America's Crop Heritage


aging crops thought to be of value to the empire. By 1679 the
Dutch had introduced clover; and orchards planted to apples,
peaches, pears, and cherries were thriving. There is also some
evidence of the introduction of clover about 1615.
 CEREALS AND GRASSES
 Many accounts of the introduction of rice varieties in South
Carolina are questionable, but the proprietors of South Carolina
wrote in 1677 that they were trying to get rice seed for distribu-
tion. Rice was first planted in the area about 1688, and during
the next decade the rice industry was encouraged by the appear-
ance of new, superior varieties. These introductions, probably
from many parts of the world, led to an era of experimentation
in the eighteenth century. (3) The rise of the rice industry,
like that of the cultivation of tobacco in Virginia, marked the
beginning of a successful colony in South Carolina. During the
eighteenth century rice became an exportable commodity much
in demand in England. Later, John Bradby Blake brought the
upland rice from Canton to Charleston in 1772. Rice culture
was inaugurated in Louisiana by the "Company of the West" in
1718.
 Many pasture and forage crops were introduced during the
colonial period. Bent grass, had become a wild pasture grass
by the middle of the seventeenth century. Millet, a rather com-
mon crop of Old World origin, was probably brought in at a
very early date. Pearl millet is thought to be a native of Africa,
and was brought to America by slaves. It was noticed growing
in Jamaica on Negro plantations in 1689 and was later grown
by slaves in the South. The common millet was grown in Massa-
chusetts in 1637, and a hundred years later, planters were fatten-
ing poultry on it.
 Cowpeas are mentioned by the earliest writers on American
products. They were grown in New England before 1663, in
South Carolina before 1682, and were found in North Carolina
about 1700. Sloane, the English botanist, noted the black-eye
pea in 1707 and called it the "Calavance." Alfalfa was un-
doubtedly brought in by Columbus in 1493. Its early history,
which is confused with that of lucerne and bur clover, is im-
possible to unravel. It was grown in Georgia in 1735 and four
years later was found growing in South Carolina. Red clover was