Sen. 15.1Veniō nunc ad voluptātēs agricolārum, quibus ego incrēdibiliter dēlector, quae nec ūllā impediuntur senectūte et mihi ad sapientis vītam proximē videntur accēdere.I come now to the pleasures of farmers, in which I take incredible delight, which are not hindered by any old age and which seem to me to come closest to the life of the wise man. Sen. 15.1Habent enim ratiōnem cum terrā, quae numquam recūsat imperium nec umquam sine ūsūrā reddit quod accēpit, sed aliās minōre, plērumque maiōre cum faenore;For they keep an account with the earth, which never refuses its command nor ever returns what it has received without interest, but sometimes at a lower, generally at a higher rate; Sen. 15.1quamquam mē quidem nōn frūctus modo, sed etiam ipsīus terrae vīs ac nātūra dēlectat.although for my part it is not only the produce, but also the power and nature of the earth itself that delights me. Sen. 15.1Quae cum gremiō mollītō ac subāctō sparsum sēmen excēpit, prīmum id occaecātum cohibet, ex quō occātiō quae hoc efficit nōmināta est;When it has received the scattered seed in its softened and worked bosom, first it keeps it hidden, from which the harrowing that does this has been named occatio; Sen. 15.1deinde tepefactum vapōre et compressū suō diffundit et ēlicit herbēscentem ex eō viriditātem, quae nīxa fībrīs stirpium sēnsim adolēscit culmōque ērēcta geniculātō vāgīnīs iam quasi pūbēscēns inclūditur;then, when the seed has been warmed by its heat and its pressure, it splits it open and draws from it the green blade, which, resting on the fibres of its roots, gradually grows up and, raised on a jointed stalk, is enclosed in sheaths as though now coming of age; Sen. 15.1ē quibus cum ēmersit, fundit frūgem spīcī ōrdine strūctam et contrā avium minōrum morsūs mūnītur vallō aristārum.and when it has emerged from these, it pours forth the grain of the ear, built up in rows, and is defended against the pecking of smaller birds by a palisade of beards.
Sen. 15.52Quid ego vitium ortūs satūs incrēmenta commemorem?Why should I recount the origins, planting and growth of vines? Sen. 15.52Satiārī dēlectātiōne nōn possum, ut meae senectūtis requiētem oblectāmentumque nōscātis.I cannot have my fill of this delight — so that you may know the repose and amusement of my old age. Sen. 15.52Omittō enim vim ipsam omnium quae generantur ē terrā, quae ex fīcī tantulō grānō aut ex acinī vīnāceō aut ex cēterārum frūgum aut stirpium minūtissimīs sēminibus tantōs truncōs rāmōsque prōcreet;For I pass over the very power of all things that are produced from the earth, which from the tiny seed of a fig or the pip of a grape or from the minutest seeds of other fruits or plants produces such great trunks and branches; Sen. 15.52malleolī plantae sarmenta vīvirādīcēs prōpāginēs nōnne efficiunt ut quemvīs cum admīrātiōne dēlectent?mallet-shoots, slips, cuttings, quicksets, layers — do they not cause anyone to be delighted and to marvel? Sen. 15.52Vītis quidem quae nātūra cadūca est et, nisi fulta est, fertur ad terram, eadem, ut sē ērigat, clāviculīs suīs quasi manibus quidquid est nacta complectitur, quam serpentem multiplicī lāpsū et errāticō, ferrō amputāns coercet ars agricolārum, nē silvēscat sarmentīs et in omnīs partīs nimia fundātur.The vine indeed, which by nature droops and, unless it is supported, sinks to the ground, to raise itself embraces with its tendrils, as if with hands, whatever it has caught hold of; and as it creeps with manifold and wandering course, the farmer's art cuts it back with the knife and restrains it, so that it may not run to wood with shoots and spread too far in every direction.
Sen. 15.53Itaque ineunte vērē in eīs quae relicta sunt exsistit tamquam ad articulōs sarmentōrum ea quae gemma dīcitur, ā quā oriēns ūva sē ostendit, quae et sūcō terrae et calōre sōlis augēscēns prīmō est peracerba gustātū, Dein mātūrāta dulcēscit vestītaque pampinīs nec modicō tepōre caret et nimiōs sōlis dēfendit ardōrēs.And so at the beginning of spring, on the shoots that have been left, there appears at the joints, as it were, of the branches what is called the bud, from which the grape springs forth and shows itself; and growing with the juice of the earth and the heat of the sun, it is at first very bitter to the taste, then, when ripened, grows sweet, and clothed with vine leaves it does not lack moderate warmth and wards off the excessive heat of the sun. Sen. 15.53Quā quid potest esse cum frūctū laetius, tum aspectū pulchrius?What can be richer in fruit or more beautiful to look upon than this? Sen. 15.53Cuius quidem nōn ūtilitās mē sōlum, ut ante dīxī, sed etiam cultūra et nātūra ipsa dēlectat: adminiculōrum ōrdinēs, capitum iugātiō, religātiō et prōpāgātiō vītium, sarmentōrum ea, quam dīxī, aliōrum amputātiō, aliōrum immissiō.Indeed it is not only its usefulness that delights me, as I said before, but also its cultivation and its very nature: the rows of props, the joining of the heads at the top, the tying up and layering of the vines, the pruning of some shoots, as I have said, and the letting grow of others.
Sen. 15.53Quid ego irrigātiōnēs, quid fossiōnēs agrī repastinātiōnēsque prōferam, quibus fit multō terra fēcundior?Why should I mention irrigation, why the trenching of the field and the repeated digging, by which the earth is made much more fertile? Sen. 15.53Quid dē ūtilitāte loquar stercorandī?Why should I speak of the usefulness of manuring? Sen. 15.53Dīxī in eō librō, quem dē rēbus rūsticīs scrīpsī.I have spoken of it in the book which I wrote on farming. Sen. 15.54Dē quā doctus Hēsiodus nē verbum quidem fēcit, cum dē cultūrā agrī scrīberet.About this the learned Hesiod said not even a word when he was writing on the cultivation of the field. Sen. 15.54At Homērus, quī multīs ut mihi vidētur, ante saeculīs fuit, Lāertam lēnientem dēsīderium, quod capiēbat ē fīliō, colentem agrum et eum stercorantem facit.But Homer, who lived, as it seems to me, many generations earlier, represents Laertes soothing the longing he felt for his son by tilling his field and manuring it. Sen. 15.54Nec vērō segetibus sōlum et prātīs et vīneīs et arbustīs rēs rūsticae laetae sunt, sed hortīs etiam et pōmāriīs, tum pecudum pāstū, apium exāminibus, flōrum omnium varietāte.Nor indeed is country life rich only in cornfields and meadows and vineyards and orchards, but also in gardens and fruit-groves, and then in the grazing of flocks, in swarms of bees, and in the variety of every kind of flower.
Sen. 15.54Nec cōnsitiōnēs modo dēlectant, sed etiam īnsitiōnēs, quibus nihil invēnit agrī cultūra sollertius.And not only plantings give delight, but also graftings, than which agriculture has invented nothing more ingenious.