20 



CEREALS 



times they observed annually a very ancient custom in which 

 rice grains were planted by the Emperor with appropriate 

 ceremonies in token of its great value to the nation. Finally, 

 in the New World, evidences abound of the cultivation of 

 maize ages before the coming of Columbus. Ears of Indian 

 corn occur along with the most ancient remains in Mexico 

 and Peru. Moreover, the Spanish conquerors found that in 

 Mexico the natives worshiped an agricultural divinity to 



Fig. 9. — Wheat. A, spikelot of beardless wheat, enlarged. F, flower with 

 bracts spread. C, D, E, bracts. G, pistil with stamens, and a pair of 

 lodicules at base. K^, lO, kernel. R, rachis. (Baillon.) 



Avhom they brought the first-fruits of their maize-harvest, 

 just as the Romans brought their offerings of grain to Ceres. 

 17. Earliest use of grains. Although we maj' be sure 

 that the cultivation of the grains began many years before 

 the time of our earliest records concerning them, Ave have 

 no means of knowing how long ago they were first i:)lantod 

 as a crop; nor have we any definite knowledge of how any 

 one of them first came to be cultivated. Still there is good 

 reason to suppose that before the advantages of planting 

 were discovered, it was the custom to gather the wild grain 

 when it was ripe, just as certain savage tribes do Avith other 

 grains at the present day. Thus it Avould happen naturally 



