Georg. 1.71Alternīs īdem tōnsās cessāre novālīs
et segnem patiēre sitū dūrēscere campum;Likewise you will let your fallows rest in alternate years after reaping, and the idle field harden as it lies unused; Georg. 1.73aut ibi flāva serēs mūtātō sīdere farra,
unde prius laetum siliquā quassante legūmen
75aut tenuīs fētūs viciae trīstisque lupīnī
sustuleris fragilīs calamōs silvamque sonantem.or, when the star has changed, you will sow golden spelt where before you have lifted the glad pulse with its rattling pod, or the slender offspring of the vetch, and the brittle stalks and rustling forest of the bitter lupin. Georg. 1.77Ūrit enim līnī campum seges, ūrit avēnae,
ūrunt Lēthaeō perfūsa papāvera somnō:
sed tamen alternīs facilis labor, ārida tantum
80nē saturāre fimō pinguī pudeat sola nēve
effētōs cinerem inmundum iactāre per agrōs.For a crop of flax burns the field, a crop of oats burns it, poppies steeped in Lethe's sleep burn it: but even so, by alternation the toil is easy, only do not be ashamed to soak the dry soil with rich dung, or to scatter dirty ash over exhausted fields.
Georg. 1.82Sīc quoque mūtātīs requiēscunt fētibus arva;So too, by a change of crops, the fields find rest; Georg. 1.83nec nūlla intereā est inarātae grātia terrae.nor meanwhile is there no gain from unploughed land. Georg. 1.84Saepe etiam sterilīs incendere prōfuit agrōs
85atque levem stipulam crepitantibus ūrere flammīs:
sīve inde occultās vīrīs et pābula terrae
pinguia concipiunt, sīve illīs omne per ignem
excoquitur vitium atque exsūdat inūtilis humor,
seu plūrīs calor ille viās et caeca relaxat
90spīrāmenta, novās veniat quā sūcus in herbās,
seu dūrat magis et vēnās adstringit hiantīs,
nē tenuēs pluviae rapidīve potentiā sōlis
ācrior aut Boreae penetrābile frīgus adūrat.Often too it has helped to set fire to barren fields and to burn the light stubble in crackling flames: whether the fields draw from it hidden strength and the rich nourishment of the earth, or every fault is baked out of them by the fire and the useless moisture sweats away, or that heat opens more passages and loosens hidden pores, by which the sap may come to the new blades, or rather hardens it and binds up the gaping veins, so that the fine rains or the fiercer power of the scorching sun or the piercing cold of the North Wind may not sear it.
Georg. 1.94Multum adeō, rāstrīs glaebās quī frangit inertīs
95vīmineāsque trahit crātīs, iuvat arva, neque illum
flāva Cerēs altō nēquīquam spectat Olympō;Much indeed does he help the fields who breaks the sluggish clods with mattocks and drags wicker hurdles over them, and golden Ceres does not watch him in vain from high Olympus; Georg. 1.97et quī, prōscissō quae suscitat aequore terga,
rūrsus in oblīquum versō perrumpit arātrō,
exercetque frequēns tellūrem atque imperat arvīs.and he too who, turning his plough crosswise, breaks again through the ridges he raised when the plain was first cleft, and works the ground constantly and gives orders to the fields. Georg. 1.100Hūmida sōlstitia atque hiemēs ōrāte serēnās,
agricolae;Pray for wet summers and fine winters, farmers; Georg. 1.101hībernō laetissima pulvere farra,
laetus ager: nūllō tantum sē Mȳsia cultū
iactat et ipsa suās mīrantur Gargara messīs.with winter's dust the spelt is most glad, glad the field: by no tillage does Mysia so pride herself, and Gargarus itself marvels at its harvests. Georg. 1.104Quid dīcam, iactō quī sēmine comminus arva
105īnsequitur cumulōsque ruit male pinguis harēnae
deinde satīs fluvium indūcit rīvōsque sequentīs
et, cum exustus ager morientibus aestuat herbīs,
ecce superciliō clīvōsī trāmitis undam
ēlicit.Why should I speak of him who, having cast the seed, follows up the fields at close quarters and levels the heaps of barren sand, then brings a stream onto the sown crop, and channels that follow, and, when the parched field swelters with dying plants, look, from the brow of a sloping track he coaxes out the water?
Georg. 1.109illa cadēns raucum per levia murmur
110saxa ciet, scatebrīsque ārentia temperat arva.It, falling, stirs a hoarse murmur over smooth stones, and tempers the thirsty fields with its gushing. Georg. 1.111Quid quī, nē gravidīs prōcumbat culmus aristīs,
luxuriem segetum tenerā dēpāscit in herbā,
cum prīmum sulcōs aequant sata.Why speak of him who, so that the stalk may not lie flat under heavy ears, grazes down the luxuriance of the crop in its tender blade, as soon as the young corn is level with the furrows? Georg. 1.113quique palūdis
collēctum hūmōrem bibulā dēdūcit harēnā.and of him who draws off the gathered water of a marsh with thirsty sand? Georg. 1.115Praesertim incertīs sī mēnsibus amnis abundāns
exit et obductō lātē tenet omnia līmō,
unde cavae tepidō sūdant hūmōre lacūnae.Especially if in the uncertain months a river in flood goes out and covers everything far and wide with a coat of mud, from which the hollow ditches sweat with warm moisture.