Everything in the conduct of the Romans gives evidence of their great veneration for agriculture. They called the rich, locupletes, that is, persons who were possessors of a farm or country seat (locus); their first money was stamped with a sheep or an ox, the symbol of abundance: they called it pecunia, from pecus (flock). The public treasure was designated pascua, because the Roman domain consisted, at the beginning, only of pasturage.
After the taking of Carthage, the books of the libraries were distributed to the allied princes of the republic, but the senate reserved the twenty-eight books of Mago on agriculture.[I_28]
We shall briefly point out the principal processes of this art in use among the Greeks and Romans, or at least those which appear to us most deserving of interest. Like us, the ancients divided the land in furrows, whose legal length (if we may so term it) was one hundred and thirty feet.[I_29] Oxen were never allowed to stop while tracing a furrow, but on arriving at the end they rested a short time; and when their task was over they were cleaned with the greatest care, and their mouths washed with wine.[I_30] The ground being well prepared and fit to receive the seed, the grain was spread on the even surface of the furrows, and then covered over.[I_31]
The primitive plough, already mentioned, was of extreme simplicity. It had no wheels, but was merely furnished with a handle, to enable the ploughman to direct it according to his judgment; neither was there any iron or other metal in its construction. They afterwards made a plough of two pieces, one of a certain length to put the oxen to, and the other was shorter to go in the ground; it was similar, in shape, to an anchor. Such was the style of plough which the Greeks used.[I_32] They also very often employed a sort of fork, with three or four prongs, for the same purpose.[I_33] Pliny gives credit to the Gauls for the invention of the plough mounted on wheels. The Anglo-Norman plough had no wheels;[I_34] the ploughman guided it with one hand, and carried a stick in the other to break the clods.
The Greeks and Romans had not, perhaps, the celebrated guano of our days, though we would not positively assert it; but they knew of a great variety of manures, all well adapted to the various soils they wished to improve. Sometimes they made use of marl, a sort of fat clay;[I_35] and frequently manure from pigeons, blackbirds, and thrushes, which were fattened in aviaries[I_36] for the benefit of Roman epicures. Certain plants, they thought, required a light layer of ashes, which they obtained from roots and brushwood;[I_37] others succeeded best, according to their dictum, on land where sheep, goats, &c., had grazed for a long time.[I_38]
DESCRIPTION OF [PLATE No. II.]
Nos. 1 & 2. Greek and Roman plough, made of several pieces; the first taken from the “Miscelan. Erudit.” of Spon, the second from an engraved stone in the gallery of Florence.
No. 3. Plough, made of one crooked piece of wood, turned once or twice.
No. 4. Plough, as used by the Gauls, furnished with wheels.
When the harvest season arrived, they joyfully prepared to cut the corn, with instruments varying in form according to the locality or the fancy of the master. In one place they adopted the plain sickle,[I_39] in another that with teeth.[I_40] Sometimes they mowed the corn, as they did the meadows, with a scythe;[I_41] or else they plucked off the ears with a kind of fork, armed with five teeth.[I_42] A short time after the harvest, the operation of thrashing generally began. Heavy chariots, armed with