﻿G. 
  L. 
  Goodale 
  — 
  Possibilities 
  of 
  Economic 
  Botany. 
  277 
  

  

  only 
  six 
  of 
  them 
  are 
  Jikely 
  to 
  be 
  very 
  familiar 
  to 
  you, 
  namely, 
  

   wheat, 
  rice, 
  barley, 
  oats, 
  rye 
  and 
  maize. 
  The 
  last 
  of 
  these 
  is 
  of 
  

   American 
  origin, 
  despite 
  doubts 
  which 
  have 
  been 
  cast 
  upon 
  it. 
  

   It 
  was 
  not 
  known 
  in 
  the 
  Old 
  World 
  until 
  after 
  the 
  discovery 
  

   of 
  the 
  New. 
  It 
  has 
  probably 
  been 
  very 
  long 
  in 
  cultivation. 
  

   The 
  others 
  all 
  belong 
  to 
  the 
  Old 
  World. 
  Wheat 
  and 
  barley 
  

   have 
  been 
  cultivated 
  from 
  the 
  earliest 
  times 
  ; 
  according 
  to 
  

   De 
  Candolle, 
  the 
  chief 
  authority 
  in 
  these 
  matters, 
  about 
  four 
  

   thousand 
  years. 
  Later 
  came 
  rye 
  and 
  oats, 
  both 
  of 
  which 
  have 
  

   been 
  known 
  in 
  cultivation 
  for 
  at 
  least 
  two 
  thousand 
  years. 
  

   Even 
  the 
  shorter 
  of 
  these 
  periods 
  gives 
  time 
  enough 
  for 
  wide 
  

   variation, 
  and 
  as 
  is 
  to 
  be 
  expected 
  there 
  are 
  numerous 
  varieties 
  

   of 
  them 
  all. 
  For 
  instance, 
  Yilmorin, 
  in 
  1880, 
  figured 
  sixty-six 
  

   varieties 
  of 
  wheat 
  with 
  plainly 
  distinguishable 
  characters. 
  5 
  

  

  If 
  the 
  Chinese 
  records 
  are 
  to 
  be 
  trusted, 
  rice 
  has 
  been 
  culti- 
  

   vated 
  for 
  a 
  period 
  much 
  longer 
  than 
  that 
  assigned 
  by 
  our 
  

   history 
  and 
  traditions 
  to 
  the 
  other 
  cereals, 
  and 
  the 
  varieties 
  are 
  

   correspondingly 
  numerous. 
  It 
  is 
  said 
  that 
  in 
  Japan 
  above 
  

   three 
  hundred 
  varieties 
  are 
  grown 
  on 
  irrigated 
  lands, 
  and 
  more 
  

   than 
  one 
  hundred 
  on 
  uplands. 
  6 
  

  

  With 
  the 
  possible 
  exception 
  of 
  rice, 
  not 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  species 
  

   of 
  cereals 
  is 
  certainly 
  known 
  in 
  the 
  wild 
  state. 
  7 
  Xow 
  and 
  then 
  

   specimens 
  have 
  been 
  gathered 
  in 
  the 
  East 
  which 
  can 
  be 
  re- 
  

   ferred 
  to 
  the 
  probable 
  types 
  from 
  which 
  our 
  varieties 
  have 
  

   sprung, 
  but 
  doubt 
  has 
  been 
  thrown 
  upon 
  everyone 
  of 
  these 
  

   cases. 
  It 
  has 
  been 
  shown 
  conclusively 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  easy 
  for 
  a 
  

   plant 
  to 
  escape 
  from 
  cultivation 
  and 
  persist 
  in 
  its 
  new 
  home 
  

   even 
  for 
  a 
  long 
  time 
  in 
  a 
  near 
  approximation 
  to 
  cultivated 
  

   form. 
  Hence, 
  we 
  are 
  forced 
  to 
  receive 
  all 
  statements 
  regarding 
  

   the 
  wild 
  forms 
  with 
  caution. 
  But 
  it 
  may 
  be 
  safely 
  said 
  that 
  if 
  

   all 
  the 
  varieties 
  of 
  cereals 
  which 
  we 
  now 
  cultivate 
  were 
  to 
  be 
  

   swept 
  out 
  of 
  existence, 
  we 
  could 
  hardly 
  know 
  where 
  to 
  turn 
  

   for 
  wild 
  species 
  with 
  which 
  to 
  begin 
  again. 
  We 
  could 
  not 
  

   know 
  with 
  certainty. 
  

  

  To 
  bring 
  this 
  fact 
  a 
  little 
  more 
  vividly 
  to 
  our 
  minds, 
  let 
  us 
  

   suppose 
  a 
  case. 
  Let 
  us 
  imagine 
  that 
  a 
  blight 
  without 
  parallel 
  

   has 
  brought 
  to 
  extinction 
  all 
  the 
  forms 
  of 
  wheat, 
  rice, 
  rye, 
  

   oats, 
  barley 
  and 
  maize, 
  now 
  in 
  cultivation, 
  but 
  without 
  affect- 
  

   ing 
  the 
  other 
  grasses 
  or 
  any 
  other 
  form 
  of 
  vegetable 
  food. 
  

   Mankind 
  would 
  be 
  obliged 
  to 
  subsist 
  upon 
  the 
  other 
  kindly 
  

   fruits 
  of 
  the 
  earth 
  ; 
  upon 
  root-crops, 
  tubers, 
  leguminous 
  seeds, 
  

   and 
  so 
  on. 
  Some 
  of 
  the 
  substitutions 
  might 
  be 
  amusing 
  in 
  any 
  

   other 
  time 
  than 
  that 
  of 
  a 
  threatened 
  famine. 
  Others 
  would 
  be 
  

   far 
  from 
  appetizing 
  under 
  any 
  condition, 
  and 
  only 
  a 
  few 
  would 
  

   be 
  wholly 
  satisfying 
  even 
  to 
  the 
  most 
  pronounced 
  vegetarian. 
  

   In 
  short, 
  it 
  would 
  seem, 
  from 
  the 
  first, 
  that 
  the 
  cereals 
  fill 
  a 
  place 
  

   occupied 
  by 
  no 
  other 
  plants. 
  The 
  composition 
  of 
  the 
  grains 
  

  

  