CHAPTER XXI 



STORY OF THE CROPS 



Bloated and unhealthy plants— Oats of the Borderers, Norsemen, and 

 Danes — Wheat as a wild plant — Barley — Rye— Where was the very 

 first harvest? — Vine in the Caucasus — Indians sowing corn — Early 

 weeds — Where did weeds live before cultivation ? — Armies of weeds — 

 Their cunning and ingenuity — Gardeners' feats — The Ideal Bean — 

 Diseased pineapples — Raising beetroot and carrot — Story of the 

 travels of Sugar-cane— Indian Cupid — Beetroot and Napoleon. 



IT is difficult to understand the amount of labour and toil 

 that has been spent on farmlands and pastures, if one 

 only considers England. 

 It is often impossible to discover one square mile still 

 covered by the natural wild plants. It is all under com or 

 arable, or rich artificial meadowland. 



But from a Scotch hillside, as one looks down at the fertile 

 valley below, one can seejirst where the mosaic of hedges and 

 dykes stops, then where, after a narrow stretch of rough grass 

 pasture, the cultivation ends; finally, where, ridge after 

 ridge, rolling, heathery moorland, without enclosures and 

 without any sign of man's handiwork, rises up to the highest 

 peaks. 



This fills one with a respect and reverence towards our 

 forbears, which is increased by a study of corn, turnips, and 

 potatoes. 



Every one of these plants is a thoroughly unnatural, 

 artificially bloated, and overfed sort of creature. Its consti- 



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