INTRODUCTION

This volume contains Books XVII, XVIII, and XIX of Pliny's Naturalis Historia original: "Natural History". Book XVII continues the subject of arboriculture, begun in the preceding book; Book XVIII deals with cereal agriculture; Book XIX covers the cultivation of flax and other plants used for fabrics, as well as vegetable gardening. Pliny's own outline of the contents, provided in Book I, can be found in Volume I, pages 70–91.

At the time of his death, Mr. Rackham was working on the galley proofs for this volume. With the exception of some pages rewritten by Prof. E. H. Warmington, the translation is the work of Mr. Rackham. Please note that there is an index of plants at the end of Volume VII.