Excerpt from Sturtevant's Notes on Edible Plants All who have attempted to study the origin and history of cultivated plants must have been struck with the paucity and inaccuracy of information on the subject. For nearly nineteen hundred years, to be written in Pliny was proof sufficient; yet much of Pliny's history is inaccurate though still repeated in periodicals and popular works. Linnaeus, the great system atizer, gave the origin of most of the plants he described; but of these, De Candolle, by long odds the best plant historian, says, three out of four of Linnaeus' indications of the original home of cultivated plants are incomplete or incorrect. De Candolle, in his turn, usually accurate, is exceedingly scant, giving the origin of but 249 cultivated plants, not all edible, while Sturtevant, in the text in hand, puts down 2897 which may be used for food, most of which are cultivated. The query at once comes to mind as to the respects in which Sturte vant adds new knowledge on an old subject. New knowledge may be found on the following subjects: (i) The original home of many esculents is given for the first time. (2) New landmarks in the histories of edible plants are pointed out. (3) An effort is made to mention all cultivated esculents. (4) Though the book contains much new information as to the history of the food plants of the Old World, it is especially full and accurate in the discussion of the esculents of the New World. (5) Sturtevant presents much new information on the variations that have been produced in plants by cultivation. (6) His book adds much to geographical botany. (7) He contributes much data for the study of acclimatization. It is pertinent to inquire as to the qualifications and opportunities Sturtevant may have had to illuminate so vast a subject as that of edible plants. To answer this query, and for the added reason that a book can be used with greatest profit only when its author is known, a brief biography of Sturtevant follows this Preface. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.