M 



ODIFICATION AND DISTRIBUTIONS OF CROPS 233 



Fig. 70, B. — Bed of young Kale, with, behind, tall Rhubarb, in Lichtenau Fiord, 



southwestern Greenland. The native family are standing on a raised path in 



front of the old mission house from which the garden slopes downwards. 



and was the only edible one known in Europe before the time of 

 Columbus ; the Common or Garden or Kidney Bean {Phaseolus 

 vulgaris), which has long been cultivated in the New World where 

 it probably originated ; and the Soybean {Glycine max), which is 

 of great antiquity in the Orient, where over one thousand varieties 

 are grown. Soybean, particularly, has a very wide range of uses, 

 the seed, containing about 20 per cent, of oil and 30-45 per cent, 

 of protein, being the richest natural vegetable-food known. The 

 climatic and soil requirements ideally are much like those for Maize, 

 and the crop is becoming more and more extensively cultivated in 

 temperate regions — including the United States, where it is grown 

 chiefly as a source of oil and stock feed. 



Other important legumes are the Common Pea {Pisum sativum), 

 which is now verv extensively cultivated, and the Chick Pea {Cicer 

 arietinum), which is an important food plant — particularly in India 

 and other parts of Asia, in Africa, and in Central America. Both 

 these plants appear to be natives of southern Europe or adjacent 

 regions, where they have been grown from early days and are still 

 extensively cultivated, and neither is known in the wild state. The 



