This book is an attempt to give at least in general terms an outline of the development of the scientific thought of ancient Italy in the field of agronomy and botany, starting with Cato with his rich agricultural experience, his own and Predkovsky, obtained purely by practical means, and ending with Columella, a man of brilliant creative thought who created the theory of agriculture, which required observation, staging experiments, thoughtful innovations. Pliny complemented him in a sense - he is a man of shallow and non-independent thought, but he is curious as an indicator of the breadth of interests of the then Roman "intelligentsia" in the field of natural sciences and agriculture.