birds in common, as they have nothing but a thin membrane to cover them, without the slightest protection. Panic receives that name from the panicule [A characteristic of the Panicum miliaceum in particular.] or down that is to be seen upon it; the head of it droops languidly, and the stalk tapers gradually in thickness, being of almost the toughness and consistency of wood: the head is loaded with grain closely packed, there being a tuft upon the top, nearly a foot in length. In millet the husks which embrace the grain bend downward with a wavy tuft upon the edge. There are several varieties of panic, the mammose, for instance, the ears of which are in clusters with small edgings of down, the head of the plant being double; it is distinguished also according to the colour, the white, for instance, the black, the red, and the purple even. Several kinds of bread are made from millet, but very little from panic: there is no grain known that weighs heavier than millet, and which swells more in baking. A modius of millet will yield sixty pounds’ weight of bread; and three sextarii steeped in water will make one modius of fermenty. [Or porridge; “puls.”] A kind of millet [It has been suggested that this was maize, but that is indigenous to South America. Fée has little doubt that it is the Holcus sorgho of Linnæus, the “Indian millet,” that is meant.] has been introduced from India into Italy within the last ten years, of a swarthy colour, large grain, and a stalk like that of the reed. This stalk springs up to the height of seven feet, and has tufts of a remarkable size, known by the name of “phobæ.” [From the Greek φόβη. The stalk and husk of the sorgho is covered with a fine down. The reading “cornis” has been adopted.] This is the most prolific of all the cereals, for from a single grain no less than three sextarii [This is considered by Fée to be very improbable.] are produced: it requires, however, to be sown in a humid soil.

Some kinds of corn begin to form the ear at the third joint, and others at the fourth, though at its first formation the ear remains still concealed. Wheat, however, has four [In reality these vary, according to the rapidity of the growth.] articulations, spelt [Strictly speaking, spelt has seven.] six, and barley eight. In the case of these last, the ear does not begin to form before the number of joints, as above mentioned, is complete. Within four or five days, at the very latest, after the ear has given signs of forming, the plant begins to flower, and in the course of as many days or a little more, sheds its blossom: barley blossoms at the end of seven days at the very latest. Varro says that the grains are perfectly formed at the end of four times [This depends upon the time when it is sown, and numerous other circumstances.] nine days from their flowering, and are ready for cutting at the ninth month.

The bean, again, first appears in leaf, and then throws out a stalk, which has no articulations [Strictly speaking, he is right; but still there is a swelling in the stalk, to be perceived at the points where the leaves take their rise.] upon it. The other leguminous plants have a tough, ligneous stalk, and some of them throw out branches, the chick-pea, the fitch, and the lentil, for instance. In some of the leguminous plants, the pea, for example, the stem creeps along the ground, if care is not taken to support it by sticks: if this precaution is omitted, the quality is deteriorated. The bean and the lupine are the only ones among the leguminous plants that have a single stem: in all the others the stem throws out branches, being of a ligneous nature, very thin, and in all cases hollow. Some of these plants throw out the leaves from the root, others at the top. [This is incorrect; they all of them throw out leaves from the root.] Wheat, barley, and the vetch, all the plants, in fact, which produce straw, have a single leaf only at the summit: in barley, however, this leaf is rough, while in the others it is smooth. * * * In the bean, again, the chick-pea, and the pea, the leaves are numerous and divided. In corn the leaf is similar to that of the reed, while in the bean it is round, as also in a great proportion of the leguminous plants. In the ervilia [The same as the “Ervum” probably, the fitch, orobus, or bitter vetch.] and the pea the leaf is long, [Not so with the pea, as known to us.] in the kidney-bean veined, and in sesame [This is only true at the end of the season, and when the plant is dying.] and irio the colour of blood. The lupine and the poppy are the only ones among these plants that lose [These annuals lose their leaves only that have articulations on the stem; otherwise they die outright at the fall of the leaf.] their leaves.

The leguminous plants remain a longer time in flower, the fitch and the chick-pea more particularly; but the bean is in blossom the longest of them all, for the flower remains on it forty days; not, indeed, that each stalk retains its blossom for all that length of time, but, as the flower goes off in one, it comes on in another. In the bean, too, the crop is not ripe all at once, as is the case with corn; for the pods make their appearance at different times, at the lowest parts first, the blossom mounting upwards by degrees.

When the blossom is off in corn, the stalk gradually thickens, and it ripens within forty days at the most. The same is the case, too, with the bean, but the chick-pea takes a much shorter time to ripen; indeed, it is fit for gathering within forty days from the time that it is sown. Millet, panic, sesame, and all the summer grains are ripe within forty days after blossoming, with considerable variations, of course, in reference to soil and weather. Thus, in Egypt, we find barley cut at the end of six months, and wheat at the end of seven, from the time of sowing. In Hellas, again, barley is cut in the seventh month, and in Peloponnesus in the eighth; the wheat being got in at a still later period.

Those grains which grow on a stalk of straw are enclosed in an envelope protected by a prickly beard; while in the bean and the leguminous plants in general they are enclosed in pods upon branches which shoot alternately from either side. The cereals are the best able to withstand the winter, but the leguminous plants afford the most substantial food. In wheat, the grain has several coats, but in barley, [If by “tunica” he means the husk of chaff, which surrounds the grain, the assertion is contrary to the fact, in relation to barley and the oat.] more particularly, it is naked and exposed; the same, too, with arinca, [Only another name, Fée thinks, for the Triticum hibernum, or winter-wheat. Spelt or zea has been suggested, as also the white barley of the south of Europe; see c..] but most of all, the oat. The stem is taller in wheat than it is in barley, but the ear is more bearded [Egyptian wheat, or rather what is called mummy-wheat, is bearded equally to barley.] in the last. Wheat, barley, and winter-wheat [Siligo.] are threshed out; they are cleaned, too, for sowing just as they are prepared for the mill, there being no necessity for parching [Before grinding.] them. Spelt, on the other hand, millet, and panic, cannot be cleaned without parching them; hence it is that they are always sown raw and with the chaff on. Spelt is preserved in the husk, too, for sowing, and, of course, is not in such case parched by the action of fire.

Chap. 11.—Spelt.

Of all these grains barley is the lightest, [Oats and rye excepted.] its weight rarely exceeding fifteen pounds to the modius, while that of the bean is twenty-two. Spelt is much heavier than barley, and wheat heavier than spelt. In Egypt they make a meal [Here the word “far” means “a meal,” or “flour,” a substitute for that of “far,” or “spelt.”] of olyra, [Triticum monococcum, according to some. Fée identifies it with the Triticum spelta of Linnæus.] a third variety of corn that grows there. The Gauls have also a kind of spelt peculiar to that country: they give it the name of “brace,” [A variety, probably, of the Triticum hibernum of Linnæus, with white grains; the white-wheat of the French, from which the ancient Gauls made their malt; hence the French word “brasser,” to “brew.”] while to us it is known as “sandala:” it has a grain of remarkable whiteness. Another difference, again, is the fact that it yields nearly four pounds more of bread to the modius than any other kind of spelt. Verrius states that for three hundred years the Romans made use of no other meal than that of corn.