Note 



self was, and, though a mere collec- 

 tion of random notes, sets forth more 

 shrewd common sense and agronomic 

 experience than it is possible to pack 

 into the same number of English 

 words. It was the first book on the 

 subject which was written in Latin; 

 indeed, it was one of the very first 

 books written in that vernacular at 

 all, and it remains today of much 

 more than antiquarian interest. In 

 fact, we are just beginning to learn 

 again the value of some of the things 

 Cato practised: for example, he 

 taught intense cultivation, the use of 

 leguminous plants for soil improve- 

 ment, the importance of live stock 

 in a system of general farming, and 

 the effective preservation of manure. 

 Barring some developments of bac- 

 terial science like the ingenious 

 "nodular hypothesis" in respect to 

 legumes, the student of farm manage- 

 ment today could not go far wrong 

 [13I 



