﻿Cultivated 
  Elementary 
  Species 
  65 
  

  

  ary 
  type. 
  But 
  it 
  is 
  not 
  very 
  likely 
  that 
  such 
  

   partiality 
  would 
  occur 
  often. 
  The 
  conception 
  

   that 
  different 
  tribes 
  at 
  different 
  times 
  and 
  in 
  

   distant 
  countries 
  would 
  have 
  used 
  the 
  wild 
  

   plants 
  of 
  their 
  native 
  regions 
  seems 
  far 
  more 
  

   natural 
  than 
  that 
  all 
  should 
  have 
  obtained 
  

   plants 
  for 
  cultivation 
  from 
  the 
  same 
  source 
  or 
  

   locality. 
  If 
  this 
  theory 
  may 
  be 
  relied 
  upon, 
  

   the 
  origin 
  of 
  many 
  of 
  the 
  more 
  widely 
  cultivated 
  

   agricultural 
  plants 
  must 
  have 
  been 
  multiple, 
  

   and 
  the 
  number 
  of 
  the 
  original 
  elementary 
  spe- 
  

   cies 
  of 
  the 
  cultivated 
  types 
  must 
  have 
  been 
  so 
  

   much 
  the 
  larger, 
  the 
  more 
  widely 
  distributed 
  

   and 
  variable 
  the 
  plants 
  under 
  consideration 
  

   were 
  before 
  the 
  first 
  period 
  of 
  cultivation. 
  

  

  Further 
  it 
  would 
  seem 
  only 
  natural 
  to 
  explain 
  

   the 
  wide 
  variability 
  of 
  many 
  of 
  our 
  larger 
  agri- 
  

   cultural 
  and 
  horticultural 
  stocks 
  by 
  such 
  an 
  in- 
  

   cipient 
  multiformity 
  of 
  the 
  species 
  themselves. 
  

   Through 
  commercial 
  intercourse 
  the 
  various 
  

   types 
  might 
  have 
  become 
  mixed 
  so 
  as 
  to 
  make 
  it 
  

   quite 
  impossible 
  to 
  point 
  out 
  the 
  native 
  locali- 
  

   ties 
  for 
  each 
  of 
  them. 
  

  

  Unfortunately 
  historical 
  evidence 
  on 
  this 
  

   point 
  is 
  almost 
  wholly 
  lacking. 
  The 
  differences 
  

   in 
  question 
  could 
  not 
  have 
  been 
  appreciated 
  at 
  

   that 
  remote 
  period, 
  and 
  interest 
  the 
  common 
  ob- 
  

   server 
  but 
  little 
  even 
  today. 
  The 
  history 
  of 
  

   most 
  of 
  the 
  cultivated 
  plants 
  is 
  very 
  obscure, 
  

  

  