140 A COUNTRY READER. 



tracts of country, in which dwelt few or no 

 human beings. But slowly man began to 

 increase in numbers and populate the earth, and 

 so hunting and wandering became impossible. 



Families growing into tribes, and tribes into 

 populous communities, compelled wandering man 

 to settle in one district. 



Having settled down in one district, if men 

 were to live and not to starve, they had to 

 cultivate the ground and become agricultural- 

 ists. Settled men had to force the ground 

 to produce larger quantities of improved grain, 

 improved kind of roots, and to coax trees and 

 bushes to bear larger and better flavoured fruits. 



The needs of settled man compelled him to 

 tame and improve the 'strength and swiftness of 

 the wild horse, to carry his loads both behind 

 him and on his back, to feed and breed a cow 

 to give him a more abundant supply of milk, 

 and poultry to give him more eggs, and a more 

 delicate and more certain supply of flesh food. 



While man was in a wandering condition, 

 what need was there to tame and confine the 

 wild fowl ? There were plenty of them all around, 

 so he went outside his dwelling, and with sling 

 and stone, or bow and arrow, or with spear or 

 by trap killed or captured what he required. 



It was a cheap and easy way of securing food. 



But when man settled down in one spot 



