INTRODUCTION 3 



able condition. For example, if the soil in which a 

 plant is rooted lacks plant-food, we can enrich it; if it 

 lacks sufficient moisture, we can dampen it ; if the plant 

 is shaded by weeds, we can remove them. These, and 

 any other things that we can do to make the environment 

 more favorable, constitute culture in the broadest sense 

 of the term. A full knowledge of the culture of any 

 plant implies a knowledge, not only of the plant and 

 its needs, but of each separate factor in its environment, 

 and how to maintain this factor in the condition that 

 best favors the plant's development toward some special 

 end, as the production of the finest and highest type of 

 fruit, flowers or seed. We should know, not only the 

 soil that best suits the plant, but the amount of light, 

 moisture, warmth and food in which it prospers best. 

 We should know the enemies that prey upon it, the man- 

 ner in which they work their harm, and how to prevent 

 their ravages. We should know, in short, how to regulate 

 every factor of environment so as to promote the plant's 

 well-being to the utmost, as well as how to develop every 

 desirable quality the plant possesses. 



5. Domestic or domesticated plants or animals are 

 those that are in the state of culture. In nature, dif- 

 ferent plants and animals struggle with one another for 

 space and food. Only those best adapted to their environ- 

 ment survive, and these are often much restricted in 

 their development. In culture, the intelligence and 

 energy of man produce a more favorable environment 

 for the species he desires to rear ; hence domestic plants 

 and animals attain higher development in certain direc- 

 tions than their wild parents. The cultivated potato, 

 for example, grows larger, is more productive and is 

 higher in food value than the wild potato. The finer 



