THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 



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in man's favor. To be sure, trees and shrubs provide us with 

 timber, fuel, paper, rubber, fruit, nuts, coffee, tea, cocoa, vine- 

 yard products, turpentine and many drugs and items of lesser 

 consequence. Among herbaceous produces, however, are 

 found all the cereals and vegetables, together with sugar, 

 tobacco, most of the fibers, certain of the fruits and many 

 other valuable commodities. In addition to all this, the animal 

 industries, which are the sources of milk, meat, leather, and 

 wool, are dependent upon herbs. The dominance of such 

 plants in agriculture is shown by the fact that in the United 

 States they contribute 96% of the value of the products of this 

 fundamental industry. Without herbs, the feeding and cloth- 

 ing of our great populations today would be quite impossible, 

 and though it is conceivable that with the advance of science 

 civilized man might possibly dispense with woody plants, in 

 the absence of herbs he would perforce revert almost to sav- 

 agery again. Human society is an herbaceous product. 



