STOKES SEED FARMS COMPANY MOORESTOWN, NEW JERSEY 



The Ancient Origin of Vegetables and Its 

 Relation to Present Day Standards 



FULL appreciation of historic background is the foundation for true proportions and for deepened respect. Even 

 a cursory knowledge of a subject will bring with it a keener interest which in turn increases one's possibilities 

 for larger success. Vegetables have been cultivated and eaten by man for about ten thousand years. Undoubtedly 

 many of them have been developing in their wild state far back into Geologic Time, thousands, and perhaps hundreds 

 of thousands of years before the Glacial Period. Apparently the first cultivation of the products of the soil can be cred- 

 ited to the ancient tribes of Persia and of India — the first of the world's people to establish any pretense of civilization. 

 Further evidence is at hand to show that at least a number of our commoner vegetables were well known before the 

 Aryan Migration, Eighteenth Century B. C. Melons, onions and garlic are mentioned by Moses 1400 B. C. 



Historic realities of the past twenty-five centuries, beginning with Hellenic Culture, give us our first accurate 

 knowledge on the subject. The Greek and especially the Roman Civilization, advanced the art of horticulture far be- 

 yond all past effort of man. With the conquering of new lands, the culture of edible plants was passed on to new tribes 

 and races, they in turn very often exchanging species entirely unknown to the Mediterranean World. Roman armies 

 were responsible for the dissemination of many of the vegetables of Asia, Southern Europe and Africa. The fall of 

 Rome retarded vegetable culture seriously, but it is not thought that many of the old species were lost. The work 

 was carried on without marked development until the discovery of the New World, which brought with it several 

 new and valuable additions in vegetables, which were quickly adapted by Europeans, who in turn started varietal 

 improvements which greatly increased their desirability for edible purposes. The work of the French and English 

 in the past three hundred years probably surpasses the efforts of the previous fifteen hundred. Present-day varieties, 

 with slight exceptions, are all type developments of the past three centuries. This work has largely been accomplished 

 by scientists, gardeners and commercial seed growers. American horticulturists have made considerable progress during 

 the past hundred years in the development of new, and in many instances, very worthy varietal introductions. 



A vegetable, perishable and tender as it is, seems not a thing of great antiquity, but when we consider through 

 its power to reproduce itself it has survived in its cultivated form through many ages, has outlived the greatest empires, 

 has combatted all the pestilence, disease and drought of the world, and has come out the better for it, surely there 

 is cause for a deepened respect and a renewed sense of honor for the gardening profession. Plant life, as well as human 

 life, is always seeking higher levels. There is a profound dignity in scientific plant improvement work. The American 

 seed trade has now passed through its first hundred years of development, a period which should be ample time in 

 which to arrive at definite standards. Unfortunately, during this time there has been no sentiment against the renam- 

 ing of varieties having fixed names. As a result, there are approximately ten thousand different varietal names, cover- 

 ing perhaps one thousand separate and distinct varieties — a duplication of nine hundred per cent. For instance, the 

 Earliana Tomato, as introduced by Johnson & Stokes eighteen years ago, is now probably sold by seedsmen under 

 one hundred different names. This confusion not only is unfair to the seed buyer, but it has a tendency to lower type 

 standards all along the line, inasmuch as there cannot be the concentrated effort which would otherwise be possible. 

 In this catalog we are not only giving brief histories of the vegetables themselves, but we have made an effort to locate 

 either the originator or the introducer of the individual varieties, standardizing on the name as given it by the persons 

 responsible. Surely the sentiment of the seed buyer is against deception of any kind. He wants to know definitely 

 what he is buying, and he does not want to pay a fabulous price for some (perhaps inferior) strain of a well-established 

 variety. The position we take on this matter does not exclude the offering of private strains under the standard varietal 

 name. Neither does it exclude the offerings of distinct varieties when they are proven out as such after thorough and 

 complete investigation by responsible persons. The spirit of the times calls for clear-cut business policies. We in 

 America too often forget our ancestors. Even a passing knowledge of the Old World arts will give us truer proportions, 

 eliminate many crude mistakes and enable us to establish standards more in keeping with the work in hand. 



VEGETABLE HISTORY 



Name of Vegetable Under Cultivation Origin 



Asparagus 2000 to 4000 years Europe and West Asia 



Bean, Bush Lima About 100 years Eastern North America 



Bean, Pole Lima About 1000 years South America 



Bean, String 2000 to 4000 years West South America 



Beet, Chard 2000 to 4000 years Europe 



Beet, Root 2000 to 4000 years Mediterranean Region 



Brussels Sprouts 1000 to 2000 years North Europe 



Cabbage 4000 to 8000 years West Europe 



Cabbage, Chinese. . . .2000 to 4000 years China and Japan 



Carrot 2000 to 4000 years Europe and West Asia 



Cauliflower 2000 to 4000 years Europe and West Asia 



Celeriac 1000 to 2000 years Europe 



Celery 2000 to 4000 years South Europe 



Corn, Field 2000 to 4000 years Tropical America 



Corn, Sweet About 100 years New England 



Cress, Garden 2000 to 4000 years Probably Persia 



Cress, Water 2000 to 4000 years Europe and North Asia 



Cucumber 4000 to 8000 years India 



Cucumber, Gherkin About 100 years Jamaica 



Dandelion 1000 to 2000 years Europe and Asia 



Egg Plant 4000 to 8000 years South America or East Indies 



Endive 1000 to 2000 years East Indies and Asia 



Horse-radish 1000 to 2000 years East Europe and West Asia 



Kale 2000 to 4000 years Europe 



Kohl-rabi 2000 to 4000 years Europe 



Name of Vegetable Under Cultivation Origin 



Lefk 2000 to 4000 years Mediterranean Region 



Lettuce 2000 to 4000 years . . Asia 



Melon, Musk 4000 to 8000 years .'. Southern Asia 



Melon, Water 2000 to 4000 years West Africa 



Mushroom 1000 to 2000 years .Northern World 



Okra 1000 to 2000 years North Africa 



° m0 , n 400° to 8000 years Persia and Central Asia 



Parsley 1000 to 2000 years Sardinia 



Parsnip 1000 to 2000 years Europe 



Pea, Garden 4000 to 8000 years . . Asia 



g e PP. er 1000 to 2000 years South America 



§°I a !° * ■ Y 1000 t0 2000 y ears South America 



Potato, Sweet 1000 to 2000 years Tropical America 



Pumpkin Probably less than 1000 years Tropical America 



Radish 4000 to 8000 years . Asia 



Rh " b K arb 2000 to 4000 years South Siberia (River Volga) 



Rutabaga 1 000 to 2000 years Europe 



g a ! sif y. About 1000 years Mediterranean Region 



Spinach 1000 to 2000 years. . Persia 



Spinach.New Zealand 100 to 200 years Nev Zealand 



Squash, Winter 1000 to 2000 years Tropical America 



Squash, Summer Probably less than 1000 years Temperate America 



Tomato 1000 to 2000 years. . Peru 



Turnip 4000 to 8000 years , Europe 



