MAN'S CONQUEST OF NATURE 569 



numerous towns and villages going back to its original state of wood- 

 land. Everywhere in nature we see this tendency to establish a bal- 

 ance and whenever man steps in to upset the balance that nature has 

 established, sooner or later other living things tend to re-establish it. 

 In the case where man cuts the forests, clears the land, and does 

 not grow crops this balance is lost. With trees and cover-plants 

 destroyed, the soil is unprotected against storms of rain or wind and 

 consequently water digs gullies and wind carries off the surface soil, 

 to the ultimate wastage of the land. If man covers the cleared area 

 with crops, a certain amount of protection is insured the land, but the 

 original fauna and flora will probably never again be established. 

 Our prairies were once covered with plants that have now disappeared 

 as a living covering. They have been replaced by crops of domesti- 

 cated grasses and grains, or by various "hitch hikers" from the ends 

 of the earth — outcasts from man's estate — weeds. Indigenous 

 animals to a great extent are gone also, often being replaced by the 

 hangers-on of man's migrations, rats and mice, dogs and cats, and 

 foreigners such as English sparrows and starlings. Man may seem to 

 have conquered his environment, but when we note dust storms in 

 the central west, hurricanes in the east, and frosts in our semitroi3ical 

 southlands, along with countless hordes of insect pests, we may with 

 justice wonder if man really is in absolute control of the situation. 



The Historical Setting 



The history of man's domestication of plants and animals is a story 

 which is only partly known. Just when this process began is con- 

 jecture. We do know that at a very early period primitive men living 

 in the southern part of Europe, as well as an area in Asia and northern 

 Africa, probably began the domestication of some of our common 

 plants and animals. The how and why of man's control is also largely 

 problematical. As nomadic life changed to a more settled form of 

 residence it is easy to see that a food supply that did not have to be 

 hunted was desirable. Doubtless women first discovered the values 

 of wild grains and fruits, resulting in primitive methods of cultivation 

 that led to the selection of seeds from better fruits for future plantings. 

 We know that rice has been cultivated for over 5000 years and many 

 of our common grains for an even longer period. The remains of 

 Swiss lake dwellings which date back to about 10,000 B.C. show that 

 oats, barley, millet, flax, and such fruits as the apple, pear, and grape 

 were known and probably cultivated. In the Americas, corn was 



