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 farmsteward, 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;
1 but that he is the
very worst of all, who works under cover in fine weather, in-
stead 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 away 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 surley 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.
2 It is a maxim
universally agreæd 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 male-
diction uttered by Cato against rotten ground has been treated
of at some length already;
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.
4 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
5 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 be 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
6
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
7 for one day
in the juice of hemlock, and then watering the roots of the
trees with it.