Note 



of him the philosophic doubt, which 

 has been expressed of a modern Eng- 

 lish litterateur, that he was not a man 

 but a syndicate. Varro's essay in rural 

 science, which takes the form of a 

 pleasant exchange of experience be- 

 tween a company of Roman country 

 gentlemen, acknowledges its obliga- 

 tion to Magon and the Greeks, as 

 well as to Cato and was in turn the 

 inspiration of Columella who wrote 

 in Spain his mellifluous and charm- 

 ing book during the reign of Tiber- 

 ius. In the IV Century Palladius 

 followed with another De re rustica, 

 which was diligently read during the 

 Dark Ages, and was undoubtedly 

 suited to them, for it is very dull. 

 All of these works are instructive, 

 but, like the Georgics of Virgil, they 

 are the productions of literary men 

 rather than practical farmers and are 

 more profitable in the library than 

 the barnyard : they smell more of the 



[10] 



I 



