PLANTS AND MAN 
it. Europeans introduced it into the Western Hemis¬ 
phere, where it now flourishes under proper climatic 
conditions, from Chile to the United States. 
Cucumber (Cucumis satirus) : This humble friend in 
our kitchen gardens can boast a respectably long lineage. 
It was known to the ancient Hebrew, as well as to the 
Greeks and the Romans. It has been cultivated in India 
for at least three thousand years. 
Wine Grape (Vitis vinifera): This is an extremely 
ancient plant. During the Miocene or Middle Tertiary 
period, species related to the wine grape were widely 
distributed throughout Europe and North America; they 
flourished in Iceland, in Greenland, and in far-away 
Japan. The glacial epoch drove them south, but with 
the return of a warmer climate the wild grape moved north 
again, crossing the Alps and the Caucasus. 
The cultivation of the grape goes back to early antiq¬ 
uity. We find grape wine in common use in Homers 
time. The production of fermented grape juice evidently 
originated with the Semitic peoples who lived in Meso¬ 
potamia and Palestine. From the Semites the Greeks 
learned the art of wine-making, and passed it on to the 
Romans. It spread from Italy to Spain, France, Ger¬ 
many, and the British Islands. Grape culture has been 
carried into nearly all lands where a mild climate prevails, 
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