. Europe and other continents . tropical forest average but one person for everytwenty-four square miles ; and most of the inhabitantsdwell near the rivers. Canyou suggest reasons for livingthere ? When the numbersincrease greatly, new meansof obtaining food must befound ; and for this purposewar and even cannibalism aresometimes resorted to. Development of Agri-culture. — But by far themost common means of add-ing to the supply of food isthrough the care of plantsand animals. The plant worldoffers valuable foods stored inseeds, bulbs, and roots. Undernatural conditions these foodsare scattere
. Europe and other continents . tropical forest average but one person for everytwenty-four square miles ; and most of the inhabitantsdwell near the rivers. Canyou suggest reasons for livingthere ? When the numbersincrease greatly, new meansof obtaining food must befound ; and for this purposewar and even cannibalism aresometimes resorted to. Development of Agri-culture. — But by far themost common means of add-ing to the supply of food isthrough the care of plantsand animals. The plant worldoffers valuable foods stored inseeds, bulbs, and roots. Undernatural conditions these foodsare scattered, and agriculturedoubtless began by gathering them from the wild plants,as many native tribes still do. A step in advance wouldbe made by planting such seeds near the home and keepingout the weeds (Fig. 62). Moreover, in some climates it is neeesmry to store asupply against a season of need. For example, the winterof the temperate zones and the dry season of the savannasmust be provided for. This encourages industry, thrift,. Fig. African negro woman planting. 80 GENERAL GEOGRAPHY the building of permanent homes, and inventions for sav-ing labor. Thus agriculture is one of the great civilizers. Agriculture probably began upon the open lands; and amongnatural races it is for the most part still confined there. Latersmall patches were cleared in the forest; but this was difficult,especially in tropical countries, where the fight against weedsis a hard one. It is so hard, in fact, that there is little devel-opment of agriculture in such woodlands. The temperate forestalso offers difficulties, but fewer than that of the tropics, andconsequently much of it has been cleared. The frigid zone andthe true desert permit no agriculture; but where irrigation ispossible the latter may be made to yield a harvest. Mankindearly learned to cultivate the soil by aid of irrigation, andsome of the seats of early civilization, as in Egypt and Persia, were on river flood-plains, where agric
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