Dictionary of Greek and Roman antiquities. Ed. by William Smith. Illustrated by numerous engravings on wood.

86 nRAGRICULTURA. AGRItCULTURA.
Ctrn), 4. The dense (spissumn), 5. The wet (leumi-l fire or otherwise troublesome weeds, such as ferns
duan, aquosumt, ulipinosum7), 6. The dry (siccsur), and reeds (.filices, jztnci), to drain off the superwhile the endless gradations and combinations of fluous moisture, to measure out the ground into
which the elementary qualities were susceptible fields of a convenient size, and to enclose these
produced all the existing varieties. These are with suitable fences. The three last-mentioned
named sometimes from their most obvious consti- processes alone require any particular notice, and
tuents, the stony (lepidosumn), the gravelly (glareo- we therefore subjoin a few words upon DRAINS,
sm1), the sandy (arenoszem), the mortary (sabulo- LAND-MEA.SURES, FENCES.
Szeu), the chalky (cretosum), the clayey (argillo- DRAINS (Jbssac, szcci ac!veati, incilia) were of two.szurm); sometimes from their colour, the. black kinds:(eigrums?), the dark(psulluma), the grey (subalbum), 1. Open (pateztes). 2. Covered (csecae).
the red (rubicundeun), the white (album); some- 1. Fosscae patentes, open ditches, alone were
times from their consistency, the crumbling (plutre, formed in dense and chalky soil. They were wide'friabile, cisneritium), as opposed to the tenacious at top, and gradually narrowed in wedge fashion
(denszuns, crassum, spissun7); sometimes from their (imbnricibus szpinis similes) as they descended.
natural products, the grassy (granineoszns, herbo- 2. Fossae caecae, covered drains, or sivers as
suzm), the weedy (spurcune); sometimes from their they are termed in Scotland, were employed where
taste, the salt (salsumZ), the bitter (anaresa); the soil was loose, and emptied themselves into the
rubrica seems to have been a sort of red chalky fossae patentes. They were usually sunk from
clay, but what the epithets rudectac and msaterina three to four feet, were three feet wide at top and
applied to earth (terra) by Cato may indicate, it eighteen. inches at bottom; one half of the depth
is hard to determine (Cato 34; comp. Plin. II. N. was filled up with small stones or sharp gravel
xviii. 17). The great object of the cultivator being (nuda glarecs), and the earth which had tLeen dug
to separate the particles as finely as possible (nzeqe out, was thrown in above until the surface was
enim aliud est co!ere quaem resolverse et fermentare level. Where stones or gravel could not readily
terrace), high value was attached to those soils be procured, green willow poles were introduced,
which were not only rich, but naturally pulveru- crossing each other in all directions (qzoquoversus),
lent. Hence the first place was held by soleus or a sort of rope was constructed of twigs twisted
pingue et putre, the second by pissguiter denszum, together so as to fit exactly into the bottom of the
while the worst was that which was at once dry, drain; above this the leaves of some of the pine
tenacious, and poor (siccnmr pariter et densuln, et tribe were trodden down, and the whole covered
mzacru7n). The ancients were in the habit of form- up with earth. To prevent the apertures being
infg an estimate of untried ground, not only from choked by the falling down of the soil, the mouths
the qualities which could be detected by sight and were supported by two stones placed upright, and
touch, but also from the character of the trees, one across (utilissimum est..., ore ectrulz bizais
shrubs, and herbage growing upon it spontaneously, utrimque lapidibus statumninari et a!io saperintegi).
a test of more practical value than any of the To carry off the surface-water froin land under
others enumerated in the second Georgic (177- crop, open furrows (sulci aquarii, elices) were left at
258.) intervals, which discharged themselves into cross
When an estate was purchased, the land might furrows (colliquiae) at the extremities of the fields,
be either in a state of culture (culla novalia), or in and these again poured their streams into the
a state of nature (rudis ager). ditches. (Cat. 43. 155; Col. ii. 2. 8; xi. 2; Pallad.
The comparative value of land under cultivation v-i. 3; Plin. HI. NV. xviii. 6. 19. 26; Virg. Geosg.
estimated by the crops which it was capable of i. 113.)
bearing, is fixed by Cato (1), according to the fol- ME.ASTRES OF LAND.-The measure employed
lowing descending scale: — for land in Latium was the julqerum, which was
1. Vineyards (vinea), provided they yielded a double actzs quzadratuzs, the actus quadratus, alngood wine in abundance. 2. Garden ground well ciently called acan, or acena, or ognra, being a
supplied with water (olortus irri/,.:tes). 3. Osier square, whose side was 120 Roman feet. The
beds (salictumun). 4. Olive plantations (oletunm). subdivisions of the (ts were applied to the jugerunm,
5. Meadows (pratu2n). 6. Corn land (campus the lowest in use beingi the scsiplllum, a square
fre2m7entariues). 7. Groves which might be cut for whose side was ten feet. 200 jugera formed a
timber or fire-wood (silvr caedua). 8. Arbuestume. cernturia, a term which is said to have arisen from
This name was. given to fields planted with trees the allotments of lind made by Romulus to the
in regular rows. Upon these vines were trained, citizens, for these being at the rate of 2 jugera
and the open ground cultivated for corn or legii- to each man, 200 jugera would be assigned to
ininous crops in the ordinary manner, ail arrange- every hundred men. Lastly, four centuriae made
ment extensively adopted in Campania, and many a saltus. We thus have the following table:other parts of Italy in modern times, but by no 1 scripulum 100 square feet, Roman measure.
means conducive to good husbandry. 9. Groves 144 scripula - I actus -- 14,400 square feet.
yielding acorns, beech-mast, and chestnuts (plan- 2 actus = 1 jugerum = 28,800 square feet.
dareia silva). The flect that in the above scale, corn 200 jugera 1 centuria.
land is placed below meadows may perhaps be re- 4 centuriae = 1 saltus.
garded as an indication that, even in the time of Now, since three actus quadrati contained 4800
Cato, agriculture was upon the decline among the square yards, and since the English imperial acre
Romans. contains 4840 slquare yards, and since the Roman
When waste land was to be reclaimed, the or- foot was about 3 of an inch less than the imdinary procedure was to root out the trees and perial foot, it follows that the Roman juger was
brushwood (fruteta), by which it might be encum- less than ] of an imperial acre by about 500 square
bered, to remove the rocks and stones which would yards.
impede the labours of men and oxen, to destroy by In Campania the measure for land was the