APPLICATIONS OF BOTANY 251 



Pharmaceutical botany has to do with the growing and 

 utilization of drug plants. It will be readily seen that it is 

 closely associated with taxonomic botany, crop production, chem- 

 istry and the practice of medicine. 



AGRICULTURAL PLANTS 



Agricultural plants are those that mankind has selected be- 

 cause of their value and because the needs of mankind could be 

 supplied to better advantage by growing them than by depend- 

 ing on the wild product. The beginnings of agriculture are so re- 

 mote in history and so shrouded in tradition and superstition that 

 our knowledge is very imperfect. Ancient and savage people 

 attributed the origin of many plants to some particular deity 

 or to some great ruler, and these traditions were preserved in 

 their earliest literature. Ceres was the goddess of agriculture, 

 and the grains are known as cereals; Pomona was the goddess 

 of fruits, and apples, pears and quinces are still known as the 

 pomaceous fruits. 



Agriculture probably began in the gathering of fruits, and 

 this was followed by the scattering of seeds as a religious service, 

 with the expectation that the gods would give an abundant 

 harvest. Of course, early agriculture made its greatest progress 

 among those people who were inclined to form settlements. 

 Southern Asia and the Mediterranean regions were the scenes 

 of the early development of agriculture in the eastern hemi- 

 sphere. In fact, the earliest agriculture may be said to have 

 originated in southwestern Asia and to have moved westward 

 along the shore of the Mediterranean and thence into other parts 

 of the world, although agriculture is very ancient in China, 

 Egypt and India. Agriculture was practiced in southern Europe 



