iO THE CEREALS IN AMERICA 



ably true of cotton and it is much to be hoped it may be true of 

 sugar beets and alfalfa. 



20. Character of Field Crops. — Prior to the discovery of 

 America the field crops of Europe were almost all sown broad- 

 cast. In the United States at the present time, more than half 

 the field crops are raised by intercultural tillage. Maize, the 

 white potato and the sweet potato are of American origin, while 

 cotton was not largely raised until the beginning of the nine- 

 teenth century. The method of harvesting is also quite dif- 

 ferent. What are usually known as the small grains have been 

 harvested with the sickle, cradle, reaper and self-binding har- 

 vester in successive years and afterwards flailed or threshed, 

 while the crops grown by intercultural tillage have been in the 

 past mostly gathered by hand. Root crops, the sugar beet and 

 potatoes have been added to European agriculture within com- 

 paratively recent times. 



21. The Beginnings of Plant Culture. — The six great cereals 

 of the world have been cultivated so long that the wild type of 

 each can with difficulty be recognized. Of these, wheat, barley 

 and rice have been cultivated for more than four thousand 

 years, while the cultivation of maize, oats and rye has not been 

 traced much more than two thousand years. 



22. The Possibility of Crop Production. — Depends mainly on 

 climate and soil. Of these the climate is the more important, 

 especially when large areas are considered. Manuring, culture 

 or drainage may greatly modify the soil and make it fit for crops 

 for which it was illy prepared. There is, however, a marked 

 variation in the adaptability of different soils undej- the same 

 climatic conditions. Certain soils are much better adapted to 

 wheat and grass than for maize and potatoes, while other soils 

 are much better adapted to maize and potatoes. Tobacco is a 

 crop that is readily affected by the character of the soil. Plants, 

 like animals, have great adaptability: they may become accli- 

 mated and do fairly well when neither soil nor climate is like 



