A History of Agriculture in India v1.c15.11

v1.c15.11

In the cultivated plants of the Mediterranean centre, one can easily trace the important role played by man in selecting the most suitable forms; the Mediterranean forms of flax, barley, beans (*Vicia*) and chickpea are notable for their large seeds and fruits in contrast to the small-seeded forms of central Asia, their basic centre of origin, where most of the dominant genes of these plants are concentrated. "The western dispersal of vine, olive, fig, stone fruits, bread wheat, rice, ornamental and shade trees was apparently partly or wholly due to the spread of Greek and Roman civilizations. To this the Arabs added the sugarcane, date palm, cotton, some types of *Citrus*, lucerne and other plants. The grapevine and lucerne also went eastwards into China and are clearly attributed to Change Chi'ien about 140 B.C."