The herald., 1895-02-18
1000 wears it was unknown to the Romans


| Europe, Western Asia and Northern
| Africa, and from the lacustrine evidences
| in Switzerland and France, we conclude
| that it must have been cultivated at q
very ancient date. The discovery of the
| alcoholic fermentation is almost as old as
the vine itself, as the history of the max
| ing of wines dates back 5000 or 5000 years
| in Egyptian records.
| OF our deciduous fruits, the oldest and
perhaps the most appreciated is the apple.
| 1t is widely disseminated throughout
| Europe and in its wild state is rather a
sour, unpleasant fruit; yet in the early
days of civilization, when fruit culture
was limited to the improvement of those
| indigenous to the soil, its cultivation was
| probably the first begun in Europe.
! The apricot is native of China. In its
wild state it is small, sour fruit. The
| Chinese cultivated it for at least 20D0 years
before the Christian era, but its origin in
| that country probably accounts for its
! slow passage westward reaching Rome
about the beginning of the Christian era
| by way of Armenia. The peach which
seems so nearly akins to the apricot is
not q prunus, but an almond, and has
never been found as such in a wild state.
That the peach is but an almond with
the pericarp teshy has been generally
supposed to be correct, but De Candolle
throws some doubt on the subject by OBJ
serving that the almond was unknown in
AIllnd, bllt uOIllt VI l1t DtuCll, IbI tuOlo-
ands of years after the fruit was in gem
eral cultivation.
The cherry as we now find it has been
developed from the two wild species, the
bird cherry and the common cherry.
From the former of these, whose native
home is in Western Asia and Eastern Eu-
rope, the white and black cherries have
been developed; from the latter the mont
morency and griotte are the best known
production. These in the wild state were
originally limited to the area around the
Caspian but have as waits of cultivation
gradually established themselves all over
Europe and the British Isles, where they
grow as freely as many of the indigenous
trees In this state cherries have been
raised most successfully in the north and
the impression prevails, whether well
founded or not / cannot say that they do
not thrive in the south. In California
we have of wild cherries proper, Prunus
emarginata, in the open forests of the
Sierra Neyadas from the Yosemite north
wards, and Prunus demissa, the choke
cherry of the West, growing freely in the
coast and inland ranges at an altitude of
1000 feet and upwards. Prunus illicifolia,
the well known holly leaved shrub of the
lower foothills, belongs rather to the cherry
laurel tribe.
The native species are here at all events
mountain loving species, and it may be
reasonably supposed that the imported
cherry would produce more freely if
planted at a higher altitude or on north
ern mountain slopes where the air is
moister and the air more equable.
The cultivated plums are supposed to
have been developed from the Prunus do
mestica and p. insititia. The prune and
damson have been derived from the for
mer, the Bullace from the latter The
California representative of the plum is
p. subcordata, species of the northern
mart n the and pf DrapOn rr,inb hos
a pleasantly acid fruit Anyone tasting
the pungently acid and astringent fruit of
the European cherries in their wild state
and comparing them with those of this
coast, would not have the slightest hesi-
tation in commencing the California pro-
duct for its superior qualities. The ques-
tion naturally arises if Europeans by the
cultivation of such an unattractive fruit
have produced the present cherry could
not we, by developing the native product,
show better?
On the island of Catalina there grows a
variety of P. illicifola with handsome
cordate smooth leaves, and large fruit
which seems to possess great possibilities
if carefully developed, and it with the
wild plum might at least be given a trial.
The pear grows wild in temperate
Europe and West Asia. The ounce, sup
posed by some to be the apple of discord
of Aphrodite; the fig, which existed in
genius roamed over Europe; the pome-
granate, the olive, the almond and the
plum all have originated in Persia or West
Asia. The fruits of the cucumber tribe
have been gathered from all sections of
the globe. Mexico or Texas gave us the
melon, and tropical Africa the water
melon.
De Candolle, to whom we owe much of
the'data here presented on the origin of
our fruits, while decided enough on most
of his conclusions regarding fruit trees, is
unable to say with certainty how or where
we received our cereals. OF the latter the
most important, because the most nutri-
tious, is wheat. Its Importance as food
product has been recognized from the
earliest times the historic references to
its use dating from 200 b. G. in China,
and 1853 B. G. in Egypt. The country of
its origin is unknown; though by many
considered cultivated form of Oegilops
ovata this is doubted by De Candolle,
who believes it originated in the valley of
the Euphrates.
Barley, as it exists wild in Western
Asia, is of the two-rowed form, and from
this all the cultivated varieties are prob
ably derived. Historically its cultivation
is not as old as that of wheat but judg-
ing from the different varieties in use
from ancient times, its culture must be
very old indeed or, as seems to me more
probable the wild forms OF the six and
two-rowed varieties are no longer in ex-
istence. After considerable controversy
the original home of the maize has been
conceded to America, and De Candolle
thinks its original location was New
Granada; but nothing like it now exists
in the wild state. AT the time of the dis
coyery of America, it was found a staple
product among the Indians Columbus on
his first voyage to the West Indies, saw
it under cultivation. The graves of the
lncas and the catacombs of Peru have
yielded its seeds Darwin found ears of
Indian corn buried with shells in the soil
on the shores of Peru eighty five feet
above sea level. All these things point to
its having been cultivated in one form or
another from very ancient times. When
the early pilgrims arrived on the New
England coast they found the Indian cul-
tiyating various kinds of corn. The Della
wares were famous in those days for
their immense corn fields. The maraud-
ing English or French in defense of their
settlements made frequent excursions to
destroy the Indian gfanaries, in one of
which De Nouvllie in 1857 DESTROYED /. 300
900 bushels of corn.
Interesting as is the origin of our most
interesting fruits and cereals, have not
traversed that ground without a purpose
in view, and before passing from this part
OF the subject let us turn our attention to
the localities that have given us these
products. In classifying the countries
that have given origin to our cultivated
plants, it appears most extraordinary
that, SO far, Australia and New Zealand
have not furnished a single fruit or vege-
table worthy of cultivation. This is in