OEIGIN OF CULTIVATED PLANTS. 



PAET I. 

 General Remarks, 



CHAPTER I. 



IN WHAT MANNER AND AT WHAT EPOCHS CULTIVATION 

 BEGAN IN DIFFERENT COUNTRIES. 



The traditions of ancient peoples, embellished by poets, 

 have commonly attributed the first steps in agriculture 

 and the introduction of useful plants, to some divinity, or 

 at least to some great emperor or Inca. Reflection shows 

 that this is hardly probable, and observation of the 

 attempts at agriculture among the savage tribes of our 

 own day proves that the facts are quite otherwise. 



In the progress of civilization the beginnings are 

 usually feeble, obscure, and limited. There are reasons 

 why this should be the case with the first attempts at 

 agriculture or horticulture. Betw^een the custom of 

 gathering wild fruits, grain, and roots, and that of the i 

 regular cultivation of the plants which produce them, 

 there are several steps. A family may scatter seeds 

 around its dwelling, and provide itself the next year 

 with the same product in the forest. Certain fruit trees 

 may exist near a dwelling without our knowing whether 

 they were planted, or wdiether the hut was built beside 



