Produce the plough, and yoke the sturdy steer.
And goad him till he groans beneath his toil,
Till the bright share is bury’d in the soil.
I give an illustration of this subject. A plough carves its way slowly through the soil, a crane stands attendant, another flies free along the valley.
Mark well the flow’ring almonds in the wood.
If od’rous blooms the bearing branches load,
The glebe will to answer the Sylvan reign,
Great heats will follow, and large crops of grain.
There is a more detailed account of ploughing in the ‘Works and Days’ of Hesiod; it is so faithful a picture in all particulars of what I have seen in Kabylia, that I cannot refrain from quoting a few sentences. He mentions the arrival of the cranes from Africa as a sign for commencing work. In Kabylia they remain all the winter through.
