The Vegetable Farm and the Truck Garden 65 
will not produce good seed in the tropics. Europeans and Americans 
who live in the torrid zone find that they must import seed annually 
from their homes In the temperate zone in order to raise good vege- 
tables. 
In China and Japan vegetables are a particularly important source 
of food. The people are so numerous and land is so scarce that the 
farmers are forced to raise the plants that give the greatest possible 
amount of food. Vegetables serve this purpose admirably, since 
with great care and much fertilizing a very large yield can be ob- 
tained. A journey through an Oriental country shows an almost 
constant succession of gardens, with vegetables always prominent. 
The soy bean is perhaps the most important vegetable of China 
and Japan, since, when combined with rice, it supplies almost all 
that is needed in the way of food. It takes the place of meat, 
which is too expensive for most Chinese and Japanese families. 
OUESTIONS, EXERCISES, AND PROBLEMS 
A. The importance of vegetables in man’s diet. 
| Let two members of the class list all the varieties of vegetables they can 
find in such books as J. Russell Smith’s Food Resources of the World and 
Crissey’s The Story of Foods. At the same time let every other member 
of the class make a list of all the kinds of vegetables he has ever tasted. 
Compare your list with the general list. Which of those that you have 
never tasted are grown in your state? Which are grown in an entirely 
different climate? Which can be obtained fresh in city markets, but 
at a high price? Which can be obtained only canned. dried, or pre- 
served ? 
During how much of the year would you be able to have these vegetables 
if the science of canning were unknown and if there were no railroads, 
steamships, or motor trucks? What do you conclude about the diet of 
people who lived before 1800, when there were no steam or gasoline 
engines? During the winter, how did people then get the vitamins that 
are needed as part of every diet? 
Why vegetables come from many different sources. 
In a large vegetable market ask the market man about the region from 
which his different vegetables come. In your notebook make a list of 
the vegetables and opposite each write the name of the place where it was 
grown. If the market man is not sure of his answers, perhaps the names 
on his crates and boxes will help you ; or you can probably find out what 
you wish to know from Crissey’s The Story of Foods. 
Select from the list those vegetables that were raised within a few miles 
of your town. Try to find out why these are produced locally. Per- 
haps a certain vegetable is produced locally because the soil is just the 
kind needed, or the climate is favorable, or your local market is willing 
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