THE FAMILY OF GRASSES 



GETTING THE MOST OUT OF THE 

 SMALL GRAINS 



NO one needs to be told of the part that the 

 small grains take in the scheme of the 

 world's agricultural activities. 



Their place to-day is what it has been from the 

 earliest historic periods. Indeed the ethnologists 

 who probe into the prehistoric period tell us that 

 the lake dwellers were cultivators of wheat, and 

 it is known that this plant was under cultivation 

 in Egypt and Mesopotamia at the very earliest 

 period of which there is any record. 



Then as now the little company of grasses rep- 

 resented by wheat, rice, barley, rye, and oats, oc- 

 cupied a preeminent position in supplying man 

 and his domesticated animals with suitable foods. 



In recent years, to be sure, the American prod- 

 uct, Indian corn, has gained supremacy over the 

 small grains as food for domesticated animals, 

 and has attained a notable place as a supplier of 

 food for man himself. But important as this new 



341 



