. Domesticated animals and plants; a brief treatise upon the origin and development of domesticated races, with special reference to the methods of improvement. Breeding; Domestic animals; Plants, Cultivated; Animals, Domestic; Breeding; Plants. ORIGIN' OF CULTIVATED FRUITS 283 2. The watermelon {Citridhis vulgaris). For once there is no doubt of nativity. The watermelon is a characteristic contri- bution of the dark continent, and our colored brother evidently comes honestly by his natural appetite for this luscious fruit. It belongs to central Africa on both sides of the equator, where Livin
. Domesticated animals and plants; a brief treatise upon the origin and development of domesticated races, with special reference to the methods of improvement. Breeding; Domestic animals; Plants, Cultivated; Animals, Domestic; Breeding; Plants. ORIGIN' OF CULTIVATED FRUITS 283 2. The watermelon {Citridhis vulgaris). For once there is no doubt of nativity. The watermelon is a characteristic contri- bution of the dark continent, and our colored brother evidently comes honestly by his natural appetite for this luscious fruit. It belongs to central Africa on both sides of the equator, where Livingstone " saw districts literally covered with it, and the sav- ages and several kinds of wild animals eagerly devoured the wild fruit," ^ which is some- times, but not generally, bitter. This fruit was certainly culti- vated by the ancient Egyptians, but there is no proof of antiquity, either botanical or philological, except in northern Africa. It would be interesting, in- deed, to follow the futures of other wildlings under civiliza- tion, such as the cucumber, the pumpkin, and the squash, but it is a long story and would lead us far afield. Inasmuch as our chief purpose here is to indicate rather than to exhaust a field, we must content our selves with a hasty glance at what is really a fascinating prospect. Miscellaneous fruits. There are, however, a number that merit further study. The gooseberry and the currant, both in- troduced from Europe, and both also wild over extensive areas of our own countr\%2 and which have furnished cultivated varie- ties, are other examples of the fact that many species are 1 " Origin of Cultivated Plants, p. 263. 2 The writer as a boy knew two kinds of wild gooseberry, the " prickly " and the plain, both growing freely in the woods of Michigan. The latter was often brought into the gardens of the pioneers and successfully cultivated, furnishing, in some cases, the principal fruit of the Fig. 49. The huckleb
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectplants, bookyear1910
