PRIMITIVE AGRICULTURE. 7 



writers, to attribute the origin of all progress to their 

 own nation. 



In America, agriculture is perhaps not quite so 

 ancient as in Asia and Egypt, if w^e are to judge from 

 the civilization of Mexico and Peru, which does not date 

 even from the first centuries of the Christian era. Hoav- 

 ever, the widespread cultivation pf certain plants, such 

 as maize, tobacco, and the sweet potato, argues a con- 

 siderable antiquity, perhaps two thousand years or there- 

 abouts. History is at fault in this matter, and we can 

 only hope to be enlightened by the discoveries of archiieo- 

 logy and geology. 



