6 Conservation Reader 



step upon the long road which leads from ancient times 

 down to us. 



Did these early people live entirely upon meat? If they 

 had done so, we should never have had the wonderful variety 

 of fruits and vegetables that we now enjoy so much. We 

 must not suppose that Nature grew these things wild just 

 as they are found in our gardens today. Our ancestors 

 grew them for many generations, gradually improving their 

 size and flavor. By selecting the best and carefully culti- 

 vating them, we are still continuing to make them better. 



The horse, donkey, cow, and camel proved valuable in 

 another way to the people who were learning to cultivate 

 the ground. When harnessed to a crooked and sharpened 

 stick they aided in breaking up the ground in which the 

 young plants were growing. 



And so the long years passed while the early people were 

 discovering and making use of the things around them. 

 They came to building better and more permanent homes, 

 because they did not have to move from place to place in 

 search of food. Where there were forests, wood served for 

 their buildings. Where there were few trees, stone or mud 

 bricks were used. 



The brighter people learned to understand Nature more 

 quickly than those who were dull. Each discovery of some 

 new way of doing things aided them in making others, and 

 in this way people finally came to have all the comforts of 

 today. Those people less quick to learn the secrets of 

 Nature, or those who Hved in countries to which Nature had 

 given little, gained few comforts and even now remain 

 savage. 



After our ancestors had learned to cultivate the soil, to 



