THE FIRST GARDENERS

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 282, 18 February 1928, Page 26

THE FIRST GARDENERS

Far back in the world’s history, man was entirely dependent upon the natural products of the fields for his sustenance. The animal portion of his diet was hunted and overcome in personal conflict, while the grain, fruit and other vegetable substances which supplemented the flesh thus obtained were gathered from plants growing wild in the districts inhabited. So long as the community was limited in numbers and primitive in its habits, this arrangement met the essential needs of its members. It did not, however, make for progress, for the greater part of man’s waking hours was occupied in the collecting of food materials. Further, as the population increased, the problem of finding a sufficiency of edible products readily available became increasingly difficult and this led to a nomadic, rather than a settled habit of life. To overcome this, the practice of transporting certain plants, known to bear abundantly the grain or fruit most sought after as food to small tracts of ground in the vicinity of the homes was doubtless indulged in as human intelligence advanced. Following on this, the knowledge culled from experience, that certain plants flourished best under *

certain conditions of soil, weather, et< may well have been acquired and ttn we get a glimpse of the beginnings . aggriculture.