[5.1] So far he. At this point Quintus Lucienus, the senator, a thoroughly kindly and jovial person, and a friend to all the company, entered and said “Greetings, fellow-citizens of Epirus; for to Scrofa and to our friend Varro, shepherd of the people, I paid my greetings this morning.” One returned his greeting and another chid him for coming late to his appointment; whereupon he remarked: “I’ll see you again presently, my merry men, and bring my skin and whips back with me. But as for you, Murrius, come along as my backer while I am paying my pence to the Lares, so that if they demand them from me later you can bear me witness.” [2] “Tell him while you are going,” said Atticus to Murrius, “how far our conversation has gone and what has not been discussed, so that he may come back ready for his part; and let us meanwhile tack on the second act, on the larger animals.” “That is where my part comes in,” said Vaccius, “since there are cows in it. So I shall give the advantage of the knowledge I have acquired on the subject of the cattle herd, so that he who is ignorant may learn, and he who knows may see where I go wrong.” “Watch your step, Vaccius,” said I; [3] “for the cow should be in the highest esteem among cattle, and especially in Italy, which is supposed to have derived its name from the word for oxen. For the ancient Greeks, according to Timaeus, called bulls itali, and the name Italy was bestowed because of the number and beauty of its cattle, and the great number of calves. Others say it is so named from the fact that Hercules chased hither from Sicily a noble bull which was called italus. This is man’s partner in his rustic labours and is the servant of Ceres; [4] and hence the ancients so wished his life to be safe that they made it a capital offence to kill one. In this matter Attica is witness as well as Peloponnesus; for it is to this animal that Buzuges owes his fame at Athens, and Bomagiros at Argos.” “I am acquainted,” replied Vaccius, “with the high esteem in which oxen are held, and the fact that many large things are named from them, such as busycos (bull fig), bupais (bull-boy), bulimos (bull hunger), boopis (cow-eyed), and that a grape also has the name bumamma (cow’s udder). [5] I know, further, that it was this animal into which Jupiter chose to change himself when he carried his beloved Europa over the sea from Phoenicia; that it was this animal which saved the sons of Neptune by Menalippa from being trampled in the stall, when they were infants, by a herd of cattle; further, that it is from the putrefied body of this animal that there spring the sweetest bees, those honey-mothers from which the Greeks therefore call bees ‘the ox-sprung’ (βουγενεῖς); and we have the official record that the praetor reported to the Senate at Rome that it was this animal which said, in Latin, ‘Plautius rather than Hirrius.’ So be of good cheer; I shall give you as much satisfaction as the author of the Bugonia could.
[6] “First: in the race of cattle four stages of life are distinguished, the first that of calf, the second that of yearling, the third that of prime, the fourth that of old; and a distinction of sex is indicated in each sex, in the first by bull-calf and heifer-calf, in the second by bullock and heifer, and in the third and fourth by bull and cow. A sterile cow is called taura, and a pregnant cow is called horda. It is from the fact that at that time pregnant cows are sacrificed that one of the days in the calendar is called hordicidia. [7] One who wishes to buy a herd of cattle should be careful to have animals of such an age that they are sound for bearing calves rather than those which have already reached the age of barrenness. They should be well formed, that is, clean-limbed, square-built, large, with blackish horns, wide foreheads, large black eyes, hairy ears, narrow jaws, somewhat snub-nosed, not humpbacked, but with a slight depression of the spine, spreading nostrils, blackish lips, [8] thick, long neck, with dewlap hanging from it, body well ribbed, broad shoulders, sturdy rump, a long tail hanging down to the ankles, curling somewhat at the end with thick hair, with legs rather short and straight, knees prominent and a good distance apart, feet not wide and not splaying as they walk, the hoofs not widely cloven but with the two toes smooth and of equal size, the skin not hard and rough to touch. The best colour is black, next red, then dun, and then white; for those of the last mentioned colour are most delicate, and those of the first most hardy. [9] Of the other two colours the first is preferable to the second, while both are more common than the black and the white. He should furthermore see that the males be of good breed, and their conformation should be looked to, for their young reproduce the characteristics of the parents. It is also a matter of importance where they are born; thus in Italy many Gallic oxen of good breed are good workers, while the Ligurian are of small account; [10] of foreign cattle those of Epirus are not only the best in all Greece, but are even better than the Italian. Yet some people use cattle of Italian breeds, which they claim excel in size, as offerings, and these they reserve for solemn offerings to the gods. These are doubtless to be preferred for sacrificial purposes because of the splendour of their size and colour; and this is done all the more because white cattle are not so common in Italy as they are in Thrace on the shores of the Black Gulf where there are few of any other colour. In the purchase of oxen which have been broken in, the bargain is in these terms: ‘Do you guarantee that the said oxen are sound, and that I am protected from suits for damage?’ [11] In buying them unbroken, the formula runs: ‘Do you guarantee that the said bullocks are quite sound and of a sound herd, and that I am protected from suits for damage?’ Butchers use a somewhat fuller form, following the rule of Manilius, in buying for slaughter; those who buy for sacrifice do not usually demand a guarantee of soundness in the victim.
“Large cattle are most conveniently pastured on wooded land where there is much undergrowth and foliage; and those that spend the winter along the coast are driven in summer into the leafy hills. In the matter of breeding I usually follow these principles: [12] for one month before they are mated, cows should not have their fill of food and drink, because it is thought that when thin they are in better condition to conceive. On the other hand, I keep the bulls filled with grass, straw, and hay for two months before mating; and I keep them away from the females. I keep the same number of bulls as Atticus — two to every 70 brood cows — one a yearling, the other a two-year-old. I attend to this matter following the rising of the constellation which the Greeks call Lyra, and which our people call Fides — [13] it is only then that I turn the bulls into the herd. The bull shows by the way he dismounts whether a male or female has been conceived by his act: if it is a male he comes down on the right side, and if a female on the left. Why this is true,” he remarked to me, “you who read Aristotle will have to find out. Cows should not be covered which are less than two years old, so that they may be three years old when they bear; and it will be all the better if they are four years old. Most of them continue bearing up to ten years, and some of them even longer. The best time for mating is from the rising of the Dolphin up to forty days or a little more; for cows which conceive at that time drop their calves at the most temperate season, as cows carry their calves for ten months. [14] On this subject I have seen a remarkable statement — that if you turn in a bull immediately after he has been castrated, he can get a calf. The cows should be pastured in grassy and watered ground, and care should be taken not to let them crowd, be struck, or run against one another. As cattle-flies have a way of tormenting them in summer and certain minute insects grow under their tails, some breeders keep them shut up in pens, to keep them from being worried. The pens should be strewn with a bedding of leaves or some such thing, so that they may rest in greater comfort. In summer they should be driven to water twice, in winter once. [15] When they come to the time of calving, fresh fodder should be kept near the stalls for them to nibble at as they go out, for they become dainty. Care should also be taken that the place into which they turned shall not be chilly, for chill and hunger make them grow thin. [16] In the matter of rearing, the following rules should be observed with this kind of animal: Sucklings must not sleep with their dams, as they will be trampled; they should be admitted to their dams in the morning and when they hav
e come back from pasture. When the calves have made some growth, the dams should be relieved by throwing green food before the calves in the pens. These stalls (and this holds good for practically all stalls) should be paved with stones or something of the sort, so that their hoofs may not rot. After the autumnal equinox calves pasture along with their dams. [17] They should not be castrated until they are two years old, because it is hard for them to recover otherwise; while those which are castrated later become tough and worthless. Just as in the case of other herds, there should be a culling once a year, and the culls should be cut out of the herd, as they take up the room of those which can bring in a profit. If a cow has lost her calf she should be given some whose dams do not give enough milk. Calves six months old are fed wheat bran and barley-meal and tender grass, and care is taken that they drink morning and evening. [18] On the subject of health there are many rules; these have been copied down from Mago’s treatise, and I see to it that my head herdsman is reading some of them repeatedly. As to the number of bulls and cows, the rule is that there be, to every sixty cows, one yearling bull and one two-year-old. Some breeders make the number smaller or larger; as, for instance, in Atticus’s herd there are two bulls to seventy breeding cows. The number of animals in a herd varies with the owner, some breeders (and I am one of them) considering a hundred a reasonable number. But Atticus has 120, as does Lucienus.”
[6.1] So far Vaccius. Then Murrius, who had returned with Lucienus while Vaccius was speaking, said: “I shall speak by preference on the subject of asses, as I am from Reate, where the best and largest are grown; out of this stock I have bred colts here and several times sold them even to Arcadians. [2] One who wishes, then, to start a good herd of asses should first be careful to get males and females of the proper age, so that they both may continue to bring in a profit as long as possible. They should be sturdy, sound in all parts, full-bodied, of good stock, and from those districts from which the best come; this is a point considered by those breeders in Peloponnesus who, by preference, buy in Arcadia, and those in Italy who buy in the neighborhood of Reate. For it does not at all follow that, because the best ‘floating’ lampreys grow in Sicily and the helops off Rhodes, these fish grow of the same excellence in all seas. There are two species of these animals: the wild ass, called onagrus, [3] of which there are many herds, as, for instance, in Phrygia and Lycaonia; and the domesticated, such as are all those in Italy. The wild ass is well suited for breeding, because he is easily changed from wild to tame and never changes back from tame to wild. As the young reproduce the qualities of their parents, both sire and dam should be chosen with an eye to their worth. In the matter of transfer of title, they change owners, as do other animals, by purchase and delivery; and there is the usual guarantee of soundness and against liability for damage. [4] The best food for them is spelt and barley bran. They are bred before the solstice, so that they may drop their colts at the same season the next year; for they foal in the twelfth month after conception. Pregnant jennies are relieved of work, as work makes the womb bear a poorer offspring. The male is not kept from work, as he loses vigour from lack of labour. In the matter of foaling about the same rules are followed as in the case of mares. The young are not separated from their dams for a year after birth; but during the next year they are allowed to be with them at night, and are kept loosely tied with a leather halter or the like. In the third year they begin their training for the work for which their owners wish to keep them. [5] There remains the question of number; but there really are no herds of these animals except of those which form pack trains, for the reason that they are usually separated and sent to the mills, or to the fields for hauling, or even for ploughing where the land is porous, as it is in Campania. The trains are usually formed by the traders, as, for instance, those who pack oil or wine and grain or other products from the region of Brundisium or Apulia to the sea in donkey panniers.”
[7.1] “I too,” broke in Lucienus, “shall open the barriers as I come, and begin to let out the steeds, and not the stallions only, which I keep for breeding, as Atticus does, one to every ten mares. The females of these Quintus Modius Equiculus, a very gallant gentleman whose father was also a soldier, used to value as highly as the males. Those who wish to establish a herd of horses and mares, as some do in the Peloponnesus and in Apulia, should first have an eye to age; and the following rules are laid down: We are careful to have them not less than three nor more than ten years old. [2] The age of horses and of almost all animals with solid hoof, and in fact of those with horns, is determined by the teeth, the horse being said to drop, at thirty months, first the middle teeth, two upper and as many lower; at the beginning of the fourth year they again cast, this time dropping the same number of those coming next to those which they have lost; and to so-called canine teeth begin to grow. [3] At the beginning of the fifth year they again shed two in each jaw in the same way, as at that time the animal has hollow fresh teeth which fill out in the sixth year, so that in the seventh it usually has a full set of permanent teeth. It is said that there is no way of determining those which are older than this, except that when the teeth become prominent and the brows grey with hollows under them, they determine by looking at him that such a horse is sixteen years old. [4] As to conformation they should be of moderate size, neither over nor under size, and the mares should have broad quarters and bellies. Stallions kept for breeding should be chosen of broad body, handsome, with no part of the body breaking the harmony. [5] What sort of a horse is going to turn out can be determined from the colt: if it has a head not over size and well-proportioned limbs, dark eyes, full nostrils, close-lying ears; mane abundant, dark, slightly curling, with very fine hair falling on the right side of the neck; broad, full chest, broad shoulders, fair-sized barrel, flanks converging downward, broad shoulder-blades, preferably with a double spine or at least with the backbone not prominent, full, somewhat curly tail, legs straight and sloping symmetrically rather inward than outward, the knees round but not large, and hard hoofs. The veins should be visible over the whole body, as a horse of this kind is capable of easy treatment when it is sick. [6] The stock from which they come is of great importance, as there are a number of breeds; hence noted breeds are named from the districts from which they come, as in Greece the Thessalian from Thessaly, in Italy the Apulian from Apulia, and the Rosean from Rosea. It is a sign that the horse will be a good one if, when in pasture with its mates, it vies with them in racing or in other ways to show its superiority; if, when a river is to be crossed by the herd, it runs with the leaders and does not look back at the rest of the herd. The terms of purchase for horses are practically the same as those for cattle and asses, as they change owners by purchase on the same terms, as laid down in the decisions of Manilius.
[7] “The breeding stud of horses is best fed in meadows on grass, and in stalls and enclosures on dry hay; and when they have foaled, with an additional ration of barley, and with water twice a day. In the matter of breeding, the beginning of mating should be at the vernal equinox and it should continue until the solstice, so that the foal may come at a seasonable time; for it is said that they are born on the tenth day of the twelfth month after conception. Foals which are born after this time are usually defective and unprofitable. [8] When the proper season arrives, the stallion should be admitted twice daily, morning and evening, with the help of the groom — as they call the man who attends to the mating. For with his help, when the mare is tied, the coition takes place more quickly, and the stallions do not, in their eagerness, eject the seed to no purpose. The mares show when they have conceived by defending themselves. If the horse will not cover the mare, the centre of a squill is crushed in water and reduced to the consistency of honey; with this the natural parts of the mare are touched when she is in heat, and on the other hand the nostrils of the horse are touched with what comes from the natural parts of the mare. [9] (Though it is incredible, as it actually happened the following story should be recorded: when a horse could not be
induced to mount his dam, the groom covered his head, led him up, and forced him to do so; but when he took the cloth from the horse’s eyes after he had come down, the horse dashed at him and killed him with his teeth.) [10] Care must be taken that the mares, after conceiving, are not worked over hard or kept in cold places, as chill is extremely injurious to those with foal. So in their stalls the ground should be kept free of dampness, the doors and windows should be kept shut, and poles should be placed in the pen to separate each mare, so that they cannot fight one another. A mare with foal should not be over-fed or under-fed. [11] Those who mate their mares every other year claim that they breed for a longer time and that the colts are better; and that those which become pregnant every year are sooner exhausted, just as are fields which are planted every year.
Delphi Complete Works of Varro Page 10