12 FIELD CROPS 



2. Agriculture and Horticulture. Agriculture, in the 

 original sense, meant field culture, while horticulture meant 

 the growing of crops within a garden or inclosure. Both 

 words are from the Latin. The difference in terms is due to 

 the fact that the Roman farmers hved within walled inclo- 

 sures, the better to protect themselves and their stores of 

 food from their enemies. The larger areas in crops, the food 

 grains and the forage for animals, were outside the walls, 

 and the tilling of these crops was agriculture, from ager, 

 field, and cuUura, culture or cultivation. The fruit and 

 vegetable crops, w^hich required only small areas and were 

 given special care, were grown within the walls and their 

 tilling was horticulture, from horttis, yard or inclosure, and 

 cultura. In modern times, however, agriculture has come 

 to have a broader meaning, including all the operations of 

 the farm, such as stock raising, the production of field crops, 

 horticulture, and the manufacture of dairy and other prod- 

 ucts. The tilling of the soil and the production of field crops 

 are now usually included under the term " igronomy." 



3. Cultivated Plants. The number of cultivated plants 

 other than ornamental, according to De Candolle in his 

 "Origin of Cultivated Plants," is about two hundred and 

 fifty. Of these, four fifths are natives of the Old World. 

 Seventj^-seven are cultivated for their fruits, sixty-six for 

 their seeds, and sixty-five for their stems or leaves. Most 

 of the remainder are grown for their underground parts, 

 which may be thickened roots, as the beet, or tuberc, as the 

 potato. 



4. Field Crops. In this book, only those crops which are 

 ordinarily grown in large areas under field culture (the "agri- 

 culture" of the Romans) are included. In general, extensive 

 rather than intensive methods are used in the cultivation of 

 field crops. This rule does not always hold true. The 

 most careful and intensive methods are used in the culture 

 of sugar beets and of some types of tobacco, while fruits and 



