APPLICATIONS OF BOTANY 253 



Plant Improvement. — The firm establishment of agriculture 

 was naturally followed by the selection of the best plants and 

 improvement in methods. Plants tend to vary; in some cases 

 the variations being very pronounced. Therefore, the most in- 

 telligent and progressive peoples selected the most desirable 

 plants and studied methods for their perpetuation. So little 

 by little, at first very slowly, but later very rapidly, the science 

 and art of agriculture advanced to its present high standard. 



A cai-eful study will show that there were three great centers 

 which may be considered the homes of agriculture. They are 

 the Mediterranean center, the Oriental center and the American 

 center. The first gave rise to wheat, oats, barley, rye, almond, 

 pea, bean, asparagus, onion, parsnip, turnip, carrot, cabbage, 

 celery, lettuce, spinach, cucumber, muskmelon, watermelon, egg- 

 plant, apple, pear, quince, plum, cherry, European grape, lemon, 

 date, fig, olive and many other plants. 



The second center gave us the rice, orange, peach, banana 

 and sugar cane. 



The third gave the world Indian com, potato, sweet potato, 

 tomato, peanut, kidney bean, lima bean, pumpkin, pineapple, 

 cacao and cocoanut and many other valuable plants. 



