author
b. 1876
A British botanist and practical science writer, he focused on the plants farmers needed to recognize, control, or avoid. His books turn field botany into useful everyday knowledge, especially for agriculture and livestock care.
Harold Cecil Long was a British botanist and writer born in 1876. Reliable catalog and authority records consistently identify him as a botanist, and his surviving bibliography shows a strong interest in applied plant science rather than purely academic description.
He is best known for agricultural works including Common Weeds of the Farm & Garden and Plants Poisonous to Live Stock. Those books suggest a practical mission: helping farmers, gardeners, and animal keepers identify troublesome or dangerous plants and understand their effects in real working landscapes.
Some editions of Common Weeds of the Farm & Garden describe him as holding a B.Sc. and working with the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, which fits the hands-on, advisory tone of his writing. Beyond that, readily confirmed biographical detail appears limited, so a full personal portrait of his life is harder to reconstruct than the useful, field-based legacy of his books.