“Within ten days after birth colts should be driven to pasture with their dams, so that the dung may not burn their tender hoofs. When the colts are five months old, on being driven back to the stable they should have spread before them barley-meal ground with bran, and whatever other product of the soil they relish. [12] When they become yearlings they should be fed with barley and bran so long as they suckle. And they should not be removed before the end of two years; and while they are still with the dam they should be handled from time to time, to prevent them from being frightened when they are separated. For the same purpose harness should be hung in the stall, so that the young horses may become accustomed both to the sight of it and to its jingling when it moves. [13] As soon as they have become accustomed to coming up and being handled it is well to let a boy mount them two or three times, first lying flat on his stomach and then seated. This should be done when the colt is a three-year-old, for at that age it is growing most rapidly, and putting on muscle. Some breeders claim that a young horse can be broken at eighteen months; but it is better to wait until they are three-year-olds; from which time it is customary to feed mixed forage, for this is a most necessary form of purging for horses. It should be fed for ten days, and the horse should be allowed to taste no other food. [14] From the eleventh to the fourteenth day barley should be fed, the amount being increased gradually from day to day; and the amount fed on the fourth day should be continued for the next ten days. After that time he should have gentle exercise, and be rubbed down with oil after he has sweated. If the weather is chilly, a fire should be built in the stall.
[15] “As some horses are fitted for military service, others for hauling, others for breeding, and others for racing, all are not to be judged and valued by the same standards. Thus the experienced soldier chooses his horses by one standard and feeds and trains them in one way, and the charioteer and circus-rider in another; and the trainer who is breaking horses for riding under the saddle or for the carriage does not use the same system as the man who has military service in view; for as on the one hand, in the army, they want spirited horses, so on the other hand they prefer more docile ones for road service. It is for this reason that there has grown up the greatest difference in the matter of castrating horses; for when the testicles have been removed they become more steady for the reason that they no longer have seed. Such horses are called geldings, just as castrated boars are called barrows, and castrated cocks are called capons. [16] In the matter of treatment there are, in the case of horses, a great many symptoms of disease and methods of treatment, and the head groom should have these written out. It is for this reason that in Greece those who treat cattle in general are called by the special name ἱππίατροι, ‘horse-doctors.’”
[8.1] While we were thus speaking a freedman comes from Menates to tell us that the cakes had been offered and the sacrifice was made ready; if the gentlemen wished they might come there and perform their sacrifices for themselves. “But,” I said, “I shan’t let you go until you have played out the third act — on mules, dogs, and herdsmen.” “It will take only a short time to discuss them,” said Murrius; “for mules and hinnies are hybrids and grafts, not from roots after their own kind; for the mule is the offspring of a mare and an ass, while the hinny is the offspring of a horse and a jenny; [2] each is useful work, but neither brings any return from young. When an ass colt is newly born it is placed under a mare and becomes fatter on her milk, as they claim that such nourishment is more nutritious than the ass’s milk. They are reared, in addition, on straw, hay, or barley. Special care is also taken of the foster-mother, so the mare may furnish the colt with an abundant supply of milk. A jack so reared may be used for breeding after three years, and because it is accustomed to horses it will not refuse to mate. [3] If you use him at an early age, he himself tires sooner, and his offspring will be of poorer quality. Those who do not have such a jack, reared on mare’s milk, but want a breeding jack, pick one as heavy and handsome as they can find and of good breed — of the Arcadian breed, our ancestors used to say, but of Reatine breed, as we have found by experience; in that district several breeding asses have sold for three hundred and even four hundred thousand sesterces. In purchasing we observe the same rules as in the case of horses, and make the same stipulations in the matter of purchase and acceptance as were named in the case of horses. [4] We feed these chiefly on hay and barley and increase the amount before breeding, so that we may furnish strength from the food for begetting; and we mate them at the same season in which we mate horses, and we are careful also to have them cover the mares with the help of a groom. When a mare drops a horse-mule or a mare-mule we rear it at the teat. [5] If these are born in swampy or damp ground they have soft hoofs; but if they are driven into the mountains in summer, as is done in the district of Reate, their hoofs grow quite hard. In assembling a herd of mules both age and build must be watched — the former that they may be strong enough to bear the labour of hauling, and the latter that they may please the eyes with the appearance; for it is by pairs of these animals that all vehicles are drawn on the roads. [6] You would take my word for this as being an expert from Reate,” he remarked to me, “if you did not keep herds of mares at home yourself, and had not sold herds of mules. The so-called hinny is the offspring of a horse and a jenny; smaller than the mule, usually rather redder, with ears like a horse’s, but with mane and tail like those of the ass. These are reared and fed just as young horses are, and their age is determined by the teeth.”
[9.1] “There is left,” said Atticus, “of the discussion of quadrupeds only the topic of dogs; but it is of great interest to those of us who keep fleece-bearing flocks, the dog being the guardian of the flock, which needs such a champion to defend it. Under this head come especially sheep but also goats, as these are the common prey of the wolf, and we use dogs to protect them. In a herd of swine, however, there are some members which can defend themselves, namely, boars, barrows, and sows; for they are very much like wild boars, which have often killed dogs in the forest with their tusks. [2] And why speak about the larger animals? For I know that while a herd of mules was feeding and a wolf came upon them, the animals actually whirled about and kicked him to death; that bulls often stand facing different ways, with their hind-quarters touching, and easily drive off wolves with their horns. As there are, then, two sorts of dogs — the hunting-dog suited to chase the beasts of the forest, and the other which is procured as a watch-dog and is of importance to the shepherd — I shall speak of the latter under nine divisions, according to the scientific division which has been set forth.
[3] “In the first place, they should be procured of the proper age, as puppies and dogs over age are of no value for guarding either themselves or sheep, and sometimes fall a prey to wild beasts. They should be comely of face, of good size, with eyes either darkish or yellowish, symmetrical nostrils, lips blackish or reddish, the upper lip neither raised too high nor drooping low, stubby jaw with two fangs projecting somewhat from it on the right and left, the upper straight rather than curved, [4] their sharp teeth covered by the lip, large head, large and drooping ears, thick shoulders and neck, the thighs and shanks long, legs straight and rather bowed in than out, large, wide paws which spread as he walks, the toes separated, the claws hard and curving, the sole of the foot not horny or too hard, but rather spongy, as it were, and soft; with the body tapering at the top of the thigh, the backbone neither projecting nor swayed, tail thick; with a deep bark, wide gape, preferably white in colour, so that they may the more readily be distinguished in the dark; and of a leonine appearance. [5] Bitches, in addition, should have well formed dugs with teats of equal size. Care should also be taken that they be of good breed; accordingly they receive their names from the districts from which they come: Spartans, Epirotes, Sallentines. You should be careful not to buy dogs from huntsmen or butchers — in the latter case because they are too sluggish to follow the flock, and in the other because if they see a hare or a stag they wil
l follow it rather than the sheep. It is better, therefore, to buy from a shepherd a bitch which has been trained to follow sheep, or one that has had no training at all; for a dog forms a habit for anything very easily, and the attachment he forms for shepherds is more lasting than that he forms for sheep. [6] Publius Aufidius Pontianus, of Amiternum, had bought some herds of sheep in furthest Umbria, the purchase including the dogs but not the shepherds, but providing that the shepherds should take them to the pastures of Metapontum and to market at Heraclea. When the men who had taken them there had returned home, the dogs, without direction and simply from their longing for their masters, returned to the shepherds in Umbria a few days later, though it was a journey of many days, having lived off the country. And yet not one of those shepherds had done what Saserna, in his book on agriculture, directed: that a man who wanted a dog to follow him should throw him a boiled frog! It is very important that the dogs be all of the same family, as those which are related are the greatest protection to one another. [7] The fourth point is that of purchase: possession passes when the dog is delivered by the former owner to the next. With regard to health and liability to damage, the same precautions are taken as in the case of sheep, except that it is advisable to make the following stipulation: some people fix the price of dogs per head, others stipulate that pups go with their mother, others that two pups count as one dog just as usually two lambs count as one sheep, and many that dogs be included which have become accustomed to being together.
[8] “The food of dogs is more like that of man than that of sheep: they eat scraps of meat and bones, not grass and leaves. Great care must be taken for their supply of food; for hunger will drive them to hunt for food, if it is not provided, and take them away from the flock — [9] even if they do not, as some think, come to the point of disproving the ancient proverb, or even go so far as to enact the story of Actaeon, and sink their teeth in their master. [10] You should also feed them barley bread, but not without soaking it in milk; for when they have become accustomed to eating that kind of food they will not soon stray from the flock. They are not allowed to feed on the flesh of a dead sheep, for fear that the taste will make them less inclined to spare the flock. They are also fed on bone soup and even broken bones as well; for these make their teeth stronger and their mouths of wider stretch, because their jaws are spread with greater force, and the savour of the marrow makes them more keen. Their habit is to eat during the day when they are out with the flocks, and at evening when these are folded. [11] The beginning of breeding is fixed at the opening of spring, for at that time they are said to be ‘in heat,’ that is, to show their desire for mating. Those that conceive at that time have a litter about the time of the summer solstice, for they usually carry their young for three months. During the period of gestation they should be fed barley bread rather than wheat bread, for they are better nourished on the former and yield a larger supply of milk. [12] In the matter of rearing after birth, if the litter is large you should at once pick those that you wish to keep and dispose of the others. The fewer you leave the better they will grow, because of the abundance of milk. Chaff and other like stuff is spread under them, because they are more easily reared on a soft bedding. The pups open their eyes within twenty days; for the first two months after birth they are not taken from the mother, but are weaned by degrees. Several of them are driven into one place and teased to make them fight, so as to make them more keen; but they are not allowed to tire themselves out, as this makes them sluggish. [13] They are also accustomed to being tied, at first with slight leashes; and if they try to gnaw these they are whipped to keep them from forming the habit of doing this. On rainy days the kennels should be bedded with leaves or fodder, and this for two purposes: to keep them from being muddied, and to keep them from getting chilled. [14] Some people castrate them, because they think that by this means they are less likely to leave the flock; others do not, because they think this makes them less keen. Some people crush filberts in water and rub the mixture over their ears and between their toes, as the flies and worms and fleas make ulcers there if you do not use this ointment. [15] To protect them from being wounded by wild beasts, collars are placed on them — the so-called melium, that is, a belt around the neck made of stout leather with nails having heads; under the nail heads there is sewed a piece of soft leather, to prevent the hard iron from injuring the neck. The reason for this is that if a wolf or other beast has been wounded by these nails, this makes the other dogs also, which do not have the collar, safe. [16] The number of dogs is usually determined by the size of the flock; it is thought to be about right for one dog to follow each shepherd. But the number varies with the circumstances; thus in countries where wild beasts are plentiful there should be more, as is usually the case with those who escort the flocks to summer and winter pastures through distant woodland trails. On the other hand, for a flock feeding near the steading two dogs to the farm are sufficient. These should be a male and a female, for in this case they are more watchful, as one makes the other more keen, and if one of the two is sick that the flock may not be without a dog.”
[10.1] As he glanced around to see if he had overlooked anything, I remarked: “Your silence gives the cue to another actor; for the remaining scene in this act concerns the number and kind of herdsmen to be kept.” Whereupon Cossinius: “For herds of larger cattle older men, for the smaller even boys; but in both cases those who range the trails should be sturdier than those on the farm who go back to the steading every day. Thus on the range you may see young men, usually armed, while on the farm not only boys but even girls tend the flocks. [2] The herdsmen should be required to stay on the range the entire day and have the herds feed together; but, on the other hand, to spend the night each with his own herd. They should all be under one herd-master; he should preferably be older than the rest and more experienced, as the other herdsmen will be more disposed to take orders from one who surpasses them in both age and knowledge. [3] Still, he should not be so much older that his age will prevent him from being as able to stand hard work; for neither old men nor boys can easily endure the hardships of the trail and the steepness and roughness of the mountains — all of which must be encountered by those who follow the herd, and especially herds of cattle and oats, which like cliffs and woods for pasturage. The men chosen for this work should be of a sturdy sort, swift, nimble, with supple limbs; men who can not only follow the herd but can also protect it from beasts and robbers, who can lift loads to the backs of pack animals, who can dash out, and who can hurl the javelin. [4] It is not every people that is fitted for herding; thus neither a Bastulan nor a Turdulan is suited, while Gauls are admirably adapted, especially for draught cattle. In the matter of purchase there are some six methods of acquiring a legitimate title: by legal inheritance; by receiving, in due form, through mancipation from one who had a legal right to transfer; by legal cession, from one who had the right to cede, and that at the proper time; by right of possession; by purchase at auction from war-booty; and lastly by official sale among other property or in confiscated property. [5] In the purchase of slaves, it is customary for the peculium to go with the slave, unless it is expressly excepted; and for a guarantee to be given that he is sound and has not committed thefts or damage; or, if the transfer is not by mancipation, double the amount is guaranteed, or merely the purchase price, if this be agreed on. They should eat during the day apart, each with his own herd, but in the evening all those who are under one head-herdsman should eat together. The head-herdsman is to see that all equipment needed for the animals and herdsmen, and especially for sustenance of the men and the treatment of the cattle, shall accompany them; for which purpose owners keep pack animals, in some cases mares, in others any animal instead, which can carry a load on its back.
[6] “As to the breeding of herdsmen; it is a simple matter in the case of those who stay all the time on the farm, as they have a female fellow-slave in the steading, and the Venus of herdsmen looks no farther than this. But in the
case of those who tend the herds in mountain valleys and wooded lands, and keep off the rains not by the roof of the steading but by makeshift huts, many have thought that it was advisable to send along women to follow the herds, prepare food for the herdsmen, and make them more diligent. [7] Such women should, however, be strong and not ill-looking. In many places they are not inferior to the men at work, as may be seen here and there in Illyricum, being able either to tend the herd, or carry firewood and cook the food, or to keep things in order in their huts. [8] As to feeding their young, I merely remark that in most cases they suckle them as well as bear them.” At the same time, turning to me, he said: “As I have heard you say that you, when you were in Liburnia, saw mothers carrying logs and children at the breast at the same time, sometimes one, sometimes two; showing that our newly-delivered women, who lie for days under their mosquito-nets,[9] “It is quite true,” I replied; “and in Illyricum I have seen something even more remarkable: for it often happens there that a pregnant woman, when her time has come, steps aside a little way from her work, bears her child there, and brings it back so soon that you would say she had not borne it but found it. They have also another remarkable practice: their custom does not refuse to allow women, often as much as twenty years old (and they call them maidens, too), before marriage to mate with any man they please, to wander around by themselves, and to bear children.” [10] (Cossinius resumes), “All directions for caring for the health of human beings and cattle, and all sicknesses which can be treated without the aid of a physician, the head-herdsman should keep in writing. For one who does not know his letters is not fit for the place, because he cannot possibly keep his master’s cattle accounts correctly. The number of herdsmen is determined differently, some having a smaller, some a larger number. [11] My own practice is to have a herdsman to every eighty wool-bearing sheep, while Atticus has one to every hundred. If flocks of sheep are very large (and some people have as many as 1000) you can decrease the number of shepherds more easily than you can in smaller flocks, such as those of Atticus and mine. My own flocks contain 700, and yours, I think, had 800; but still you had one tenth of them rams, as I do. Two men are needed for a herd of fifty mares, and each of these should certainly have for his use a mare which has been broken to the saddle, in those districts where it is customary for the mares to be rounded up and driven to stalls, as is frequently true in Apulia and Lucania.
Delphi Complete Works of Varro Page 11