RIVALRY OF PLANTS 163 



Euchlcena, or teosinte, by gradual adaptation, to 

 produce Indian corn or maize. 



On one of my experiment farms there grows, 

 to-day, this same Euchlcena which the Indians 

 found. 



It bears tiny ears with two steel-armored rows 

 of barleylike kernels on a central rachis not as 

 large or as strong as the central stalk of a head 

 of wheat. 



And when the prehistoric and more modern 

 races came into its environment it responded to 

 their influence as the pansy responded to care 

 and cultivation in its new man-protected home. 



Where teosinte had formerly relied upon its 

 own resources to find a suitable soil for its seed, 

 it found in the Indian a friend who crudely but 

 effectively scratched the soil and doubled the 

 chance for its baby plants to grow. 



Where it had been choked by plant enemies, 

 and starved for air and sunlight by weeds, it 

 found in the Indian a friend who cut down and 

 kept at bay its competitors. 



Where it had been often destroyed by the 

 animals before its maturity, it found the selfish 

 protection of the ancient races as grateful as 

 though it had been inspired by altruism. 



Planted in patches instead of straggling here 

 and there as best it could before, this sturdy grass 



