Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1891-06-27
PLANT DIFFUSION.
WHERE MANY FRUITS AND VEG
ETABLES COME FROM.
A Variety OF Causes Led TO tho
Distribution of Vegetable
Gifts of Nature Overthe =
Earth's Surface.

II ~
ington star reporter. "Agriculture
came originally 50 far as the principal
species Of use to man are concerned,
from<three great regions China, south
west Asia with Egypt and tropical Am
erica. In these regions the great civil
cations based upon agriculture began.
Ancient migrations and corquests
brought about the carrying Of different
kinds Of plants from one part OF the
world to another, and they were ex.
changed also in a friendly way among
nations, so that each valuable vegetable
became distributed ff1 its original
source, where 1t grew wild, throughout
distant countries, the people of which
found it available for cultivation. Sea
faring tribes, too, conveyed such native
productions of their own to distant por-
tions of the world. In all these ways
the plants which nature had placed upon
the earth in scattered patches were spread
and made. useful to the entire human
race. The discovery Of America was the
last great event which completed the
diffusion Of cultivated growths.
"It is most curious to consider from
what sources the fruits and vegetables
most familiar to rs, nearly all Of them
~exotics, were originally obtained.
Oranges first grew IN southern China and
ia Cochin, China. The lemon is indi-
genous to India. Grapes were cultivated
in very ancient times, in fact, the fruit
Of Tie vine was used by the pre-. historic
peoples of both Earope aud Asia. The
records of wine making IN Egypt go
u back 5000 years. Our common straw
berry is one Of the most widely diHused
plants, partly owing TO the small size of
its seeds, which birds carry to great dis
~tances. 1t is found all around the Arctic
circle in a wild state, as far north as the
cold will permit. Where it started no
one can precisely tell, but it is certain
that its cultivation was not introduced
until about our centuries ago.
"The common plum existed first in
northern Persia and the region of the
Caucasus. Apricots came from Armenia
and the Greeks and Romans began to
.u-,, 41,p, Of ,ln,{ tt,, ,n3fr ~ re ~ thu
Christian era. The almond tree is a ma
tiveBf western Asia. Peaches came from
China originally and pears belonged at
the beginning in the temperate belt OF
Europe. The earliest apples grew III the
neigAborhool of the Caspian Sea, and
the same may be said of ounces. 1t is
contenlcl by some authors that the ap-
pie disputed for by Juno, Venus and
Minerva was in reality a ounce.
"The watermelon was cultivated by
the ancient Egyptians in the time of the
building Of the Pyramids. 1t was found
represented in many of the paintings
which they left behind. Likewise there
is reason for believing it was known tc
, F., rr.o,;4o. e "a rhou
that if ORIGINATED !, tbo north Of af.
rica. The cucumber belonged to the
nnr+bwo.. &c 1na;. Olive, e.,+
bronoht FROM tho so,tb coae, of A..
u;,or Nvtho,,nv o.tr;h,toa - n;
nervo t5o roi,t;na of t,o fr,;, !,
Grooce Which nrobah,r s;nn;sos ~ !,
! ,.
nr,cesses for oxtraot;nn ,no u, ~,
,raa,;aa. TIT.
Nv tho noots bavo c,nno,In o+tr;,,+o,
The first sta,s = oor;c,,t,ro anl tho,n
: .rolno,io, = ,sofn, Wants - no !;
r,n;+r
!. ,.Rol nannors ora of ,mer;ca,