10 AGRICULTURE AND RURAL-LIFE DAY. 



ANCIENT USE OF VEGETABLES 



It was a belief of the Cherokee Indians that all disease came from 

 animals, but that plants contain a cure for every ill which beasts 

 brought to man. Many vegetable foods found on our tables first 

 came into use as medicinal plants, and it is probable that the majority 

 of them thus originated. The cabbage was once regarded as a 

 remedy for drunkenness and various diseases. The Greeks thought 

 asparagus a good remedy for intestinal trouble, and that the beet 

 had very fine medicinal qualities. The cucumber was supposed to 

 have all sorts of healing properties, and lettuce, the favorite plant of 

 Adonis, according to their ideas, possessed narcotic virtues. Garlic 

 incited warriors to courage, and was avoided in time of peace. 

 Parsley excited the brain to agreeable sensation; water cresses gave 

 a very refreshing effect, and onions were good for preserving the 

 health. Hyssop renewed and purified the blood, thyme was an anti- 

 dote to the venom of a serpent; pennyroyal was taken to facilitate 

 digestion, mint prevented milk from curdling, ginger was a cure for 

 scurvy, and asafetida was in ancient times the chief seasoning for 

 food, since it was supposed to promote digestion. All these vege- 

 tables were in use long before the Christian era. In fact, it is im- 

 possible to go back to a time when they were not in use. Patroclus 

 probably peeled onions ; Achilles washed cabbage ; and many centuries 

 before the Trojan war the chief baker for Pharaoh fell into disrepute, 

 probably because of the poor bread that he served. 



THE BREAD OF THE WORLD. 



It has been well said that the quality of bread made by the in- 

 habitants of any country is a fair measure of their civilization. Of 

 all the cooking processes now in use by civilized man, the cooking of 

 bread is the most important. The kind of bread that is used in any 

 country has always depended upon the kind of corn or grain or food- 

 giving plants found in that country. 



Wheat bread is probably the most widely used in the world's his- 

 tory, because Avheat is indigenous in the most fertile valleys of the 

 Old World and could be easily produced in those countries in which it 

 is not indigenous. Rye hread is next in importance, and, though 

 it has not had such long continuous use as wheat, it is used exten- 

 sively, especially in Germany, France, Spain, and Greece. Buck- 

 wheat, or black wheat, is the staple bread flour in Eussia, Siberia, 

 and Brittany. Soya bread is eaten in some places, especially by the 

 inhabitants of China and Japan. It is made from an oily pea that 

 is native to those countries. Millet flour produces a wholesome 

 bread that is eaten by the inhabitants of India, China, Egypt, Italy, 



