THE MIDDLE STONE AGE 
From the very first, agriculture seems to have been 
especially women’s work, due perhaps to two causes, one 
practical, the other theoretical. The men of any given 
group long remained hunters, fishermen, and fighters, 
activities which often took them away from home, so that 
they had no time to look after the rude clearings where 
the earliest simple crops were grown. The same sound 
reasoning led early women everywhere to become the 
burden bearers and drudges of the group, in order that the 
men might be ready on the instant, weapon in hand, to 
repel an attack by human or animal foes. Among savage 
peoples to this day the women insist upon bearing the 
loads and doing the drudgery in order that their men- 
folk may have their hands free at all times to defend them. 
The other, theoretical motive which left the tending of 
the crops to women was that they, in some mysterious way, 
seemed to control all the vital processes. Just as they had 
the power of perpetuating the race, so, early man reasoned 
or rather felt, they must have power over all growing 
things. Not until long ages after, with the advent of the 
plow and of plow animals, whose management required a 
man’s strength, did women really become emancipated 
from doing the bulk if not all of the field work. 
We can not tell as yet what plants early man first began 
to assist in growing and in time to domesticate. On the 
whole, it seems likely that they were those which had 
edible leaves and roots. The distant ancestors of our 
radishes, turnips, cabbages, lettuce, and spinach would 
come within this category. Root and leaf crops have one 
serious defect—they do not keep well; but the various 
cereals contain as much or more nourishment, while at the 
same time they can be kept for long periods. Nothing ap- 
proaching a real civilization could arise until man began 
to grow cereals, for only then could he lay up reserve 
stores of provisions and thus free himself from his ceaseless 
quest for daily food. 
At the beginning of the Mesolithic Period man had 
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