Chapter 48, Labelled As Drawn From Didymus (? Fourth or Fifth Century),

is a warning against ill-considered transplantation from better spots to less wholesome ones. The reverse order is the right one. This rule applies not only to plants (φυτά) but to farm-workers (γεωργόι) also. The principle can be traced back to earlier writers. It seems assumed that the men, like the plants, can be removed at the master’s will. Probably slaves are meant, and we may recall the objections of Varro and Columella to risking slave-property in malarious spots.