12 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS AND PLANTS 



Wheat is very old, but corn is relatively new, and the variety 

 known as Riley's Favorite was produced by James Riley, still 

 living at Thornton, Indiana. 



Grapes have been known since the earliest ages, but all the 

 varieties growing east of the Rockies have been developed 

 since the landing of the Pilgrim Fathers, and the most popu- 

 lar of all grapes — the Concord — originated within half a mile 

 of the old homes of Emerson and of Hawthorne, and close by 

 the little brown house where Miss Alcott lived and wrote 

 "Little Women." Moreover, the writer has seen the original 

 vine still growing by the old home of its originator, Ephraim 

 Bell, as he has also seen the original stock from which all our 

 navel oranges have sprung. 1 



Creation not yet finished. Just as every torrential storm 

 brings down tons of rock and soil, changing permanently the 

 face of nature ; just as the rivers carry this " drift " from the 

 uplands, extending the lowlands farther and farther into the sea ; 

 just as frost and flood combine to tear down the mountains and 

 wear away the hills, so are influences at work everywhere to 

 alter more or less permanently the character of the countless 

 species of plants and animals that inhabit the earth. 



So the Creator is still at work, and not only the forces of 

 nature but man himself works with God in still further improv- 

 ing the earth and the living beings it everywhere supports. It 

 is well, then, that man shall learn all he can as to how to oper- 

 ate to the best advantage in discharging his part of the labor 

 of creation. 



Most domesticated races have close relatives in the wild. 

 The most casual observer recognizes the wolf as a kind of first 

 cousin to the dog, and the jackal as a poor relation. Domestic 

 cattle belong certainly to the same general class of animals as 

 the bison and the water buffalo. 



1 It should be understood that the peculiar kind of orange called the navel 

 has arisen at many different times and places in the world. Ours originated in 

 southern California. 



