Delphi Complete Works of Varro

by Marcus Terentius Varro

  Quinto intervallo inter caniculam et aequinoctium autumnale oportet stramenta desecari et acervos constitui, arata offringi, frondem caedi, prata inrigua iterum secari.

  [33.1] “In the fifth period, between the Dog Star and the autumnal equinox, the straw should be cut and stacks built, ploughed land harrowed, leaf-fodder gathered, and irrigated meadows mowed a second time.

  XXXIV.

  Sexto intervallo ab aequinoctio autumnali incipere scribunt oportere serere usque ad diem nonagensimum unum. Post brumam, nisi quae necessaria causa coegerit, non serere, quod tantum intersit, ut ante brumam sata quae septimo die, post brumam sata quadragesimo die vix existant. Neque ante aequinoctium incipi oportere putant, quod, si minus idoneae tempestates sint consecutae, putescere semina soleant. Fabam optime seri in vergiliarum occasu: uvas autem legere et vindemiam facere inter aequinoctium autumnale et vergiliarum occasum; dein vites putare incipere et propagare et serere poma. Haec aliquot regionibus, ubi maturius frigora fiunt asperiora, melius verno tempore.

  [34.1] “In the sixth period, from the autumnal equinox, the authorities state that sowing should begin and continue up to the ninety-first day. After the winter solstice, unless necessity requires, there should be no sowing — a point of such importance that seeds which, when planted before the solstice, sprout in seven days, hardly sprout in forty if sowed after the solstice. And they hold that sowing should not begin before the equinox, because, if unfavourable seasons follow, the seeds usually rot. Beans are sowed to best advantage at the time of the setting of the Pleiades: [2] while the gathering of the grapes and the making of the vintage falls between the autumnal equinox and the setting of the Pleiades; then the pruning and layering of vines and the planting of fruit trees should begin. In some localities, where severe frosts come earlier, these operations are best carried on in spring.

  XXXV.

  Septimo intervallo inter vergiliarum occasum et brumam haec fieri oportere dicunt: Serere lilium et crocum. Quae iam egit radicem rosa, ea conciditur radicitus in virgulas palmares et obruitur, haec eadem postea transfertur facta viviradix. Violaria in fundo facere non est utile, ideo quod necesse est terra adruenda pulvinos fieri, quos inrigationes et pluviae tempestates abluunt et agrum faciunt macriorem. A favonio usque ad arcturi exortum recte serpillum e seminario transferri, quod dictum ab eo, quod serpit. Fossas novas fodere, veteres tergere, vineas arbustumque putare, dum in XV diebus ante et post brumam, ut pleraque, ne facias. Nec non tum aliquid recte seritur, ut ulmi.

  [35.1] “In the seventh period, between the setting of the Pleiades and the winter solstice, they say that these operations should be carried out: — Planting of lilies and crocus. A rose which has already formed a root is cut from the root up into twigs a palm-breadth long and planted; later on the same twig is transplanted when it has made a living root. It is not profitable to plant violet beds on a farm for the reason that beds must be formed by heaping up the soil, and irrigation and heavy rains wash these away and thus make the ground poorer. [2] From the beginning of the west wind to the rising of Arcturus, it is proper to transplant from the nursery wild thyme, which gets its name (serpillum) from the fact that it ‘creeps’ (serpit). Dig new ditches, clear old ones, prune vineyards and orchards, provided you do not do this, or in fact most things, during the fifteen days preceding and following the solstice. And yet some trees, such as the elm, are properly planted at that time.

  XXXVI.

  Octavo intervallo inter brumam et favonium haec fieri oportet. De segetibus, siqua est aqua, deduci; sin siccitates sunt et terra teneritudinem habet, sarire. Vineas arbustaque putare. Cum in agris opus fieri non potest, quae sub tecto possunt tunc conficienda antelucano tempore hiberno. Quae dixi scripta et proposita habere in villa oportet, maxime ut vilicus norit.

  [36.1] “In the eighth period, between the solstice and the beginning of the west wind, these operations should be carried out: — Any water in the grain lands should be drained, but if there is a drought and the land is friable, harrow. Prune vineyards and orchards. When work cannot be carried out on the land, indoor tasks should be completed then in the early winter mornings. You should keep the rules I have laid down written and posted in the farmstead, in order that the overseer particularly may know them.

  XXXVII.

  Dies lunares quoque observandi, qui quodam modo bipertiti, quod a nova luna crescit ad plenam et inde rursus ad novam lunam decrescit, quaad veniat ad intermenstruum, quo die dicitur luna esse extrema et prima; a quo eum diem Athenis appellant enhn kai nean, triakada alii. Quaedam facienda in agris potius crescente luna quam senescente, quaedam contra quae metas, ut frumenta et caeduas silvas. Ego istaec, inquit Agrasius, non solum in ovibus tondendis, sed in meo capillo a patre acceptum servo, ni crescente luna tondens calvos fiam. Agrius, Quem ad modum, inquit, luna quadripertita? Et quid ea divisio ad agros pollet? Tremelius, Numquam rure audisti, inquit, octavo Ianam lunam et crescentem et contra senescentem, et quae crescente luna fieri oporteret, [et] tamen quaedam melius fieri post octavo Ianam lunam quam ante? Et siquae senescente fieri conveniret, melius, quanto minus haberet ignis id astrum? Dixi de quadripertita forma in cultura agri.

  Stolo, Est altera, inquit, temporum divisio coniuncta quodam modo cum sole et luna sexpertita, quod omnis fere fructus quinto denique gradu pervenit ad perfectum ac videt in villa dolium ac modium, unde sexto prodit ad usum. Primo praeparandum, secundo serendum, tertio nutricandum, quarto legendum, quinto condendum, sexto promendum. Ad alia in praeparando faciendi scrobes aut repastinandum aut sulcandum, ut si arbustum aut pomarium facere velis; ad alia arandum aut fodiendum, ut si segetes instituas; ad quaedam bipalio vertenda terra plus aut minus. Aliae enim radices angustius diffundunt, ut cupressi, aliae latius, ut platani, usque eo ut Theophrastus scribat Athenis in Lyceo, cum etiam nunc platanus novella esset, radices trium et triginta cubitorum egisse. Quaedam si bubus et aratro proscideris, et iterandum, antequam semen iacias. Item praeparatio siquae fit in pratis, id est ut defendantur a pastione, quod fere observant a piro florente; si inrigua sunt, ut tempestive inrigentur.

  [37.1] “The lunar periods also must be taken into account; these are roughly twofold, as the moon waxes from the new to the full and then wanes again toward the new, until it reaches the intermenstruum, or time ‘between two months,’ on which day the moon is said to be ‘last and first’; hence, at Athens they call this day ἕνην καὶ νέαν, or ‘old and new,’ while others call it τριακάδα, or the ‘thirtieth.’ Some operations should be carried out on the land during the waxing rather than the waning of the moon, while there are certain crops which you should gather in the opposite phase, such as grain and firewood.” [2] “I learned this rule from my father,” said Agrasius, “and I keep it not only in shearing my sheep but in cutting my hair, for fear that if I have it done when the moon is waxing I may become bald.” “After what method is the moon divided into quarters,” asked Agrius, “and what influence has that division on farming?” [3] “Have you never heard in the country,” replied Tremelius, “the expressions ‘eight days before the waxing of the moon,’ and ‘eight days before the waning of the moon,’ and that of the things which should be done when the moon is waxing some are nevertheless better done after this ‘eight days before the waxing’ than before it; and that the things which should be done when she is waning are better done the less light that heavenly body has? I have discussed the fourfold division in agriculture.”

  [4] “There is,” said Stolo, “a second, a sixfold-division of seasons of which may be said to bear a relation to the sun and moon, because almost every product comes to perfection in five stages and reaches jar and basket in the farmstead, and from these is brought forth for use in the sixth. The first stage is the preparation, the second the planting, the third the cultivation, the fourth the harvesting, the fifth the storing, the sixth the marketing. In the matter of preparation: for some crops you must make trenches or dig thoroughly or draw furrows, as when you wish to make an arbustum or an orchard; for others you must p
lough or spade, as when you starting a grain field; [5] for some the earth must be turned more or less deeply with the trenching spade. For some trees, such as the cypress, spread their roots less, and others, such as the plane, more; so much, indeed, that Theophrastus mentions a plane tree in the Lyceum at Athens which, even when it was quite young, had thrown out its roots to a spread of thirty-three cubits. Certain land, when you have broken it with oxen and plough, must be worked a second time before you broadcast the seed. Any preparation that is made in the matter of meadows consists in closing them from grazing, a practice which is usually observed from the time of the blooming of the pear trees; and if they are irrigated, in turning in the water at the proper time.

  XXXVIII.

  Quae loca in agro stercoranda, videndum, et qui et quo genere potissimum facias: nam discrimina eius aliquot. Stercus optimum scribit esse Cassius volucrium praeter palustrium ac nantium. De hisce praestare columbinum, quod sit calidissimum ac fermentare possit terram. Id ut semen aspargi oportere in agro, non ut de pecore acervatim poni. Ego arbitror praestare ex aviariis turdorum ac merularum, quod non solum ad agrum utile, sed etiam ad cibum ita bubus ac subus, ut fiant pingues. Itaque qui aviaria conducunt, si cavet dominus stercus ut in fundo maneat, minoris conducunt, quam ii quibus id accedit. Cassius secundum columbinum scribit esse hominis, tertio caprinum et ovillum et asininum, minime bonum equinum, sed in segetes; in prata enim vel optimum, ut ceterarum veterinarum, quae hordeo pascuntur, quod multam facit herbam. Stercilinum secundum villam facere oportet, ut quam paucissimis operis egeratur. In eo, si in medio robusta aliqua materia sit depacta, negant serpentem nasci.

  [38.1] “We must observe what parts of the land must be manured, how the manure is to be applied, and the best kind to use; for there are several varieties. Cassius states that the best manure is that of birds, except marsh- and sea-fowl; and that the dung of pigeons is the best of these, because it has the most heat and causes the ground to ferment. This should be broadcast on the land like seed, and not placed in piles like cattle dung. [2] My own opinion is that the best dung is from aviaries of thrushes and blackbirds, as it is not only good for the land, but is excellent food both for cattle and swine, to fatten them. Hence those who lease aviaries with the owner’s stipulation that the dung shall remain on the place pay less rent than those who have the use of it. Cassius states that next to pigeon dung human excrement is the best, and in the third place goat, sheep, and ass dung; [3] that horse dung is least valuable, but good on grain land; for on meadows it is the most valuable of all, as is that of all draught animals which feed on barley, because it produces a quantity of grass. The farmer should make a dung-hill near the steading, so that the manure may be cleared out with the least labour. They say that if an oak stake is driven into the middle of it no serpent will breed there.

  XXXIX.

  Sationis autem gradus, secundus, hanc habet curam: naturam ad quod tempus cuiusque seminis apta sit ad serendum. Nam refert in agro ad quam partem caeli quisque locus spectet, sic ad quod tempus quaeque res facillime crescat. Nonne videmus alia florere verno tempore, alia aestivo, neque eadem autumnali, quae hiberno? Itaque alia seruntur atque inseruntur et metuntur ante aut post quam alia; et cum pleraque vere quam autumno inserantur, circiter solstitium inseri ficos nec non brumalibus diebus cerasos. Quare cum semina sint fere quattuor generum, quae natura dedit, quae transferuntur e terra in terram viva radice, quae ex arboribus dempta demittuntur in humum, quae inseruntur ex arboribus in arbores, de singulis rebus videndum, quae quoque tempore locoque facias.

  [39.1] “The second step, that of planting, requires care as to the season of planting which is suited to the nature of each seed. For in a field it is important to note the exposure of every section, and also the season at which each plant grows best. Do we not observe that some blossom in spring, some in summer, and that the autumn growth is not the same as the winter? [2] Thus some plants are sown and grafted and harvested earlier or later than others; and while most are grafted in spring rather than in autumn, figs are grafted near the solstice, and cherries actually in mid-winter. [3] Now as seeds are, in general, of four kinds — those furnished by nature, those which are transplanted from one piece of ground to another as rooted slips, cuttings from trees planted in the ground, and grafts from tree to tree — you should observe what separate operation should be carried out at each season and in each locality.

  XL.

  Primum semen, quod est principium genendi, id duplex, unum quod latet nostrum sensum, alterum quod apertum. Latet, si sunt semina in aere, ut ait physicos Anaxagoras, et si aqua, quae influit in agrum, inferre solet, ut scribit Theophrastus. Illud quod apparet ad agricolas, id videndum diligenter. Quaedam enim ad genendum propensa usque adeo parva, ut sint obscura, ut cupressi. Non enim galbuli qui nascuntur, id est tamquam pilae parvae corticiae, id semen, sed in iis intus. Primigenia semina dedit natura, reliqua invenit experientia coloni. Prima quae sine colono, priusquam sata, nata; secunda quae ex iis collecta neque, priusquam sata, nata. Prima semina videre oportet ne vetustate sint exsucta aut ne sint admixta aut ne propter similitudinem sint adulterina. Semen vetus tantum valet in quibusdam rebus, ut naturam commutet. Nam ex semine brassicae vetere sato nasci aiunt rapa et contra ex raporum brassicam. Secunda semina videre oportet ne, unde tollas, nimium cito aut tarde tollas. Tempus enim idoneum, quod scribit Theophrastus, vere et autumno et caniculae exortu, neque omnibus locis ac generibus idem. In sicco et macro loco et argilloso vernum tempus idoneum, quo minus habet umoris: in terra bona ac pingui autumno, quod vere multus umor, quam sationem quidam metiuntur fere diebus XXX. Tertium genus seminis, quod ex arbore per surclos defertur in terram, si in humum demittitur, in quibusdam est videndum ut eo tempore sit deplantatum, quo oportet (id fit tum, antequam gemmare aut florere quid incipit); et quae de arbore transferas ut ea deplantes potius quam defringas, quod plantae solum stabilius, quo latius aut radices facilius mittit. Ea celeriter, antequam sucus exarescat, in terram demittunt. In oleagineis seminibus videndum ut sit de tenero ramo ex utraque parte aequabiliter praecisum, quas alii clavolas, alii taleas appellant ac faciunt circiter pedales. Quartum genus seminis, quod transit ex arbore in aliam, videndum qua ex arbore in quam transferatur et quo tempore et quem ad modum obligetur. Non enim pirum recipit quercus, neque enim si malus pirum. Hoc secuntur multi, qui haruspices audiunt multum, a quibus proditum, in singulis arboribus quot genera insita sint, uno ictu tot fulmina fieri illut quod fulmen concepit. Si in pirum silvaticam inserueris pirum quamvis bonam, non fore tam iucundam, quam si in eam quae silvestris non sit. In quamcumque arborem inseras, si eiusdem generis est, dumtaxat ut sit utraque malus, ita inserere oportet referentem ad fructum, meliore genere ut sit surculus, quam est quo veniat arbor. Est altera species ex arbore in arborem inserendi nuper animadversa in arboribus propinquis. Ex arbore, qua vult habere surculum, in eam quam inserere vult ramulum traducit et in eius ramo praeciso ac diffisso implicat, eum locum qui contingit, ex utraque parte quod intro est falce extenuatum, ita ut ex una parti quod caelum visurum est corticem cum cortice exaequatum habeat. Eius ramuli, quem inseret, cacumen ut derectum sit ad caelum curat. Postero anno, cum comprendit, unde propagatum est, ab altera arbore praecidit.

  [40.1] “In the first place, the seed, which is the origin of growth, is of two kinds, one being invisible, the other visible. There are invisible seed, if, as the naturalist Anaxagoras holds, they are in the air, and if the water which flows on the land carries them, as Theophrastus writes. The seed which can be seen should be carefully watched by the farmer; for some seed, such as that of the cypress, though capable of generating, is so small that it can hardly be seen; (for the pods which it bears, that look like little balls of bark, are not the seeds but contain them). [2] The original seeds were given by nature, while the later were discovered in the experiments of the farmer. The first are those which, without the aid of the farmer, grow without being sown; the second are those which, derived from these, do not grow without being sown. In the case of the first, care should be take
n to see that they are not dried out from age, and that they are clean and not mixed with seed of similar appearance. The age of the seed is of such importance in the case of some plants that it alters their nature; thus from the planting of old cabbage seeds it is said that rape grows, and on the other hand that cabbage grows from old rape seed. [3] In the case of the second class of seed, you should be careful not to transplant them too early or too late. The proper time is that given by Theophrastus — spring, autumn, and at the rising of the Dog Star — but the time is not the same for all localities and all species. In ground that is dry, thin, or clayey, spring is the proper season, because it is less humid; in good, rich land the autumn, because in spring it is very wet. Some authorities allow about thirty days for such planting. [4] In the third method, which consists in transferring shoots from a tree into the ground, if the shoot is buried in the earth, you must be careful, in the case of some, that the shoot be removed at the proper time — that is, before it shows any sign of budding or blossoming; and that what you transplant from the tree you tear from the stock rather than break off a limb, as the heel of a shoot is steadier, or the wider it is the more easily it puts out roots. They are thrust into the ground at once, before the sap dries out. In the case of olive cuttings, care must be taken that they be from a tender branch, sharpened evenly at both ends. Such cuttings, about a foot in length, are called by some clavolae, and by others taleae. [5] In the fourth method, which consists in running a shoot from one tree to another, the points to be observed are the nature of the tree, the season, and the method of fastening. You cannot, for instance, graft a pear on an oak, even though you can on an apple. This is a matter of importance to many people who pay considerable attention to the soothsayers; for these have a saying that when a tree has been grafted with several varieties, the one that attracts the lightning turns into as many bolts as there are varieties, though the stroke is a single one. No matter how good the pear shoot which you graft on a wild pear, the fruit will not be as well flavoured as if you graft it on a cultivated pear. [6] It is a general rule in grafting, if the shoot and the tree are of the same species, as, for instance, if both are of the apple family, that for the effect on the fruit the grafting should be of a such a nature that the shoot is of a better type than the tree on which it is grafted. There is a second method of grafting from tree to tree which has recently been developed, under conditions where the trees stand close to each other. From the tree from which you wish to take the shoot a small branch is run to the tree on which you wish to graft and is inserted in a branch of the latter which has been cut off and split; the part which fits into the branch having first been sharpened on both sides with the knife so that one side the part which will be exposed to the weather will have bark fitted accurately to bark. Care is taken to have the tip of the grafted shoot point straight up. The next year, after it has taken firm hold, it is cut off the parent stem.