8] MODIFICATION AND DISTRIBUTIONS OF CROPS 235 



nut {Arachis hypogaea) are outstanding in importance and widely 

 cultivated. The first three are used chiefly for fibre and oil, Jute 

 for fibre, and Peanuts for oil and food. All are plants primarily 

 of warm regions, Flax alone being successful far to the north {cf. 

 Fig. 71). Cotton as a whole is often claimed as the world's greatest 

 industrial crop and chief source of fibre ; its multiple origin is 

 shrouded in the mists of time. The world distribution of Cotton 

 production is indicated in Fig. 72. The others, too, are of ancient 

 and often uncertain origin — mostly in the Old World, but the Peanut 

 very likely in South America, though it is now extremely widespread 

 {see Fig. 73). 



Other important vegetable fibres are Ramie or China-grass 

 {Boehmeria nivea, widely cultivated in Asia), Sunn-hemp (the Asiatic 

 Crotalaria juncea), the chiefly Philippine Abaca or Manila-hemp 

 {Musa spp.). Sisal and other Agave types, cultivated in Africa and 

 North and Central America, and filling fibres such as Kapok (the 

 floss from the seeds of the now widespread tropical tree Ceiba 

 pentandra). Of oils there are the essential or volatile types used 

 particularly in perfumery, and the fatty or fixed types which include 

 the drying {e.g. Tung, from species of Aleim'tes, native to China), 

 semi-drying {e.g. the Asian Sesame), and non-drying {e.g. Olive) 

 categories. . Olives are cultivated chiefly in the Mediterranean lands 

 ■ but to some extent also in the United States, South Africa, and 

 Australia. In addition there are the vegetable fats such as palm oil 

 (obtained from the African Oil Palm, Elaeis guineensis) and coconut 

 oil (obtained from the Coconut — see pp. 242, 266). Of the sources 

 mentioned above, cottonseed oil, obtained from Cotton, is the most 

 important semi-drying oil, linseed oil, obtained from Flax, is an 

 important drying oil, and hempseed oil, obtained from Hemp, is 

 another, while peanut oil is a non-drying oil. 



(6) Fruits — Whereas, technically, many of the above-mentioned 

 products are fruits or derived from fruits, the term is used here in 

 the popular sense. Most of our main fruits are borne by trees or 

 shrubs and will be dealt with in the next major section. The 

 Pineapple {Ananas comosus) and Melon {Cucumis tnelo), and, for all its 

 appearance, the Banana {Musa paradisiaca s.l.), are, however, strictly 

 herbaceous, as are Strawberries and some other favourites. The 

 cultivated Strawberry {Fragaria grandiflora) is, according to Pro- 

 fessor Edgar Anderson, ' the one crop of world importance to have 

 originated in modern times ' — actually in the eighteenth century as 

 a true-breeding polyploid hybrid from artificial crosses between wild 



