STAIRCASE FAR ATS OF THE ANCIENTS 



so: 



to the Equator large areas of the plateau 

 regions of Peru have not merely temper- 

 ate climates, but conditions that could be 

 more correctly described as cold temper- 

 ate, subarctic, or alpine. 



the; lesson of the potato 



In spite of having come from inter- 

 tropical South America, the potato does 

 not endure heat, but thrives at the ex- 

 treme limit of agriculture in the North- 

 ern Hemisphere — Norway, Finland, Si- 

 beria, Alaska, and Newfoundland. Like- 

 wise in the Southern Hemisphere the 

 potato was carried, even in pre-Spanish 

 times, to the cold coast belt of Peru and 

 Chili, and has since been taken to South 

 Africa, Tasmania, and New Zealand (see 

 also pages 510 and 513). 



The wide utilization of the potato has 

 proved strikingly that a plant able to 

 grow on the high plateaus of Peru may 

 be adapted to any of the coldest regions 

 where agriculture is practiced in other 

 parts of the globe, and indicates that the 

 other domesticated plants of Peru may 

 also be useful to all the temperate and 

 subarctic regions of the world. 



MORE PLANTS WERE DOMESTICATED IN 



PERU THAN IN ANY OTHER PART 



OE THE WORLD 



It was fortunate for the rest of the 

 world that the ancient Peruvians prac- 

 ticed agriculture under so wide a range 

 of natural conditions, since this led to the 

 domestication of a large series of crop 

 plants. More plants appear to have been 

 domesticated in the Peruvian region than 

 in any other part of America. A large 

 proportion of the cultivated species were 

 limited to this part of the world, so that 

 no question can be raised of their having 

 been brought from other regions. Other 

 kinds of crop plants used by the ancient 

 Peruvians were widely distributed in an- 

 cient America, more especially the trop- 

 ical species, those that are grown at low 

 elevations. If these also originated in 

 Peru, that region was responsible for by 

 far the larger part of the American series 

 of crop plants, more than all other parts 

 of America taken together. 



Among the more important crop plants 

 that were cultivated by the ancient Peru- 



vians were maize, or Indian corn, potato, 

 sweet potato, and cassava. The follow- 

 ing partial list of the Peruvian crop 

 plants may give an idea of the extent and 

 variety of domestications that were ac- 

 complished in Peru : 



Achupalla (pineapple), anu (Tropse- 

 olum), apichu (sweet potato), apincoya 

 (granadilla), arracacha ( Arracacia), chi- 

 rimoya, chid (bean), coca (Erythroxy- 

 lum), citiiiara (sweet potato), inchis 

 (peanut), oca (Oxalis). pallar (Lima 

 bean), papa (potato), papaya, poro (bot- 

 tle-gourd), puriitu (frejol), qninoa 

 (Chenopodium), rocoto (Capsicum), 

 rumn (Manihot), sahuinto (guava) , sara 

 (maize), tintin (Tacsonia), tomate (Ly- 

 copersicum and Cyphomandra), tumbo 

 (Tacsonia), ullitcu (Ullucus), uncucha 

 (Xanthosoma), utcu (cotton). 



VARIETIES OE PERUVIAN CORN 



A complete list of the plants that were 

 cultivated by the ancient Peruvians has 

 yet to be made, but it will probably in- 

 clude between 70 and 80 species. A large 

 part are root crops, vegetables, and fruits, 

 but some are seed crops, pot herbs, con- 

 diments, medicinal plants, dyes, and orna- 

 mentals. Annual plants predominate in 

 numbers and importance, but perennials, 

 shrubs, and trees are also well repre- 

 sented. 



Maize, or Indian corn, is a remarkable 

 plant, botanically as well as agricultur- 

 ally. It is entirely unlike any other crop 

 and has very few relatives in the plant 

 world. The early explorers found corn 

 in general cultivation in alt of the agri- 

 cultural areas of North and South Amer- 

 ica, but no wild form has been discovered. 

 Where maize originated is still a question. 

 Some writers have favored Mexico and 

 others Peru. The relative importance of 

 maize was greater, no doubt, in Mexico, 

 where not so many other plants were cul- 

 tivated as in Peru. Another reason for 

 associating maize with Mexico is the oc- 

 currence of the grass called teosinte. • 

 which crosses readily with maize and 

 was formerly believed to represent the 

 ancestral form. 



That the cultivation of corn goes very 

 far back in Peru is indicated not only by 

 the abundance of specimens found in the 



