22 VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES. 



to have incited his subjects to the more zealous cul- 

 tivation of their lands, by ploughing with his own 

 hands the land surrounding his palace, which example 

 being followed by his ministers and courtiers, influ- 

 enced in turn those who moved in a less exalted 

 sphere.* 



Of the countries which lie between the tropics, 

 those of Asia adopt principally the use of rice, while 

 maize is made the common food of the Americans. 

 There exists a natural reason for this distribution, 

 Asia being undoubtedly the native region of rice, 

 while maize is as certainly the production of America. 

 In Africa, except as already particularized, and in 

 the British settlements of that continent, the two 

 grains are used indifferently and in nearly equal 

 proportions. 



Wheat is found in some situations within the tro- 

 pics; but its high price, as compared with that of 

 other grains, occasions its use to be confined to the 

 more wealthy classes. In many parts of British 

 India, and particularly in the upper provinces, the 

 quality of the wheat is represented as being excellent, 

 although the grain is smaller than with us. Barley 

 is likewise grown in some of the more northern dis- 

 tricts, but the grain does not attain to the same size 

 or plumpness as in Europe. The variety cultivated 

 in India is that known by us under the name of Bigg: 

 its cheapness causes it, however, to be extensively 

 used by the native population, who eat it in the form 

 of cakes. 



The agriculture of the Hindu Ryots is of the very 

 rudest description: their ploughs are scarcely de- 

 serving of the name, having no contrivance for 

 turning over the soil; the instrument employed as 

 a harrow is nothing more than the branch of a 



* Du Halde, Nouvelle relation de la Chine, tome i, pp. 274-5. 



