Developing Into Social Order 



There came a time in the history of man when his food 

 supply began to fail. As his tribes increased, the herds of 

 wild horses, bison, mammoth and other animals became 

 more scarce. Upon these, he had depended largely for his 

 food, and his mastery and greed drove them to extinction. 

 The wild grain that he had gathered and used as a food was 

 no longer found in sufficient quantities to supply his needs. 

 He had noticed that there was a "struggle for existence" 

 among the plants the same as there was among the animals 

 and that the plants could be made to yield more abundantly 

 when they were aided by his care. He therefore began to 

 cultivate the plants that were suited to his use and to destroy 

 the ones about them that were taking their nourishment 

 from the soil, thereby producing greater yields than 

 unaided Nature could do. Nature is an impartial mother 

 that gives to all her children an equal chance. 



Here again, his inventive genius was, from necessity, 

 forced to devise tools with which to plant and harvest his 

 crops. These tools were developed as their necessity arose. 

 He had learned that the soil should be dug up and loosened 

 before planting took place in order that the plant roots 

 could more easily obtain their food and that moisture could 

 be longer retained. The first agricultural tool, therefore, 

 was doubtless a pointed stick with which he could dig and 

 stir the soil. Naturally, the soil selected, like his habita- 

 tions, was the productive alluvial soil of the valleys. The 

 first permanent tool that he used for digging was a spade 

 made from a broad, flat flake of flint fitted on the end of a 

 stick. Other evidences are found which show that he also 

 made use of horns of animals and large clam shells for dig- 



[43] 



