[7] “I shall discuss next the remaining four points — pasturage, breeding, feeding, health. It is first to be arranged that they feed properly the year round, indoors and out. The fold should be placed in a suitable situation, protected from the wind, and facing the east rather than the south. The ground on which they are to stand should be clear of undergrowth and sloping, so that it can easily be swept and kept clean; for the moisture of the ground injures not only the fleece of the sheep but their hoofs as well, and causes them to become scabby. [8] When they have been standing for some days, fresh brush should be spread for them, to give them a softer bed and keep them cleaner; for this increases their appetite. Separate enclosures should also be built, so that you may take the pregnant ones away from the flock, and also those that are sick. These measures concern most the flocks which are folded at the steading. [9] On the other hand, in the case of those that feed on the ranges and are far from cover, hurdles or nets are carried with which to make enclosures in a desolate district, as well as other necessary things; for they usually graze far and wide in all sorts of places, so that frequently the winter grazing grounds are many miles away from the summer.” “I am well aware of that,” said I, “for I had flocks that wintered in Apulia and summered in the mountains around Reate, these two widely separated ranges being connected by public cattle-trails, as a pair of buckets by their yoke.” [10] “Such flocks, even when they feed in the same locality, are treated differently at different seasons; thus, in summer they begin feeding at daybreak, because at that time the grass, filled with dew, is superior to the grass of midday, which is drier. At sunrise they are driven to water, to make them more eager to graze when they come back. [11] During the midday heat they are driven under shady cliffs and wide-spreading trees to cool off until the day grows cooler; and they feed again in the evening until sunset. Sheep should be headed in grazing in such a way as to have the sun behind them, as the head of the sheep is its weakest part. A short time after sunset they are driven to water, and then again they graze until it becomes quite dark; for at this time the succulence comes again to the grass. This practice is usually kept up from the rising of the Pleiades until the autumnal equinox. [12] It is profitable to drive them into stubble fields for two reasons: they get their fill of the ears that have fallen, and make the crop better the next year by trampling the straw and by their dung. The feeding during the rest of the year, winter and spring, varies from this, in that when the frost has melted they are driven out to feed and range the whole day, and it is considered sufficient for them to be driven to water only once, at midday.
[13] “With regard to pasturage the foregoing remarks will suffice; the following apply to breeding. The rams which are to be used for breeding are to be removed from the flock two months ahead, and fed more generously. If barley is fed them on their return to the pens from the pasture, they are strengthened for the work before them. The best time for mating is from the setting of Arcturus to the setting of Aquila; as lambs which are conceived after that time grow undersized and weak. [14] As the period of pregnancy of the sheep is 150 days, the birth thus occurs at the close of autumn, when the air is fairly temperate, and the grass which is called forth by the early rains is just growing. During the whole time of breeding they should drink the same water, as a change of water causes the wool to spot and is injurious to the womb. When all the ewes have conceived, the rams should again be removed, as they are troublesome in worrying the ewes which have now become pregnant. Ewes less than two years old should not be allowed to breed, for the offspring of these is not sturdy and the ewes themselves are injured; and no others are better than the three-year-olds for breeding. They may be protected from the male by binding behind them baskets made of rushes or other material; but they are protected more easily if they feed apart.
[15] “As to feeding: when they begin to bear they are driven into the pens which are kept separate for that purpose; and there the new-born lambs are placed near a fire until they get their strength. They are kept penned for two or three days, while they are learning to recognise their dams and are getting their fill of nourishment. Then the dams go to pasture with the flock, and the lambs are kept penned; when the dams are brought back to them toward evening, the lambs are suckled by them and are again separated to keep them from being trampled by the dams during the night. The same thing takes place in the morning, before the dams go out to pasture, so that the lambs may be filled with milk. [16] When about ten days have passed, stakes are set to which the lambs are fastened at intervals by bark or other smooth ropes, so that the tender young things may not knock the skin off any of their legs while frisking about together during the whole day. If the lamb will not come to its dam’s udder, it should be held close and its lips smeared with butter or hog’s lard and the lips be given the savour of milk. A few days later ground vetch or tender grass is thrown out to them before they go out to pasture and when they come back; [17] and this feeding is continued until they are four months old. During this time some breeders do not milk the dams; and it is even better not to milk them at all, as they both yield more wool and bear more lambs. When the lambs are removed from the dams, care must be taken that they do not sicken from the separation; and so in feeding they must be coaxed by the daintiness of the food and guarded from being harmed by cold and heat. [18] They must be driven into the flock only after they no longer miss the dam, because they have forgotten the taste of milk. Lambs should be castrated not earlier than the fifth month, and then not until the heat or the cold has broken. Those they wish to rear for rams are chosen preferably from the young of dams which usually bear twins. The treatment is, in general, the same in the case of jacketed sheep — those which, on account of the excellence of the wool, are jacketed with skins, as is the practice at Tarentum and in Attica, to prevent the fleece from being soiled, in which case it cannot be so well dyed, or washed and bleached. [19] More care is employed in the case of these than in the case of rough-fleeced sheep, to keep the folds and stalls clean; and so they are covered with a stone pavement so that the urine may not stand anywhere in the stalls. To these the food which they prefer, such as fig leaves, straw, grape dregs, and bran, is fed in moderate quantities, to avoid under-feeding or over-feeding; either of which is harmful to their fattening, while alfalfa and snail-clover are both beneficial, as these fatten them very easily and produce milk.
[20] “In the matter of health there are many rules; but, as I said, the head shepherd keeps these written down in a book, and carries with him the remedies he may need. The only remaining division is that of number, and some make this larger, others smaller; for there are no natural limits in this respect. Our almost universal practice in Epirus is not to have less than one shepherd to the hundred rough-fleeced sheep, and two to the hundred jacketed sheep.”
III.
Cui Cossinius, Quoniam satis balasti, inquit, o Faustule noster, accipe a me cum Homerico Melanthio cordo de capellis, et quem ad modum breviter oporteat dicere, disce. Qui caprinum gregem constituere vult, in eligendo animadvertat oportet primum aetatem, ut eam paret, quae iam ferre possit fructum, et de iis eam potius, quae diutius; novella enim quam vetus utilior. De forma uidendum ut sint firmae, magnae, corpus leve ut habeant, crebro pilo, nisi si glabrae sunt (duo enim genera earum); sub rostro duas ut mammulas pensiles habeant, quod eae fecundiores; ubere sint grandiore, ut et lac multum et pingue habeant pro portione. Hircus molliori et potissimum pilo albo ac cervice et collo brevi, gurgulione longiore. Melior fit grex, si non est ex collectis comparatus, sed ex consuetis una. De seminio dico eadem, quae Atticus in ovibus; hoc aliter, ovium semen tardius esse, quo eae sint placidiores; contra caprile mobilius esse, de quarum uelocitate in Originum libro Cato scribit haec: “in Sauracti et Fiscello caprae ferae sunt, quae saliunt e saxo pedes plus sexagenos”. Oves enim, quas pascimus, ortae sunt ab ovibus feris, sic quas alimus caprae a capris feris ortae, a quis propter Italiam Caprasia insula est nominata. De capris quod meliore semine eae quae bis pariant, ex his po
tissimum mares solent summitti ad admissuras. Quidam etiam dant operam ut ex insula Melia capras habeant, quod ibi maximi ac pulcherrimi existimantur fieri haedi.
De emptione aliter dico atque fit, quod capras sanas sanus nemo promittit; numquam enim sine febri sunt. Itaque stipulantur paucis exceptis verbis, ac Manilius scriptum reliquit sic: “illasce capras hodie recte esse et bibere posse habereque recte licere, haec spondesne?” De quibus admirandum illud, quod etiam Archelaus scribit: non ut reliqua animalia naribus, sed auribus spiritum ducere solere pastores curiosiores aliquot dicunt.
De alteris quattuor quod est de pastu, hoc dico: Stabulatur pecus melius, ad hibernos exortos si spectat, quod est alsiosum. Id, ut pleraque, lapide aut testa substerni oportet, caprile quo minus sit uliginosum ac lutulentum. Foris cum est pernoctandum, item in eandem partem caeli quae spectent saepta oportet substerni virgultis, ne oblinantur. Non multo aliter tuendum hoc pecus in pastu atque ovillum, tamen habent sua propria quaedam, quod potius silvestribus saltibus delectantur quam pratis; studiose enim de agrestibus fruticibus pascuntur atque in locis cultis virgulta carpunt. Itaque a carpendo caprae nominatae. Ab hoc in lege locationis fundi excipi solet, ne colonus capra natum in fundo pascat. Harum enim dentes inimici sationi, quas etiam astrologi ita receperunt in caelum, ut extra lembum duodecim signorum excluserint; sunt duo haedi at capra non longe a tauro. Quod ad feturam pertinet, desistente autumno exigunt a grege in campo hircos in caprilia, item ut in arietibus dictum. Quae concepit, post quartum mensem reddit tempore verno. In nutricatu haedi, trimestres cum sunt facti, tum submittitur et in grege incipiunt esse. Quid dicam de earum sanitate, quae numquam sunt sanae? Nisi tamen illud unum: quaedam scripta habere magistros pecoris, quibus remediis utantur ad morbos quosdam earum ac vulneratum corpus, quod usu venit iis saepe, quod inter se cornibus pugnant atque in spinosis locis pascuntur. Relinquitur de numero, qui in gregibus est minor caprino quam in ovillo, quod caprae lascivae et quae dispergant se; contra oves quae se congregent ac condensent in locum unum. Itaque in agro Gallico greges plures potius faciunt quam magnos, quod in magnis cito existat pestilentia, quae ad perniciem eum perducat. Satis magnum gregem putant esse circiter quinquagenas. Quibus adsentiri putant id quod usu venit Gaberio, equiti Romano. Is enim cum in suburbano mille iugerum haberet et a caprario quodam, qui adduxit capellas ad urbem decem, sibi in dies singulos denarios singulos dare audisset, coegit mille caprarum, sperans se capturum de praedio in dies singulos denarium mille. Tantum enim fefellit, ut brevi omnes amiserit morbo. Contra in Sallentinis et in Casinati ad centenas pascunt. De maribus et feminis idem fere discrimen, ut alii ad denas capras singulos parent hircos, ut ego; alii etiam ad quindecim, ut Menas; non nulli etiam, ut Murrius, ad viginti.
[3.1] Cossinius, addressing him, said: “As you have bleated long enough, my dear Faustulus, now hear from me, as from Homer’s Melanthius born out of due season, with regard to goats; and learn how one ought to speak, briefly and to the point. One who decides to assemble a flock of goats should, in choosing his animals, have regard first to age, picking those of the age which is already capable of bringing in a profit, and this age preferably the one which can bring it longer; for the young goat is more profitable than the old. [2] As to conformation, see that they be strong and large, and have a smooth coat with thick hair, unless, to be sure, they belong to the hairless breed, for there are two breeds of goats. They should have two teat-like growths hanging under the chin, as such goats are more fertile; they should have rather large udders, so that they may give a greater quantity of milk and of richer quality in proportion. The buck should have hair which is rather soft and by preference white; short shoulders and neck; and a somewhat long throat. The flock is better if it is not formed of animals bought here and there, but of those which are accustomed to run together. [3] As to the breed, I make the remark which Atticus made with regard to sheep; with this exception, that the race of sheep is more quiet, inasmuch as they are gentler, while on the other hand that of goats is more nimble. As to their activity, Cato says in his Origines: ‘On Soracte and Fiscellum there are wild goats which make leaps of more than sixty feet from the cliffs.’ For just as the domesticated sheep is sprung from the wild sheep, so the domesticated goat is sprung from the wild goat; and the island Caprasia, off the coast of Italy, derives its name from these. [4] As she-goats which bear twins are of better stock, it is from these, preferably, that the males are usually chosen for service. Some owners are even careful to import she-goats from the island Melia, because it is thought that the largest and finest kids are produced there.
[5] “With regard to purchase, my rule is different from the usual practice, as no man sound of mind guarantees that goats (which are never free of fever) are sound of body. And so the bargain is struck with only a few exceptions made, after a formula derived from the code of Manilius: ‘Do you guarantee that the said goats are to-day in good condition and able to drink, and that the title is in proper form?’ There is a remarkable thing about these animals, and even Archelaus is authority for the statement: some shepherds who have watched quite closely claim that goats do not breathe, as other animals do, through the nostrils, but through the ears.
[6] “Of the other four points, I have this to say with regard to feeding: It is better to have the goat stalls face the sunrise in winter, as the animals feel the cold acutely. Such stalls, and in fact all stalls, should be floored with stone or tile, to prevent the goat-house from being wet and muddy. When they have to spend the night outdoors, their pens should face in the same direction, and they should be bedded down with twigs so that they may not be muddied. The care of this animal in the matter of feeding is about the same as that of the sheep, though each has certain peculiarities; [7] thus, the goat prefers wooded glades to meadows, as it eats eagerly the field bushes and crops the undergrowth on cultivated land. Indeed, their name capra is derived from carpere, to crop. It is because of this fact that in a contract for the lease of a farm the exception is usually made that the renter may not pasture the offspring of a goat on the place. For their teeth are injurious to all forms of growth; and though the astronomers have placed them in the sky, they have put them outside the circle of the twelve signs — there are two kids and a she-goat not far from Taurus. [8] As to breeding, at the close of autumn, while the herd is at pasture, the bucks are driven from it into the goat-houses, as was directed with regard to rams. The female which has conceived drops her kid four months later, during the spring. As to rearing, when the kids reach the age of three months they are turned out and begin to form part of the flock. What can I say of the health of animals which are never healthy? I can only make one remark: that the head goatherds keep written directions as to the remedies to be used for some of their diseases and for flesh wounds which they frequently receive, as they are always fighting one another with their horns, and as they crop in thorny places. [9] One topic remains — that of number. This is smaller in the goat herd than in the flock, as goats are wanton and scatter widely, while sheep, on the contrary, huddle together and crowd into the same space. Hence in the Ager Gallicus breeders keep numerous herds rather than large ones, because in large herds an epidemic quickly spreads, and this may ruin the owner. [10] A flock of about fifty is considered quite large enough. The experience of the Roman knight, Gaberius, is thought to prove this: He had a place containing 1000 iugera near the city, and hearing from a certain goatherd who drove ten goats to the city that they yielded him a denarius a day per head, he bought 1000 goats, hoping that he would make 1000 denarii a day profit. In which he was sadly mistaken, for within a short time he lost the whole flock by disease. Among the Sallentini, however, and around Casinum, they have herds running as high as 100. As to the proportion of males to females, there is about the same difference of opinion, some (and this is my own practice) keeping one buck to every ten does; others, such as Menas, one to fifteen; and still others, such as Murrius, one to twenty.
IV.
Sed quis e portu potius Italico prodit ac de suillo pecore expedi
t? Tametsi Scrofam potissimum de ea re dicere oportere cognomen eius significat.Cui Tremelius, Ignorare, inquit, videre, cur appeller Scrofa. Itaque ut etiam hi propter te sciant, cognosce meam gentem suillum cognomen non habere, nec me esse ab Eumaeo ortum. Avus meus primum appellatus est Scrofa, qui quaestor cum esset Licinio Nervae praetori in Macedonia provincia relictus, qui praeesset exercitui, dum praetor rediret, hostes, arbitrati occasionem se habere victoriae, impressionem facere coeperunt in castra. Avos, cum cohortaretur milites ut caperent arma atque exirent contra, dixit celeriter se illos, ut scrofa porcos, disiecturum id quod fecit. Nam eo proelio hostes ita fudit ac fugavit, ut eo Nerva, praetor imperator sit appellatus, avus cognomen invenerit ut diceretur Scrofa. Itaque proavos ac superiores de Tremeliis nemo appellatus Scrofa, nec minus septimus sum deinceps praetorius in gente nostra. Nec tamen defugio quin dicam quae scio de suillo pecore. Agri enim culturae ab initio fui studiosus, nec de pecore suillo mihi et vobis, magnis pecuariis, ea res non est communis. Quis enim fundum colit nostrum, quin sues habeat, et qui non audierit patres nostros dicere ignavum et sumptuosum esse, qui succidiam in carnario suspenderit potius ab laniario quam e domestico fundo?
Delphi Complete Works of Varro Page 103