SEEDS AS FOODS 



523 



What seeds, other than those given here, do you use for food ? 



Wright Pierce 



from wheat flour is frequently called the " staff of life." Our 

 grains are the cultivated progeny of wild grasses. Domestication 

 of plants and animals marks epochs in the advance of civilization. 

 The man of the stone age hunted wild beasts for food, and lived 

 like one of them in a cave or wherever he happened to be ; he was 

 a nomad, a wanderer, with no fixed home. He may have dis- 

 covered that wild roots or grains were good to eat ; perhaps he 

 stored some away for future use. Then came the idea of growing 

 things at home instead of digging or gathering the wild fruits from 

 the forest and plain. The tribes which first cultivated the soil 

 made a great step in advance, for they had as a result a fixed place 

 for habitation. The cultivation of grains and cereals gave them a 

 store of food which could be used at times when other food was 

 scarce. The word " cereal " was derived from Ceres, the Roman 

 goddess of agriculture. From earliest times the growing of grain 

 and the progress of civilization have gone hand in hand, A§ 



