348 Matis Work on the Farm 



sion ; and coming as he did from a nation of agricul- 

 turists, he seized the opportunity to carry back with 

 him to China various useful plants, such as the bean, 

 pea, cucumber, water-melon, lucerne, saffron, sesame, 

 spinach, nut, and others, hitherto unknown in the East. 

 This is the earliest instance recorded of the migration 

 of cultivated plants eastwards. Westwards we know 

 . they had travelled long before. 



Whether the ambassador was so thoughtful as to 

 bring any plants with him, or whether any came acci- 

 dentally in his train, we do not know ; but the peach- 

 tree is said to be a native of China, where it has been 

 cultivated for ages ; and it was so well established in 

 Persia, when the country was invaded by the Romans, 

 that they introduced it to Europe as the 'Persian 

 apple.' The Romans, too, about B.C. 68, brought 

 from Pontus or Armenia the first cultivated cherry- 

 tree ; and it is said that a tree laden with fruit figured 

 in the triumph of the victorious consul. Cherries 

 became at once so popular that, as Pliny says, ' in less 

 than a hundred and twenty years after, other lands 

 had cherries, even as far as Britain beyond the ocean.' 



As to any other plants which the Romans may have 

 brought to Britain, we have no certain knowledge ; no 

 doubt they cultivated here all such plants as they 

 found useful at home, so far as the climate would allow 

 them ; but they have at least the credit of having 

 brought and left with us two wild plants, the columbine 

 and the Roman nettle. The nettle is one of several 

 plants which are, it is said, sure to follow the steps of 

 the European wherever he goes ; the plantain, goose- 

 foot, and fennel are others. 



But, according to the old botanists, the seed of the 



