Columella, De Re Rustica

ToposText · Columella · 675 sections

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§ 2.5.2 Then the manure once it is spread, should be ploughed in immediately and covered over, that it may not lose its strength from the heat of the sun and that the soil, being mixed with it, may grow fat on the aforesaid nourishment. And so, when piles of manure are distributed in a field, the number of those so scattered should not exceed what the ploughmen can dig in on the same day.
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§ 2.6.1 Inasmuch as we have given directions for the preparation of the ground for sowing, let us now treat of the kinds of seed. The seeds of first importance and most useful to mankind are grains of wheat and emmer. We know of several varieties of wheat; but of this number that called robus or “ruddy” is most suitable for sowing, because it is superior in both weight and brightness.
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§ 2.6.2 Second place must be given to siligo or winter wheat, which is of excellent appearance in bread but lacking in weight. The third shall be the three-months wheat, the use of which is most gratifying to farmers; for when, because of rains or some other reason, an early sowing has not been made, recourse is had to this. This, again, is a variety of siligo. The other kinds of wheat, except for those who find pleasure in a great variety of crops and in idle vainglory, are superfluous.
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§ 2.6.3 Of emmer, however, we commonly see four varieties in use: the far which is called Clusian, of a white and shiny appearance; that called vennuculum, one kind reddish and the other white, but both of greater weight than the Clusian; the three-months far, called halicastrum, which is excellent both in weight and in goodness.
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§ 2.6.4 But these kinds of wheat and emmer should be kept by farmers for this reason, that seldom is any land so situated that we can content ourselves with one kind of seed, as some strip which is either swampy or dry cuts through it. Further, wheat grows better in a dry spot, while emmer is less harmed by moisture.
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§ 2.7.1 Though there are very many kinds of pulse or legumes, those observed to be most pleasing and useful to man are the bean, the lentil, the pea, the cow -pea, the chick-pea, hemp, millet, panic grass, sesame, lupine, also flax and barley, because from the last named is made tisana or barley-grits. Likewise of the fodder crops the best are Medic clover and fenugreek, and vetch no less so;
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§ 2.7.2 and next in order are chickling-vetch, bitter vetch, and mixed fodder made from barley. But of this number we shall first discuss those which are sown for our own sake, keeping in mind that very ancient rule in which we are warned to reap in cold places last, in warm places sooner, and in hot places earliest of all. For the present, however, we shall give rules applicable to a temperate region.
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§ 2.8.1 Our poet holds that emmer and even wheat should not be sown before the setting of the Vergiliae, a rule which he puts in verse as follows: But if for wheat or emmer you plough, intent on grain alone, Let Atlas' daughters at dawn be hid before the planting's done.
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§ 2.8.2 Now they are “hidden” on the thirty-second day after the autumnal equinox, which usually falls on the ninth day before the Calends of October; by which it should be understood that the seed-time of wheat lasts for forty-six days — from the setting of the Vergiliae, which occurs on the ninth day before the November Calends, up to the time of the winter solstice. For wise husbandmen observe this rule to such an extent that, for fifteen days before the occurrence of the solstice and a like number afterwards, they do no ploughing and no pruning of vine or tree. We, too, do not deny that the sowing should be governed by this rule in land that is temperate and not at all moist;
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§ 2.8.3 but in sections that are wet and lean, or cold, or even shaded, it is usually proper to sow before the Calends of October, while the dry earth permits, while clouds are in suspense, so that the roots of the grain may gain strength before they are attacked by winter rains or cold or frost. But even though the sowing be finished in good season, still we must be careful to make wide ridges and frequent water-furrows, which some call elices, and to turn off all water into drains and hence outside the grain-fields.
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§ 2.8.4 And I am not unaware that some ancient authorities have left directions that fields should not be sown except after the ground is well soaked with rain; and that this is to the greater advantage of the farmer, if it comes in due season, I have no doubt. But if the rains are late, as sometimes happens, the seed is safely intrusted to ground however thirsty; and that is actually the practice in certain provinces where such weather conditions exist. For seed that is put into dry ground and harrowed in, is no more injured than if it were stored away in a granary; and when the rain does come, the sowing of many days' standing sprouts up in one.
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§ 2.8.5 Tremelius, in fact, makes the statement that seed sown before the rains begin is not injured by birds or ants when the soil is parched during the fair weather of summer, and I have even tried it rather frequently and have thus far found it to be true. However, in land of this sort it is more suitable to sow emmer than wheat, as it has a husk enclosing it which is tough and resistant to moisture for a longer period.
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§ 2.9.1 A iugerum of rich land usually requires four modii of wheat; land of medium quality, five; it calls for nine modii of emmer if the soil is fertile, and ten if it is ordinary. For although there is little agreement among authorities as to the quantity, yet my own experience has shown that this amount seems best suited; and anyone who does not care to comply with this may follow the directions of those who instruct us to sow a rich field with eight modii of wheat a iugerum, and the same for emmer, and who hold that seed should be supplied to medium land in this proportion.
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§ 2.9.2 My opinion is that not even the amount which I have mentioned above is always to be held to, for the reason that conditions of place or season or weather cause it to vary: of place, according as the grain is sown on level ground or hillsides, and these, too, either fat or medium or lean; of season, according as we cast the seed in autumn or even at the onset of winter, for the earlier sowing allows a lighter seeding while the later requires it to be heavier; of weather, according as it is rainy or dry, for the former requires the same as the early sowing, and the latter the same as the late.
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§ 2.9.3 Further, every sort of grain especially delights in ground that is open and sloping toward the sun, warm and loose; for though hilly ground produces a somewhat stronger grain, it yields a smaller crop of wheat. Soil that is heavy, chalky, and wet is not unsuited to the growing of winter wheat and emmer. Barley tolerates no place except one that is loose and dry.
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§ 2.9.4 And the first mentioned grains require ground that lies fallow and is worked by turns in alternate years and that is as rich as possible; while the last named wants no middling ground, being sown either in very rich or very poor soil. Even though you sow the first mentioned in ground that is still muddy and wet after continuous rains, if necessity so demands, it withstands the injury; if you commit the last named to miry ground, it dies.
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§ 2.9.5 However, if the field is moderately chalky or marshy, you need for a sowing of the white winter wheat or common wheat somewhat more than the five modii that I mentioned above. But if the ground is dry and loose, no matter whether it be rich or poor, only four; for, conversely, lean land requires the same amount of seed, be if it is not sown thinly it produces a small and empty head.
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§ 2.9.6 But when it forms a stool of several stalks from one seed it makes a heavy stand even from a light sowing. Among other things, too, we should not overlook the fact that a field planted with trees for supporting vines requires one fifth more seed than a treeless and open field. We have been speaking thus far of the autumn sowing, for this we regard as the most important.
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§ 2.9.7 There is another sowing, however, when necessity requires it — what farmers call the “half-month sowing.” This is practised to advantage in very cold and snowy regions where the summer is damp and free from intense heat, but in other places it very seldom yields a return. And even in this sowing it will be better to finish it quickly, and certainly before the spring equinox; in fact, if conditions of ground and of weather allow it, the sooner we sow the better the result will be.
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§ 2.9.8 For there is no seed that naturally requires three months, as many have believed, and in fact the same seed will do better when planted in the autumn. There are, nevertheless, certain seeds that do better than others in enduring the heat of spring, such as white wheat (siligo), Galatian barley, the three-months emmer, and the grain of the Marsian bean; for the other hardy grains should always be sown before winter in temperate localities. Further, the earth has a way, at times, of emitting a brackish and bitter ooze which blights even full-grown crops with its poisonous seepage and in warm localities leaves patches without even a single stalk from the seed.
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§ 2.9.9 It is best that such bare spots be indicated by the use of markers, so that we may take measures against faults of this kind in due season; for in a place where oozy ground or some other plague kills out the crop it is best that pigeon dung or, failing that, cypress foliage be scattered and ploughed in. But the very first thing to do is to draw off all free water by running a furrow; otherwise the aforesaid remedies will be useless. Some people wrap a three-modius sowing measure in the skin of a hyena and broadcast the seed from it after it has remained there a while, not doubting that seed sown in this way will do well.
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§ 2.9.10 Certain underground pests also kill out mature crops by cutting off their roots. As a remedy against this they use the juice of a plant which country people call sedum, mixed with water; for the seeds are sown after they have been soaked in this solution for one night. Some take the juice squeezed from the wild cucumber and the crushed root of the same, dilute it with water, and after soaking the seeds in the same way they consign them to the earth. Others sprinkle the furrows with this same liquid or with unsalted lees of oil, when the crop begins to be infested, and so drive off the destructive creatures. The next direction that I have to offer is that when the crops have been harvested and are on the threshing-floor, we should consider the sowing that is to follow.
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§ 2.9.11 For, as Celsus remarks, when the harvest is just ordinary we should select all the best heads and store the seed from them by itself; when, in turn, there is a more generous yield, everything that is threshed out should be cleaned with a sieve, and the grain that settles to the bottom because of its size and weight should always be kept for seed. This is a most beneficial measure because, while grain deteriorates more rapidly in damp places, it also does so in dry places unless such pains are taken.
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§ 2.9.12 For there is no doubt that from strong seed there can be produced seed that has no strength; but it is obvious that what is produced continuously from weak seed can never acquire strength. For that reason Vergil, in treating of other matters, has also expressed himself very clearly on the subject of seeds, as follows; Some I have seen deteriorate, though chosen with great care And long examination, if with toil of man The largest were not hand-picked every year. But so the will of Fate. All things are doomed To hasten to the worse and, downward turned, To take a backward course.
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§ 2.9.13 Further, if a red grain, when cut in two, shows the same colour throughout, we have no doubt that it is sound; but one that is whitish outside and is also seen to be white inside, that should be set down as light and lacking in substance. And let us not be misled into thinking that siligo is desirable for farmers; for this is a degenerate kind of wheat, and though superior in whiteness, it is inferior in weight. It does well, however, in a humid climate, and for that reason is better suited to springy places. Still we need not go a great distance or to great pains to find it; for in wet ground every kind of wheat turns into siligo after the third sowing.
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§ 2.9.14 Next to these grains in utility is that variety of barley which country people call hexastichum; some also call it cantherinum because it is a better food than wheat for all animals that belong on a farm, and is more wholesome for humans than is bad wheat; and in times of scarcity there is nothing better in guarding against want. It is sown in loose, dry ground, either very rich or poor, because it is agreed that land is weakened by crops of it; for this reason it is committed to a very fertile field, whose excessive strength cannot be impaired, or to a lean one to which nothing else is entrusted.
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§ 2.9.15 The seed should be cast at the second ploughing, after the equinox, about the middle of seed-time if the soil is rich, and earlier if it is poor. One iugerum will take five modii of seed. And when this has ripened somewhat it should be harvested with more haste than any other grains, for, having brittle straw and grain that has no covering of chaff, it shatters quickly; and for the same reason it is more easily threshed than other grains. But when you have taken off a crop of it, it is best to let the ground lie fallow for a year; or if not, to saturate it with manure and drive out all the poison that still remains in the land.
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§ 2.9.16 There is also a second variety of barley which some call distichum and others Galatian, of extraordinary weight and whiteness, so much so that when mixed with wheat it makes excellent food for the household. It is sown about the month of March in ground that is very rich but cold; it does better, however, if a mild winter allows it, when sown around the middle of January. One iugerum calls for six modii.
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§ 2.9.17 Panic and millet also should be counted among grain crops, even though I have already listed them among the legumes, for in many countries the peasants subsist on food made from them. They require a light, loose soil, and thrive not only in gravelly ground but also in sand, if only the climate is moist or the ground well watered; for they have a great dread of dry and chalky ground.
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§ 2.9.18 They cannot be sown before spring, for they are fond of warm weather above all; but they are intrusted to the earth to best advantage in the latter part of March. They do not burden the farmer's budget with a heavy expense, as about four sextarii are enough for a iugerum; and yet they demand repeated hoeing and weeding to make them free of weeds. When they have formed their heads, before the seeds crack open with the heat, they are gathered by hand, hung in the sun, and stored away after they have dried; and when stored in this fashion they keep longer than other grains.
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§ 2.9.19 Bread is made of millet, and it may be eaten without distaste before it cools. Panic, when ground and freed from bran, and millet as well, makes a porridge which, especially with milk, is not to be despised even in time of plenty.
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§ 2.10.1 Inasmuch as we have given sufficient instructions about grains, we shall next discuss the legumes. First consideration belongs to the lupine, as it requires the least labour, costs least, and of all crops that are sown is most beneficial to the land. For it affords an excellent fertilizer for worn-out vineyards and ploughlands; it flourishes even in exhausted soil; and it endures age when laid away in the granary. When softened by boiling it is good fodder for cattle during the winter; in the case of humans, too, it serves to ward off famine if years of crop failures come upon them.
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§ 2.10.2 It is broadcast direct from the threshing-floor, and it is the only one of all the legumes which does not require a rest in the bin, whether you sow it in unbroken fallow in the month of September before the equinox or immediately after the Calends of October; and whatever way you cover it, it withstands the carelessness of the farmer. Still it needs the mild temperature of autumn to become quickly established, for if it has not taken a strong hold before winter it is greatly injured by the cold.
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§ 2.10.3 It will be best to put away your left-over seed in a loft where smoke can reach it, for if dampness gets into it, it breeds worms; and when they have once eaten away the embryo of the lupine seed, the other part cannot germinate. The lupine likes lean ground, as I have said, and especially reddish soil;
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§ 2.10.4 it has an intense dislike of chalky ground and does not come up at all in a miry field. One iugerum takes ten modii. Next after this it will be proper to commit to the earth the kidney bean, either in old fallow ground, or better in rich ground that is tilled every year; the sowing of one iugerum will require not more than four modii. The same may be said of the pea, which desires, however, an easy and loose soil, a warm situation, and a climate where it often rains. The same quantity may be sown to the iugerum as in the case of the kidney bean, or one modius less, at the beginning of seed-time after the autumnal equinox.
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§ 2.10.5 A spot that is naturally very fertile or well manured should be set aside for the common bean, and old fallow lying in a valley and receiving moisture from the higher ground. First, however, we shall cast the seed, then furrow the ground, and after furrowing reduce it to ridges and harrow it, to provide a deeper and more abundant covering of loose earth; for it is of the greatest importance that the roots of the sprouting seed be sunk deep.
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§ 2.10.6 But if we must use restored land that has just borne a crop, after cutting the straw we shall distribute twenty-four loads of manure to the iugerum and spread it; and just as before, when we have scattered the seed on the unbroken ground, we shall plough it in, form ridges, and harrow, though there are some who say that beans should not be harrowed in cold regions because the projecting clods shelter them from the frosts while they are still young and provide some warmth when they are suffering from the cold.
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§ 2.10.7 There are people, too, who think that in cultivated land this same plant takes the place of manure — a belief which I take as meaning, not that the ground is enriched by the sowing of it, but that it uses up the strength of the soil less than other crops. For I am convinced that land which has borne no crop is better suited for grain than one which bore a crop of this legume the preceding year.
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§ 2.10.8 A iugerum of land requires four modii of beans, as Tremelius thinks, but six, in my opinion, if the ground is rich, and somewhat more if it is just ordinary; and it does not tolerate lean ground or a foggy situation, though it often does well on heavy soil. It should be sown, part at the middle of seed-time, and part at the end — the sowing called “septimontial.” The early sowing is more common, though the late one is sometimes better.
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§ 2.10.9 There is little use in sowing it after the winter solstice, and the very worst time is spring; although there is also a three-months bean which may be sown in February, using one-fifth more than for the early variety, but which yields scanty straw and not many pods. And so I hear the old-time farmers commonly remark that they would rather have the bean straw of the early sowing than the beans of the three-months variety.
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§ 2.10.10 But, whatever the season of sowing, we must take care that the quantity allotted for seed be broadcast on the fifteenth day of the moon, provided only she does not on that day traverse the rays of the sun — what the Greeks call ἀπόκρουσις or “waning”; otherwise that it be sown in any case on the fourteenth day, while the light of the moon is still waxing, even though the whole amount of seed cannot be covered immediately. For no harm will come to it from nightly dews or other causes, if only it be protected from cattle and birds.
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§ 2.10.11 The ancient husbandmen, moreover, and Vergil too, held that it should first be soaked in oil lees or in nitre, and then sown, That the deceptive pods might have a larger fruit, Their seeds soon softened by even a little heat. We, too, have learned that seed so treated is less infested by weevils after it has reached maturity. And what we are about to say next, we offer as a precept from our own experience:
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§ 2.10.12 Gather beans before in the dark of the moon, before dawn; and when they have dried on the threshing-floor, immediately, before the moon begins its waxing, beat them out, cool them, and carry them into the granary. When stored in the same way they will not be harmed by weevils. And this one, especially, of the legumes, can be very easily threshed without the use of cattle, and cleaned without the aid of wind, as follows:
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§ 2.10.13 Have a moderate number of loose sheaves brought together at one end of the threshing-floor, and let three or four men push them along with their feet through the middle of the floor the longest way, and beat them with sticks or forks; then, when they reach the other end of the floor, let them throw the stalks again into a pile.
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§ 2.10.14 For the seeds that have been beaten out will lie on the floor, and the other bundles will be threshed out on top of them, little by little, in the same manner. For the hardest chaff will be knocked off and separated by the beaters, but the fine chaff which has fallen from the pods along with the beans will be separated in another way: that is, when the mixture of chaff and seeds has been heaped together in one pile, let it be tossed some distance away, a little at a time, by winnowing-fans; and by this means the chaff, being lighter, will fall short, and the beans, which are thrown farther, will come clean to the spot where the winnower throws them.
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§ 2.10.15 The lentil is properly sown only from the time of the half-moon up to her twelfth day, in ground that is lean and loose, or fat, but above all in a place that is dry; for when in flower it is easily damaged by rankness and moisture. To make it come out quickly and make a good growth, it should be mixed with dried manure before sowing, and then broadcast after it has remained thus for four or five days. Our practice is to make two sowings, the early one in the middle of seedtime, and the later in the month of February.
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§ 2.10.16 A little more than one modius covers a iugerum of ground. To keep it from being destroyed by weevils — for they eat it even when it is in the pod — care must be taken that, as soon as it is threshed out, it be sunk in water, and that the sound grains be separated from the empty, which come at once to the surface; then that it be dried in the sun, sprinkled and rubbed with the bruised root of silphium mixed with vinegar, and again dried in the sun; and presently, after cooling, that it be stored away — in the bin if the amount is rather large, or in olive jars and salt-fish jars if there is not much of it. If these are sealed with gypsum immediately upon being filled, we shall find the lentil sound whenever we take it out for use. Still, it can be kept satisfactorily without such treatment if mixed with ashes.
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§ 2.10.17 Flax-seed should not be sown unless it yields a heavy crop and brings a good price in the region where you farm; for it is particularly hurtful to land. For this reason it requires a soil which is very rich and moderately moist. It is sown from the first of October to the rising of Aquila, which falls on the seventh day before the Ides of December. A iugerum of land is sown with eight modii of it. Some hold that it should be sown in poor land, and very thickly, so that the flax may grow with a more slender stem. The same people also say that if it is sown in rich ground in February, ten modii should be broadcast to the iugerum.
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§ 2.10.18 Sesame is to be sown earlier on well-watered ground, and from the autumnal equinox to the Ides of October on ground that lacks moisture. It usually requires a loamy soil, such as the Campanians call pullum; still it thrives no less well even in rich sand or in mixed ground. The same quantity of seed is sown to the iugerum as of millet and panic, sometimes even two sextarii more. But I have seen this same seed sown in the months of June and July in districts of Cilicia and Syria, and harvested during the autumn, when it was fully ripe.
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§ 2.10.19 The chick-pea or the chickling-vetch, which has a resemblance to the pea, should be sown in January or February in rich soil if the weather is moist; though in some sections of Italy the sowing is made before the first of November. Three modii are sufficient for one iugerum. No legume is less hurtful to land; but it seldom does well, because, when in bloom, it cannot endure dry weather or south winds; and both these drawbacks usually attend the season when it drops its blossoms.
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§ 2.10.20 The chick-pea which is called arietillum, and also one of another variety, called Punicum, may be sown during the whole month of March, if the weather is moist, in the most fertile soil; indeed, this kind is harmful to land for that reason is not approved by the more expert farmers. If it must be sown, however, it should be soaked a day ahead to hasten its germination. Three modii are enough for one iugerum.
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§ 2.10.21 Hemp demands a rich, manured, well-watered soil, or one that is level, moist, and deeply worked. Six grains of this seed to the square foot are planted at the rising of Arcturus, which means toward the end of February, about the sixth or fifth day before the Calends of March; and yet no harm will be done in planting it up to the spring equinox if the weather is rainy.
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§ 2.10.22 After these legumes consideration must be given to the navew and the turnip, as both of them are filling food for country people. The turnips, however, are more profitable, because they yield a greater increase and serve as food, not only for mankind, but also for cattle, especially in Gaul, where this vegetable provides winter fodder for the aforesaid animals. Both require a loamy, loose soil, and do not grow in heavy ground.
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§ 2.10.23 Turnips, however, like level and moist places, while the navew prefers ground that is sloping and dry with more of a tendency to leanness; and so it grows better in gravelly and sandy lands. The nature of the situation changes the seed of both: thus, turnips sown in one soil are changed into navews in two years' time, while in the other the navew likewise takes on the appearance of the turnip. In well-watered situations both are properly sown after the summer solstice, in dry places at the end of August or the early part of September. They demand a soil that is well prepared by pointed working with the plough or mattock and generously manured;
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§ 2.10.24 for this is of the greatest importance, not only because they themselves make a better showing but also because, after they are harvested, soil so treated produces luxuriant crops of grain. One iugerum of ground should be sown with not more than four sextarii of turnip seed; of the navew, one-fourth more is to be scattered, because it does not widen out into a globular shape but pushes its slender root straight down. The above plantings are to be made, in our opinion, for the sake of man, and then come several kinds of cattle fodder, such as Medic clover, vetch, mixed fodder of barley and oats, fenugreek, and also bitter vetch and chick-pea; for we do not think it worth while to enumerate the rest, and still less to sow them, excepting only the cytisus [shrub-clover] of which we shall speak in those books which we have in writing on the various kinds of young shoots.
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§ 2.10.25 But of those which find favour the Medic plant is outstanding for several reasons: one seeding affords, for all of ten years thereafter, four harvestings regularly and sometimes six; it improves the soil; lean cattle of every kind grow fat on it; it has medicinal value for an ailing beast; and one iugerum of it provides abundant fodder for three horses for an entire year.
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§ 2.10.26 It is sown as we shall next direct. In the place where you are to sow Medic the following spring, break the ground about the first of October and allow it to mellow during the entire winter; then, at the beginning of February, work it again carefully, remove all stones, and break up the clods; after that, sometime in the month of March, plough it a third time and harrow it. When you have prepared the ground in this fashion, make divisions as you would in a garden, ten feet wide and fifty feet long, to allow water to be supplied by way of the foot-paths and to provide a means of access on both sides for the weeders.
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§ 2.10.27 Then spread old manure over it, and at the end of April sow at the rate of one cyathus of seed to a space ten feet long and five wide. When you have done so, the seed should be covered at once with wooden rakes — a matter of great importance — for the seed is very soon burned by the sun. After the seed is sown, the place should not be touched with iron; and so, as I have said, it must be hoed with wooden implements and repeatedly freed of weeds, so that no other kind of growth may kill out the weak Medic.
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§ 2.10.28 It will be best to make the first cutting rather late, after it has dropped some of its seed. Thereafter, when it has started up, you may cut it as tender as you please and feed it to stock, but somewhat sparingly at first, until they become accustomed to it, so that the novelty of the fodder may not harm them; for it causes bloating and greatly increases the blood supply. After cutting, water it rather frequently; then, a few days later, when it begins to send out new shoots, weed out all other kinds of growth. If cared for in this way, it can be cut six times a year and will last for ten years.
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§ 2.10.29 Of vetch, however, there are two sowings: the first about the time of the autumnal equinox, for the purpose of forage, in which we sow seven modii to the iugerum; the second in the month of January or even later, when we scatter six modii for the production of seed. Both sowings may be made on untilled land, but with better results on broken ground; and this species especially does not like dew at the time of sowing.
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§ 2.10.30 For this reason it must be broadcast after the second or third hour of the day, when all moisture has been dried up by sun or wind, and no more should be scattered than can be covered in the same day; for, if night comes on before it is covered, the least moisture spoils it. Care must be taken not to put it in the ground before the twenty-fifth day of the moon; otherwise we usually find that the slug damages the crop.
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§ 2.10.31 Mixed forage should be sown in land that is worked every year, very heavily manured, and twice ploughed. It turns out best when sown with ten modii of horse-barley to the iugerum about the autumnal equinox; but when rains are threatening, so that, being watered by showers after sowing, it may come up quickly and gather strength before the severe weather of winter. For in cold weather, when other forage has failed, this provides excellent cut fodder for oxen and other animals; and if you care to graze it frequently, it holds out even up to the month of May.
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§ 2.10.32 If, however, you wish also to take seed from it, cattle must be kept off after the first of March, and it must be protected from every kind of harm so as to be capable of bearing seed. The same method is applied to oats: they are sown in the autumn; some are cut for hay or for fodder while still green; and some are set apart for seed.
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§ 2.10.33 Fenugreek, which country people call siliqua, has two seasons for sowing: one of them in the month of September, when it is sown for fodder, on the same days as vetch, near the time of the equinox; the other, however, at the end of January or early in February, when it is sown for seed; though we use six modii to the iugerum for the latter sowing, and seven for the former. Both sowings are made not without advantage before the ground is prepared, and care is taken that it be ploughed closely but not deeply, for if the seed is covered more than four fingers deep it does not easily come up; and for this reason some people break the ground with the smallest ploughs before sowing, and then scatter the seed and cover it with light hoes.
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§ 2.10.34 Bitter vetch, on the other hand, thrives on soil that is lean but not moist, because it is usually spoiled by rankness. It may be sown in autumn and equally well after the winter solstice, in the latter part of January or all of February, if only before the first day of March. This whole month, farmers say, is not suited to this legume, because when sown at this time it is harmful to cattle, and especially to oxen, in which it causes brain-madness when they eat it. It is sown five modii to the iugerum.
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§ 2.10.35 Crushed chickling-vetch instead of bitter vetch is given to oxen in Hispania Baetica: after being broken by a suspended millstone it is soaked for a time in water, until it becomes soft, and in this condition, mixed with sifted chaff, it is fed to cattle. But twelve pounds of bitter vetch are sufficient for one yoke, and sixteen of chick-pea. This same chick-pea is not unsuited to human use, and is not unpleasant; in taste, at least, it differs not at all from the chickling-vetch, being distinguished merely by its colour, for it is more dirty-looking and nearer black. It is sown at the first or second ploughing in the month of March, according as the richness of the soil requires, and the same consideration determines the amount — for modii, sometimes three, sometimes even two and a half to the iugerum.
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§ 2.11.1 Since we have treated of the time at which each sowing should be made, we shall now show what method of cultivation is to be employed, and the number of days' labour required for each of the crops mentioned. After the sowing is finished, the next matter is that of hoeing, a point on which authorities are not agreed. Some say that this is of no advantage, because the roots of the grain are uncovered by the hoe and some of them are even cut off, and, if the weather is cold after the hoeing, the grain is killed by frost; but that it is better that weeding and cleaning be done at the proper season.
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§ 2.11.2 Still there are many who believe in hoeing, but that it should not be done everywhere in the same way and at the same time; thus, in dry and sunny fields, as soon as the crops can stand hoeing, they should be covered with well-stirred soil to enable them to bush out; and this should be done before winter, and then repeated after winter is past; while in cold and swampy places, usually after winter is over, they should be hoed without being covered over but having the earth thoroughly stirred by level hoeing.
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§ 2.11.3 Nevertheless we find that winter hoeing is suited to many regions, but only where dryness and warmth of climate permit, though we think it best not to practice even this everywhere but to conform to the ways of those who live in the neighbourhood. For countries have their own peculiar advantages, such as those of Egypt and Africa, where the farmer does not touch his crop from the sowing until the reaping, for climatic conditions and the quality of the soil are such that scarcely any plant comes up except from seed that is sown; either because of the scarcity of rain or because the character of the soil so lends itself to those who cultivate it.
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§ 2.11.4 Moreover, in those regions where hoeing is desirable, the crops are not to be touched before the growth has covered the furrows, even if the condition of the weather should allow it. It will be proper to hoe wheat and emmer as soon as they have put forth four blades, barley when it has five, and beans and other legumes when they stand four fingers above ground — with the exception, however, of the lupine, as hoeing is hurtful to its seedlings; for it has a single root, and if this is cut or injured by an iron tool, the whole plant dies.
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§ 2.11.5 And even if this were not the case, cultivation would still be unnecessary, for this one plant is so far from being troubled by weeds as actually to destroy them on its own account. Now other crops which may be worked when wet, are nevertheless hoed with better results when dry, because, when handled in this way, they are not attacked by rust; but barley must not be touched except when perfectly dry.
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§ 2.11.6 Many people think that beans should not be hoed at all, because, being pulled by hand when ripe, they may be separated from the other growth, and the grass that grows among them may be saved for hay. This is also the opinion of Cornelius Celsus, who counts this too among the other virtues of this legume when he says that after the beans are removed a cutting of hay may be taken from the same spot. But to me it seems the mark of a very poor farmer to allow grass to grow among his crops, for it detracts greatly from the yield if weeding is neglected.
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§ 2.11.7 And it is no mark of a wise husbandman to be more concerned with fodder for cattle than with food for man, especially when he may obtain the former as well by cultivation of his meadows. I am so strongly in favour of hoeing beans as to think that they should actually be hoed three times. For we find that when cultivated in this way they not only multiply their yield but also have but little pod in proportion, and that a measure of them when shelled and cleaned is almost as full as before they were shelled, as the amount is scarcely diminished by the removal of the outer coverings.
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§ 2.11.8 And in general, as we have said before, winter hoeing is of very great benefit on clear and dry days after the solstice is past, in the month of January, if there are no frosts. It should be done, besides, in such a way that the roots of the plants will not be damaged, but rather covered over and hilled up, so that the offshoots of the main stem may spread out farther. It will be beneficial to do this at the first hoeing, but harmful at the second, because grain rots if it is covered after it has ceased to send out shoots.
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§ 2.11.9 Therefore nothing more should be done at the second hoeing than to loosen the ground evenly; and this should be done immediately after the vernal equinox is past, within twenty days, before the plant forms a joint, for when it is hoed later it is destroyed by the dry weather and heat of the ensuing summer. To the hoeing must be added the weeding, and we must take care not to touch a grain-field when it is in bloom, but either beforehand or soon after the blossoms have fallen. p
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§ 2.11.10 Now all grain and barley, in short everything that is not of double seed, sends out an ear from the third to the fourth joint; and when it has pushed out the entire spike it casts its bloom within eight days, and then continues to grow until it reaches maturity forty days after its flowering. On the other hand, those that are of double seed, such as beans, peas, and lentils, bloom in forty days and increase in growth for the same length of time.
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§ 2.12.1 And now to reckon up the number of days' labour required to bring to the threshing-floor what we have committed to the earth, four or five modii of common wheat take up four days' work of the ploughmen, one of the harrower, two of the hoer for the first hoeing and one for the second, one of the weeder, and one and a half of the reaper — a total of ten and one-half days of labour. Five modii of winter wheat require the same number of days. Nine or ten modii of emmer call for as many days' work as five modii of common wheat.
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§ 2.12.2 Five modii of barley require three days' labour of the ploughman, one day of harrowing, one and a half of hoeing, and one of reaping — six and a half days in all. Four or six modii of beans use up two days' work of the ploughman in old fallow ground, but one in land under cultivation; they are harrowed in a day and a half, hoed in a day and a half, hoed a second time in one day and a third time in one day, and harvested in one day — the total amounting to seven or eight days.
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§ 2.12.3 Six or seven modii of vetch want two days' labour of the ploughmen in old fallow, and one in ground that is kept under cultivation; this likewise is harrowed in one day, and harvested in one day — the total amounting to [three or] four days' work. Five modii of bitter vetch are sown in the same number of days, harrowed in one day, and also hoed, weeded, and harvested in one day each — the total making up six days. Six or seven modii of fenugreek are put in the ground with the same number of days' labour, and are harvested in one day. Four modii of cow -peas are put under ground in the same number of days, are harrowed in one day, and harvested in one.
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§ 2.12.4 Four modii of chickling-vetch or of the small chick-pea require three days' work of the ploughmen; they are harrowed in one day, weeded in one, and pulled in one — the total amounting to six days of work. A modius and a half of lentil is covered in the same number of days, harrowed in one, hoed in two, weeded in one, and pulled in one — the total coming to eight days' work. Ten modii of lupine are covered in one day, harrowed in one, and harvested in one. Four sextarii of millet and the same amount of panic take up four days' labour of the ploughmen, are harrowed in three days, and hoed in three; the number of days for gathering is not fixed.
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§ 2.12.5 Three modii of the chick-pea are sown in the same number of days, harrowed in two days, hoed in one, weeded in one, and pulled in three — a total of eleven days' work. Eight or ten modii of flaxseed are sown with four days' ploughing, harrowed with three days' work, weeded with one, and pulled with three — the total amounting to eleven days' work. Six sextarii of sesame are cared for with three days' ploughing after the first breaking of the ground, four days of harrowing, four of hoeing and two at the second hoeing, and two days of harvesting — a total of fifteen days.
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§ 2.12.6 Hemp is sown as we have directed above, but the amount of expense and attention required is not fixed. Medic, however, is put in the ground, not with the plough, but, as I have said, with small wooden rakes. One iugerum of this is harrowed by two men, hoed by one, and harvested by one.
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§ 2.12.7 From this summing up of the days of labour required it is concluded that two hundred iugera of land can be worked with two yoke of oxen, the same number of ploughmen, and six common labourers, provided it be free of trees; but the same amount, when it is planted with trees, Saserna says can be satisfactorily cultivated with three additional men. This calculation shows us that one yoke of oxen can meet the requirements of one hundred and twenty-five modii of wheat and the same of legumes, so that the autumn sowing may total two hundred and fifty modii, and even after that seventy-five modii of three-months crops may still be sown.
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§ 2.12.8 The proof of this is as follows: Seeds that are sown at the fourth ploughing require, for twenty-five iugera, one hundred and fifteen days' labour of the ploughmen; for such a plot of ground, however hard, is broken in fifty days, re-ploughed in twenty-five, plough a third time and then sown in forty days.
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§ 2.12.9 Other legumes require sixty days, that is, two months. Forty-five days also are allowed for rainy weather and holidays, on which no ploughing is done; likewise thirty days after the sowing is finished, in which there is a period of rest. Thus the total amounts to eight months and ten days. Still there are left of the year three months and twenty-five days, which we may spend either in sowing three-months crops or in the hauling of hay, forage, manure, and of other useful things.
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§ 2.13.1 But of the crops that I have mentioned, the same Saserna thinks that land is fertilized and improved by some, and, on the other hand, that it is burned out and wasted by others; that it is fertilized by lupine, beans, vetch, bitter vetch, lentils, the small chickpea, and peas. As to the lupine I have no doubt, nor yet as to vetch when it is sown for fodder, provided, however, that after being cut green it be followed up immediately by the plough, and that the ploughshare cut up and bury, before it dries out, what is left by the sickle; for this takes the place of manure.
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§ 2.13.2 For if the roots are left to dry out after the fodder is cut, they will draw all the moisture out of the soil and use up the strength of the land; and it is probable that this happens also in the case of beans and other legumes by which the ground appears to be enriched; so that, unless the ground is broken up at once after a crop of them has been taken off, it will be of no benefit to the crops which are to be planted in that spot thereafter.
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§ 2.13.3 Of those legumes, too, which are harvested by pulling, Tremelius says that the poisons of the chickpea and of flax are most harmful to the soil, the one because it is of a salty nature, the other because of its burning qualities; and Vergil, too, points this out when he says: A field is burned by crops of flax, is burned by crops of oats, Is burned by crops of poppies with Lethaean slumber steeped. For there is no doubt that a field is impaired by seeding it with these, just as it is by millet and panic. But for all ground that is exhausted by cropping the aforesaid legumes there is one remedy at hand, namely, to come to its aid with manure, and with this sustenance, so to speak, to restore the strength that has been taken from it;
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§ 2.13.4 and this not only for the sake of seed which is committed to the ploughed furrow, but also for trees and bushes, which thrive in greater measure on this kind of nourishment. Wherefore, if manuring is of the greatest advantage to the farmer, as it appears to be, I believe that it should be discussed with unusual care, inasmuch as this subject, though not overlooked by the ancient authorities, has nevertheless been given very slight attention.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:2.14.1
§ 2.14.1 There are, then, mainly, three kinds of manure: that produced by birds, by humankind, and by cattle. Of bird dung that is considered first which is gathered from dove-cotes, and next is that which comes from hens and other fowl, excepting nevertheless marsh birds or swimming fowl, such as ducks and geese; for that is actually harmful. Still we especially commend pigeon dung, because we find that a moderate spreading of it causes the earth to ferment;
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§ 2.14.2 and second to this is human excrement, if it is mixed with other refuse of the farmstead, for by itself it is naturally rather hot and for that reason it burns the ground. Better suited to young shoots, however, is human urine; and if you let it age for six months and then apply it to vines or fruit trees, there is nothing that makes them bear more abundantly; and not only will this treatment produce a larger crop but also it improves the flavour and the bouquet of the wine and the fruit.
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§ 2.14.3 Also old oil lees, unsalted and mixed with this, can be used to advantage in watering fruit-bearing trees, and especially olives; for even when applied alone the lees are very beneficial. But both of them are used chiefly during the winter and even in spring, before the heat of summer, while the ground is kept open around the vines and the trees.
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§ 2.14.4 The dung of cattle holds third place, and in this too there is a difference; for what the ass produces is considered best, because that animal chews very slowly and for that reason digests his food more easily, and he gives in return a manure that is well prepared and ready for the field immediately. After those that we have mentioned comes sheep dung, next is goat dung, and then that of other cattle and draught-animals. The dung of swine is considered the poorest of all.
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§ 2.14.5 Moreover, the use of ashes and cinders is reasonably beneficial, while cut lupine plants provide the strength of the best manure. And I am not unaware that there is a certain kind of countryside in which neither cattle nor fowl can be kept; but even in such a place it is the mark of a slothful husbandman to be destitute of fertilizer.
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§ 2.14.6 For he may store up any sort of leaves; he may gather any accumulated matter from bramble patches and from highways and byways; he may cut down his neighbour's fernbrakes without doing him harm, or even as a favour, and mix them with the cleanings from his inclosure; he may sink a trench such as, in my first book, I directed to be made for the storage of manure, and may heap together in one pile his ashes, sewer filth, straw, and other dirt that is swept out. But it is well to fasten a piece of oak wood in the middle of that same place, for this keeps the harmful serpent from hiding in the manure.
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§ 2.14.7 All this of land which is bereft of cattle; for where herds of four-footed animals are kept, there are some places, such as the kitchen and the goat -sheds, which should be cleaned every day, and others, like the ox -stalls and sheepfolds, which are to be cleaned on rainy days. And if the ground is used merely for grain, it is of no importance to keep the different kinds of manure apart; but if the farm is laid out for a nursery, for grainfields, and also for meadows, the manure too must be stored separately, as that of goats and of birds. Then the rest of the refuse should be gathered into the hollowed-out place before mentioned, and it should be constantly saturated with moisture, so that the weed seeds mixed with the chaff and other matter may rot.
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§ 2.14.8 Then during the summer months the whole dunghill should be thoroughly stirred with rakes, just as if you were loosening the ground, so that it may decay more readily and be fit for the land. Moreover, I consider those farmers lacking in industry who have from each of the smaller animals less than one load of manure in thirty days, and likewise ten loads from each of the larger ones; and the same amount from each person, for they can gather and heap together not only the waste matter from their own bodies, but also the dirt which the yard and the buildings produce every day.
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§ 2.14.9 I have also this further direction to give, that all manure is most beneficial to crops when it has been stored in proper season and has rested for a year, for it still has its strength unimpaired and does not produce weeds; moreover, that the older it is, the less beneficial, because it has less strength. For this reason it should be spread on meadows while as fresh as possible, because it produces more grass; and this should be done in the month of February, while the moon is waxing, as this also contributes somewhat to the hay crop. As to the other use of manure, what sort is suitable for the several kinds of crops, we shall speak when we treat of them individually.
urn:cts:latinLit:phi0845.phi002:2.15.1
§ 2.15.1 Meanwhile, one who wishes to prepare his fields for grain should distribute manure in piles of moderate size while the moon is waning — in the month of September if he intends to sow in the autumn, at any time of winter if he is to sow in the spring — at the rate of eighteen loads to the iugerum on level ground and twenty-four on hilly land; and, as I said a little earlier, he should not spread these heaps until he is ready to sow.
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§ 2.15.2 Yet if anything keeps him from applying manure at the proper time, a second method is, before hoeing, to scatter over the grainfield the pulverized droppings from the bird houses in the manner of one casting seed; and if there is none of this, to broadcast goat dung by hand then stir the ground thoroughly with hoes. This produces luxuriant crops. And I think that husbandmen should not be unacquainted with the fact that as land grows cold when it is not manured, so it is burned if manured too heavily; and that it is of greater advantage to the farmer to do this frequently rather than lavishly.

Via ToposText (topostext.org), a project of the Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation created by Brady Kiesling. Translated by Harrison Boyd Ash (1891-1944). Composed ca. 50 CE. Licence: public domain. Source.