De Agricultura

And besides all this, we must likewise consider this other point, that the tiller of the ground (ὁ γη̃ς ἐγάτης) looks only to one end, namely, to his wages; for he is altogether a hireling, and has no care whatever to till the land well. But the husbandman (ὁ γεωγὸς) would be glad also to contribute something of his own, and to spend in addition some of his private resources for the sake of improving the soil, and of avoiding blame from those who understand the business; for his desire is to derive his revenues every year not from any other source, but from his agricultural labours, when they have been brought into a productive state.