328 THE VALUE OF GREEN PLANTS TO MAN 



Other Grains. — Of the other cereals raised in this country, oats 

 are the most important crop, more than 1,500,000,000 bushels hav- 

 ing been produced in 1923. Barley and rye, grains much like 

 wheat, are produced in smaller quantity. One of the most impor- 

 tant grain crops for the world is rice. The fruit of this grasslike 

 plant, after threshing, screening, and milling, forms the principal 

 food of one third of the human race. 



Wheat-producing regions in the United States. Each dot = 200,000 bushels. 



Garden Fruits and Vegetables. — Vegetables have come to play 

 an important part in the dietary of man. People in this country 

 are beginning to find that more vegetables and less meat are better 

 than the meat diet so often used. Market gardening forms the 

 lucrative business of many thousands of people near our great cities 

 and of still more in our Southern states. Some of the important 

 fruits are squash, cucumbers, pumpkins, melons, tomatoes, peppers, 

 strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries. As many as 500 car- 

 loads of melons were shipped from the Imperial Valley, California, 

 during a single day in 1925. More than $150,000,000 worth of 

 fruits are canned or dried each year in addition to what is sold fresh. 

 Beans and peas are important as foods because of their relatively 



