2 THE CEREALS IN AMERICA 



known as horticulture. In American agriculture, with the enclo 

 sure of all farm lands and large production of animals on these 

 enclosed areas, on the one hand, and the extension of the 

 growth of fruits and vegetables to large areas, on the other 

 hand, these distinctions somewhat disappear. In general, hor- 

 ticulture consists in the production of fruits and vegetables. 



3. Agronomy. — Comes from two Greek words meaning the 

 use of the fields. Agronomy as here used is restricted to the 

 theory and practice of the production of farm crops. The object 

 in plant production is to adapt the environment to the anatomy 

 and physiology of the plant under cultivation with a view to 

 securing crops which are best suited to the uses of man or the 

 domestic animals. A full understanding of the means of adapt- 

 ing the environment to the development of the plant requires 

 not only a knowledge of the anatomy and physiology of plants, 

 but it requires a knowledge of the air and soil and their means 

 of modification. A study of plant physiology and a study of 

 soils should, therefore, precede alike the study of either field 

 or horticultural crops. Agronomy differs from botany in that 

 botany deals with plants in the natural relationships and environ- 

 ments, while agronomy deals with man's relationship to plants. 



4. Field Crops. — Under this head are generally included 

 those crops that are cultivated on a somewhat extensive scale 

 and are adapted to extensive rather than intensive methods of 

 culture. There are exceptions to this rule. Sugar beets are 

 classed with field crops, although the methods of culture are 

 somewhat intensive, while all varieties of fruit are considered 

 horticultural crops, although some kinds are now grown in large 

 orchards and under conditions entirely removed from what was 

 the case when the term horticulture was first applied. 



5. Number of Cultivated Species. — De Candolle has recog 

 nized 198 species of cultivated plants native to the old world 

 and forty-seven species of American origin, while there are 



