agronomists, this translation was made, in the spirit of old Piero
Vettori, the kindly Florentine scholar, whose portrait was painted by
Titian and whose monument may still be seen in the Church of Santo
Spirito: in the preface of his edition of Varro he says that he
undertook the work, not for the purpose of displaying his learning,
but to aid others in the study of an excellent author. Victorius was
justified by his scholarship and the present editor has no such
claim to attention: he, therefore, makes the confession frankly (to
anticipate perhaps such criticism as Bentley's "a very pretty poem,
Mr. Pope, but don't call it Homer") and offers the little book to
those who love the country, and to read about the country amidst the
crowded life of towns, with the hope that they may find in it some
measure of the pleasure it has afforded the editor.

The texts and commentaries used have been those of Schneider and Keil,
the latter more accurate but the former more sympathetic.

F.H. BELVOIR,
Fauquier County,
Virginia.

December, 1912.




FOREWORD TO SECOND EDITION


The call for a reprint of this book has afforded the opportunity to