162 FIELD, FOREST AND FARM 



will nothing but wild blackberries and sour sloes. 

 But let us not complain, for the stern struggle with 

 necessity is precisely what constitutes our grandeur. 



"It is for us, by our intelligence and labor, to work 

 our way out of the difficulty; upon us it is enjoined 

 to put into practice the noble creed, God helps those 

 who help themselves. 



"Thus from the earliest times it has been man's 

 study to select from the countless forms of vegeta- 

 tion at his disposal those that best lend themselves 

 to improvement. The greater number of species 

 have remained useless to us, but others, predestined 

 no doubt, and created especially with a view to man's 

 needs, have responded to our efforts and acquired 

 through cultivation qualities of prime importance, 

 since our sustenance depends on them. Neverthe- 

 less the improvement attained is not so radical that 

 we can count on its permanence if our vigilance re- 

 laxes. The plant always tends to revert to its prim- 

 itive state. For example, let the gardener leave the 

 headed cabbage to itself without fertilizing, water- 

 ing, or cultivating it; let him leave the seeds to 

 germinate by chance wherever the wind blows them, 

 and the cabbage will quickly part with its compact 

 head of white leaves and resume the loose green 

 leaves of its wild ancestors. In like manner the vine, 

 set free from man's constant attention, will degen- 

 erate into the little-esteemed wild species that haunts 

 our hedge-rows and yields a scant harvest that will 

 not, all together, be worth a single bunch of culti- 

 vated grapes. The pear-tree, if neglected, will again 



