A READER IN BOTANY. 



ORIGIN OF CULTIVATED PLANTS. 



ALL our food comes through plants. They are 

 the link between the animal and mineral king- 

 doms. They are able to take from the earth and 

 the air the inorganic substances they require, and 

 to build them into organized material on which 

 animals can live. Directly, through the use of 

 the plants themselves, and indirectly, through 

 animals which have been nourished by plants, we 

 get all our food through the vegetable kingdom. 



Many of our fine varieties of garden vegetables 

 and flowers have been produced in the following 

 way: 



The gardener sows seed of his best plants, and 

 selects from the offspring those which best show 

 the characters he wishes to increase. From the 

 offspring of these he again selects the best, and so 



