Forestry Literature. 17 



umes by Theophrastus (390-286 B. C), a pupil of 

 Aristotle and Plato. 



Among the Eomans, besides a number of historians, 

 at least three writers before Christ discussed in detail 

 agriculture and, in connection with it, tree culture; 

 namely, Cato (234-149 B. C.) who wrote an excellent 

 work De re rustica, in 163 chapters; Varro (116-26 

 B. C), also De re rustica, in three books; and Vergilius 

 Maro (70-19 B. C), who in his Georgica records in six 

 books the state of knowledge at that time. Of the 

 many writers on these subjects after Christ there are 

 also three to be mentioned, namely, Cajtis Plinius Major 

 (23-79 A. D.), who in his Historia naturalis, in 37 

 books, discusses also the technique of silviculture; 

 Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella (about 50 A. D.), 

 with 12 books, De re rustica, and one book De arhorihus, 

 the former being the best work of the ancients on the 

 subject; and Palladius, writing about 350 A. D., 13 

 books, De re rustica, which in the original and in trans- 

 lations was read until past the middle ages. 



Only a few references which exhibit the state of 

 knowledge on arborieultural subjects among the Komans 

 may be cited, and some of this knowledge was also de- 

 veloped in Greece and found application, more or less, 

 through the Eoman empire from India to Spain. 



Nursery practice was already well known to Cato, 

 while Yarro knew, besides sowing and planting, the art 

 of grafting and layering, and Columella discusses in 

 addition pruning and pollarding (which latter was prac- 

 ticed for securing fuelwood), and the propriety .of leav- 



