The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1885-02-01

usefulness Is to be accepted rs the test OF mer-
itorious achievement. 1t might do US no harm
to romomber that within the last two thousand
years man has not won from nature by discov-
cry and cultivation u single species OF food sta
ple comparable with wheat rico, maize, tho
potato and tho banana. some OF which invaua-
bio conqucsts can indeed he proved to have been
mNde more than forty centuries aap. This Is
ons OF the suggestive facts contributed BY bot
any to tho history Of tho birthplace and
evolution Of civilization and which are dis
cussed in the lixh. Of the ripest and most acc
curato Investigation by the wcll-kBoyn Como
van sr!cHt!et. Abr!IONsE Nj tiSpoiLHs. III the
Origa, Of cdltitdHd Pt'pks tApplatonsl Since
the publication OF % Previous work OH the same
subject soruc thirty years age, the writer has
boon wila.y reccgi,ifsl 10 one Of the highest
authori,lrs On .uogIa 7h .ca sonny. and the re-
suits Of later broairr. AMI moro rigorous in
auiries. INCORPORATED IN ~. vo,ame, viii dispel
many misconceptions cutrent s,ncl tn. DAY Of
Llnnnus. and not few Of tho wont mes ONO
assumptions and fantastic theories based ON
Humboldts too limited. has . Ai.l ssif-Willrd
inductions.
OF tho one hundred and twenty to one hun
dred and forty thousand species In the yeGeta-
bio Kingdom, man has detected properties suiii-
ciently precious to make 1t worth while TO Gull
tivate the plants on'a large scale and for use
tho patient research demon strated by this vol
umo ha. bcen applied to 2i7 species which. in
ono part OF the earth or another, are grown ex-
tensively by nGriculturists or in gardens and
orchards To tie species here studied quota
of 100 has been furnished by the Old World.
and America il credited with As. while Of three
tho native place Is pronounced uncertain. Not
less than Al OF tho Old World species must. ac-
cordin. to the evidence collected and sifted by
4. a l..
and cultivated in worry ancient times. OF
which tho nearest limit cannot BIO placed
any nearer than four thousand years ago. There
arc also five American species whose antiquity
there arc rs yet no data for exactly meas
uring but which must have been reclaimed
from wild state very many centuries before
tho discovery OF the western continent By
Columbus. Apropos Of geographical distribu-
ton. 1t is noted that Patagonia and the Capo OF
Good Hope havo not given us n single edible
specics: that Australia and new Zealand have
enriched us with but one cultivated tree and q
single vegetable, and that tho United States. in
spite of their vast territory. have yielded no
nutritious plants except the Jerusalem arti-
choke and the gourds UnQuestonably tho
greatest blessing conferred on The Inhabitants
OF the two worlds by tho voyage OF Columbus
was tho diffusion OF vegetable food staples
which had been previously known only in
single Hemisphere. The natives of the western
continent were unIuestionnby tho gamers by
this Interchange OF conquests, and herein lies.
undoubtedly. their chief debt to Europeans.
When NJ. do Candolles began his investiga-
lions, tho opinion was prevalent. and enter
tained by himself. that large number OF the
forty or fifty species cultivated for moro than
four thousand years must have 80 far diverged
from their original type that their progenitors
would no longer be recognizable among wild
plants. He has. Notwithstanding. arrived at
the conviction land tho proofs arc here SUBJ
mitted) that not less than thirty-one OF what
may DO termed the prehistoric cultivated plants
stu exist wild in q form identical with some
one OF the domostcated varieties. This unex
pected persistence of the wild plant sido by side
with tho products Of studious propagation Is
explained OIL two grounds-flrst. that the period
Of forty centuries Is insignificant compared to
the duration OF most Of the specific forms In
Heterogeneous plants, and, secondly, that tho
cultivated species receive from beyond the
bounds OF cultivated ground continual reen-
forcements from the seeds which man. birds.
and different natural agents disperso and trans
port In many ways. Nuturaizations produced
in this manner often lead to tho confounding
OF tho wild plants with the domesticatsd ones,
and tho moro easily that. belonging to the Same
species. they fertilizo each other. or the
eighteen anclently cultivated plants whose wild
prototypes are undiscovered. eleven. aud per-
haps thirteen, may be identified with their pro-
genitors when tho regions known to DO their
tavorite hnbiiationg have been moro adequate
ly explored. There are seven species, how
aver among those transmitted from the print
tive agricuturlsts whose wild toriginals arc
believed by tho author to he extinct. swiftly
on the way to become So These are wheat.
maize. tobacco. the bean. tho chick pea, tho
lentil. and the erylla. The sweet potato and
the carthamlne should. he thinks perhaps be
added
We are reminded that tho characters which
havo most tempted cultivation are. beginning
with the most adaptable and variable. first. tho
size. form. and color Of tho hoshy parts root.
bulb tubercle. fruit. or seed and the abun-
dance OF fecua. sugar. and other substances
contained in them; secondly. the number Of
seeds. which often varies invcrsely to tho
DEVELOPMENT OF the fieshy parts; thirdly. tho
form. size. or pubescenco OF the floral organs
persisting round tho fruits or seeds: and last
IT, the rapidity Of tho phenomena OF vegetation.
whonce results tho differentiation into ligneous
or herbaceous. and into perennial. biennial. or
annual plants" NJ. do Candolles has failed TO
observe the slightest indication OF an ndapta-
ton to cold. and he infers that periods OF much
more than four or Ave thousand years are
needed to produce such a modification in
plant as will allow it to tolerate n reduction
OF heat. Some facts. which at first sight
seem to contradict this assertion. do not really
Impugn 1t. When the cultivation OF certain
species. such as maize. wheat. fax or tobacco.
advances toward the north. this is explained
other by tho selection OF carly varieties, which
can ripen before the cold season. or by the GUS
tom of cultivating in tho north In summer
only such species rs in thevsouth are sown in
winter. One other general conclusion may
here DO mentioned. viz, that no distinctive