North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Thomas Olenio <tolenio@sentex.net>]

Hello,

I like to poke around looking for various writings on fruit production
and found an ancient one.  Has anyone read the ancient text "De Re
Rustica" written by L. IUNIUS MODERATUS COLUMELLA a Roman who lived
around 60AD?

Columella's Writings

"Columella's belief that success was the result of study, perseverance
and experiment (sounds like the first NAFEX'r) can be seen throughout
his principal work, the De Re Rustica ('On agriculture').    The twelve
volumes are intended to provide instruction in all aspects of farming
life, including cereal production, viticulture, livestock, bee-keeping
and farm estate management."

The subject of each book is as follows:

Book 1:  Introduction, choice of farm
Book 2: Types of soil and terrain, cereals
Book 3: Grape varieties, vineyard economics, viticulture
Book 4: Viticulture continued
Book 5: Viticulture concluded, olives and arboriculture
Book 6: Cattle, horses and mules
Book 7: Sheep, goats, pigs and dogs
Book 8: Poultry and fowl
Book 9: Bee keeping
Book 10: Gardens (in verse)
Book 11: Farm managers; vegetables and herbs
Book 12: Manager's wife; treatment and storage of harvest

Sounds like it may be interesting to read from a NAFEX'r standpoint.

I found an English translation through the library, inter-library loan
service and thought I would share the book/s title with you;

TITLE:  On Agriculture With a recension of the text and an English
translation
AUTHORS: Columella, Lucius Junius Moderatus
IMPRINT:  Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press, 1941-1955
DESCRIPTION:  3 volumes.
NOTE:  Vol. 1 translated by Harrison Boyd Ash; V.2-3, by E.S. Forster
and Edward H. Heffner.
        dLatin and English on opposite pages.
        includes bibliography

CONTENTS:  -v.1. Res rustica, I-IV, -v2. Res Rustica, V-IX. -v3. Res
rustica, X-XIII. De arboribus.

SUBJECTS:  Agriculture
ADDED AUTHORS:  Ash, Harrison Boyd
                Forster, E.S. (Edward Seymour), 1879-1950
                Heffner, Edward Hoch, 1886-

If you are a reader of ancient Latin you can find his text online;

http://www.gmu.edu/departments/fld/CLASSICS/columella.rr.html

He also wrote another text "On Trees" called "DE ARBORIBUS"  but I do
not think that book survived in full.

Later,
Tom