A source-book of ancient history - The Search For Mecca

4o6 Growth of Plutocracy
other
important
considerations.
Inspection
by the
owner.
lb. 3.
pov.er let it be situated at the foot of a mountain, face the
south, and He in a wholesome district. Have a supply of
workmen on hand, a good watering place, and near by a
thriving town or sea or river, where ships ply, or else a
road well constructed and much travelled.
Let it He surrounded by farms which suffer but seldom
from a change of ownership. May those who in this region
have sold their farms repent their having done so. Have
it well furnished with buildings. Beware of rashly despising
the instruction of another. You will buy to better
advantage from a good owner, a good husbandman. On
coming to the farmhouse, observe whether there be a good
supply of vessels for the press and jars; where there is not,
know that the produce of the farm is proportionately
small. That it may not demand an immense equipment,
let it be situated in a convenient locality. See that your
farm demands as small an equipment as possible, and requires
no extravagant outlay. Know that a farm differs
not from a person; however productive it is, yet if the expenditure
is excessive, the profits are trifling. If you ask
me what is the best farm, this will be my opinion: for all
farmers and for the highest order of merit, for a farm loo
jugera in extent: first in order of excellence is a vineyard,
if
the land will produce wine of good quality, or even in
great quantities; in the second place, a kitchen plot (garden);
thirdly, a plantation of willows; in the fourth place,
an olive garden; fifthly, a meadow; sixthly, a clump of
trees for cutting; in the seventh place, an orchard; eighthly
an acorn grove.
When the owner has come to the farmhouse, and has
saluted his domestic deity, let him on the same day, if possible,
make a tour around his farm; if not on the same day,
When he has ascertained in what
then on the following day.