Cultivator
A cultivator is any of several types of farm implement used for secondary tillage. One sense of the name refers to frames with teeth that pierce the soil as they are dragged through it linearly. Another sense refers to machines that use rotary motion of disks or teeth to accomplish a similar result; the rotary tiller is a principal example. Cultivators before planting or after the crop has begun growing. Unlike a harrow, which disturbs the entire surface of the soil, cultivators are designed to disturb the soil in careful patterns, sparing the crop plants but disrupting the weeds. Cultivators of the toothed type are similar in form to chisel plows, but their goals are different. Cultivator teeth work near the surface for weed control, whereas chisel plow shanks work deep beneath the surface, breaking up hardpan. Cultivating takes much less power per shank than does chisel plowing. Small toothed cultivators pushed or pulled by a single person are used as garden tools for small-scale gardening, such as for the household's own use or for small market gardens.
Sized rotary tillers combine the functions of harrow and cultivator into one multipurpose machine. Cultivators are either self-propelled or drawn as an attachment behind either a two-wheel tractor or four-wheel tractor. For two-wheel tractors they are rigidly fixed and powered via couplings to the tractors' transmission. For four-wheel tractors they are attached by means of a three-point hitch and driven by a power take-off. Drawbar hookup is still used worldwide. Draft-animal power is sometimes still used today, being somewhat common in developing nations although rare in more industrialized economies; the basic idea of soil scratching for weed control is ancient and was done with hoes or mattocks for millennia before cultivators were developed. Cultivators were drawn by draft animals or were pushed or drawn by people. In modern commercial agriculture, the amount of cultivating done for weed control has been reduced via use of herbicides instead. However, herbicides are not always desirable—for example, in organic farming.
The powered rotary hoe was invented by Arthur Clifford Howard who, in 1912, began experimenting with rotary tillage on his father's farm at Gilgandra, New South Wales, Australia. Using his father's steam tractor engine as a power source, he found that ground could be mechanically tilled without soil-packing occurring, as was the case with normal ploughing, his earliest designs threw the tilled soil sideways, until he improved his invention by designing an L-shaped blade mounted on spaced flanges fixed to a small-diameter rotor. With fellow apprentice Everard McCleary, he established a company to make his machine, but plans were interrupted by World War I. In 1919 Howard returned to Australia and resumed his design work, patenting a design with 5 rotary hoe cultivator blades and an internal combustion engine in 1920. In March 1922, Howard formed the company Austral Auto Cultivators Pty Ltd, which became known as Howard Auto Cultivators, it was based in Northmead, a suburb of Sydney, from 1927.
Meanwhile, in North America during the 1910s, tractors were evolving away from traction engine-sized monsters toward smaller, more affordable machines. The Fordson tractor had made tractors affordable and practical for small and medium family farms for the first time in history. Cultivating was somewhat of an afterthought in the Fordson's design, which reflected the fact that just bringing practical motorized tractive power alone to this market segment was in itself a milestone; this left an opportunity for others to pursue better motorized cultivating. Between 1915 and 1920, various inventors and farm implement companies experimented with a class of machines referred to as motor cultivators, which were modified horse-drawn shank-type cultivators with motors added for self-propulsion; this class of machines found limited market success. But by 1921 International Harvester had combined motorized cultivating with the other tasks of tractors to create the Farmall, the general-purpose tractor tailored to cultivating that invented the category of row-crop tractors.
In Australia, by the 1930s, Howard was finding it difficult to meet a growing worldwide demand for exports of his machines. He travelled to the United Kingdom, founding the company Rotary Hoes Ltd in East Horndon, Essex, in July 1938. Branches of this new company subsequently opened in the United States of America, South Africa, France, Spain, Malaysia and New Zealand, it became the holding company for Howard Rotavator Co. Ltd; the Howard Group of companies was acquired by the Danish Thrige Agro Group in 1985, in December 2000 the Howard Group became a member of Kongskilde Industries of Soroe, Denmark. When herbicidal weed control was first commercialized in the 1950s and 1960s, it played into that era's optimistic worldview in which sciences such as chemistry would usher in a new age of modernity that would leave old-fashioned practices in the dustbin of history, thus herbicidal weed control was adopted widely, in some cases too and hastily. In subsequent decades, people overcame this initial imbalance and came to realize that herbicidal weed control has limitations and externalities, it must be managed
Nerium
Nerium oleander is a shrub or small tree in the dogbane family Apocynaceae, toxic in all its parts. It is the only species classified in the genus Nerium, it is most known as nerium or oleander, from its superficial resemblance to the unrelated olive Olea. It is so cultivated that no precise region of origin has been identified, though southwest Asia has been suggested; the ancient city of Volubilis in Morocco may have taken its name from the Berber name alili or oualilt for the flower. Oleander is one of the most poisonous grown garden plants; the origins of the taxonomic name Nerium oleander, first assigned by Linnaeus in 1753, are disputed. The genus name Nerium is the Latinized form of the Ancient Greek name for the plant Nerion, in turn derived from the Greek for water,'neros', because of the natural habitat of the oleander along rivers and streams; the word Oleander appears as far back as the first century AD, when the Greek physician Pedanius Dioscorides cited it as one of the terms used by the Romans for the plant.
Merriam-Webster believes the word is a Medieval Latin corruption of Late Latin names for the plant: arodandrum or lorandrum, or more plausibly rhododendron, with the addition of Olea because of the superficial resemblance to the olive tree. Another theory posited is that Oleander is the Latinized form of a Greek compound noun:'οllyo', which means'I kill', the Greek noun for man,'aner', genitive'andros'; this is because of the Oleander's toxicity to humans. The etymological association of oleander with the bay laurel has continued into the modern day: in France the plant is known as "Laurier Rose", while the Spanish term, "Adelfa", is the descendant of the original Ancient Greek name for both the bay laurel and the oleander, which subsequently passed into Arabic usage and thence to Spain. Oleander grows to 2 -- 6 m tall, with erect stems; the leaves are in pairs or whorls of three and leathery, dark-green, narrow lanceolate, 5–21 cm long and 1–3.5 cm broad, with an entire margin filled with minute reticulate venation web typical of eudicots.
Leaves are light green and glossy when young, before maturing to a dull dark green/greenish gray. The flowers grow in clusters at the end of each branch, they are but not always, sweet-scented. The fruit is a long narrow pair of follicles 5–23 cm long, which splits open at maturity to release numerous downy seeds. Nerium oleander is either native or naturalized to a broad area from Mauritania and Portugal eastward through the Mediterranean region and the Sahara, to the Arabian peninsula, southern Asia, as far east as Yunnan in southern parts of China, it occurs around stream beds in river valleys, where it can alternatively tolerate long seasons of drought and inundation from winter rains. Nerium oleander is planted in many subtropical and tropical areas of the world. On the East Coast of the US, it grows as far north as Virginia Beach, while in California and Texas miles of oleander shrubs are planted on median strips. There are estimated to be 25 million oleanders planted along highways and roadsides throughout the State of California.
Because of its durability, oleander was planted prolifically on Galveston Island in Texas after the disastrous Hurricane of 1900. They are so prolific that Galveston is known as the'Oleander City'. Beyond the traditional Mediterranean and subtropical range of oleander, the plant can be cultivated in mild oceanic climates with the appropriate precautions, it is grown without protection in southern England and can reach great sizes in London and to a lesser extent in Paris due to the urban heat island effect. This is the case with North American cities in the Pacific Northwest like Portland and Vancouver. Plants may suffer damage or die back in such marginal climates during severe winter cold, but will rebound from the roots; some invertebrates are known to be unaffected by oleander toxins, feed on the plants. Caterpillars of the polka-dot wasp moth feed on oleanders and survive by eating only the pulp surrounding the leaf-veins, avoiding the fibers. Larvae of the common crow butterfly and oleander hawk-moth feed on oleanders, they retain or modify toxins, making them unpalatable to potential predators such as birds, but not to other invertebrates such as spiders and wasps.
The flowers require insect visits to set seed, seem to be pollinated through a deception mechanism. The showy corolla acts as a potent advertisement to attract pollinators from a distance, but the flowers are nectarless and offer no reward to their visitors, they therefore receive few visits, as typical of many rewardless flower species. Fears of honey contamination with toxic oleander nectar are therefore unsubstantiated. Oleander is a vigorous grower in warm subtropical regions, where it is extensively used as an ornamental plant in parks, along roadsides and in private gardens, it is most grown in its natural shrub form, but can be trained into a small tree with a single trunk. Hardy versions like white and pink oleander will tolerate occasional light frost down to −10 °C, though the leaves may be damaged; the toxicity of oleander renders it deer-resistant and its large size makes for a good windbreak – as
Park
A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are green spaces set aside for recreation inside cities. National parks and Country parks are green spaces used for recreation in the countryside. State parks and Provincial parks are administered by sub-national government agencies. Parks may consist of grassy areas, rocks and trees, but may contain buildings and other artifacts such as monuments, fountains or playground structures. Many parks have fields for playing sports such as soccer and football, paved areas for games such as basketball. Many parks have trails for walking and other activities; some parks are built adjacent to bodies of water or watercourses and may comprise a beach or boat dock area. Urban parks have benches for sitting and may contain picnic tables and barbecue grills; the largest parks can be vast natural areas of hundreds of thousands square kilometers, with abundant wildlife and natural features such as mountains and rivers.
In many large parks, camping in tents is allowed with a permit. Many natural parks are protected by law, users may have to follow restrictions. Large national and sub-national parks are overseen by a park ranger or a park warden. Large parks may have areas for canoeing and hiking in the warmer months and, in some northern hemisphere countries, cross-country skiing and snowshoeing in colder months. There are amusement parks which have live shows, fairground rides and games of chance or skill. English deer parks were used by the aristocracy in medieval times for game hunting, they had walls or thick hedges around them to keep game animals in and people out. It was forbidden for commoners to hunt animals in these deer parks; these game preserves evolved into landscaped parks set around mansions and country houses from the sixteenth century onwards. These may have served as hunting grounds but they proclaimed the owner's wealth and status. An aesthetic of landscape design began in these stately home parks where the natural landscape was enhanced by landscape architects such as Capability Brown.
As cities became crowded, the private hunting grounds became places for the public. With the Industrial revolution parks took on a new meaning as areas set aside to preserve a sense of nature in the cities and towns. Sporting activity came to be a major use for these urban parks. Areas of outstanding natural beauty were set aside as national parks to prevent their being spoiled by uncontrolled development. Park design is influenced by the intended purpose and audience, as well as by the available land features. A park intended to provide recreation for children may include a playground. A park intended for adults may feature walking paths and decorative landscaping. Specific features, such as riding trails, may be included to support specific activities; the design of a park may determine, willing to use it. Walkers may feel unsafe on a mixed-use path, dominated by fast-moving cyclists or horses. Different landscaping and infrastructure may affect children's rates of use of parks according to sex.
Redesigns of two parks in Vienna suggested that the creation of multiple semi-enclosed play areas in a park could encourage equal use by boys and girls. Parks are part of the urban infrastructure: for physical activity, for families and communities to gather and socialize, or for a simple respite. Research reveals that people who exercise outdoors in green-space derive greater mental health benefits. Providing activities for all ages and income levels is important for the physical and mental well-being of the public. Parks can benefit pollinators, some parks have been redesigned to accommodate them better; some organisations, such as Xerces Society are promoting this idea. City parks play a role in improving cities and improving the futures for residents and visitors - for example, Millennium Park in Chicago, Illinois or the Mill River Park and Green way in Stamford, CT. One group, a strong proponent of parks for cities is The American Society of Landscape Architects, they argue that parks are important to the fabric of the community on an individual scale and broader scales such as entire neighborhoods, city districts or city park systems.
Parks need to feel safe for people to use them. Research shows that perception of safety can be more significant in influencing human behavior than actual crime statistics. If citizens perceive a park as unsafe, they might not make use of it at all. A study done in four cities. There are a number of features. Elements in the physical design of a park, such as an open and welcoming entry, good visibility, appropriate lighting and signage can all make a difference. Regular park maintenance, as well as programming and community involvement can contribute to a feeling of safety. While Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design has been used in facility design, use of CPTED in parks has not been. Iqbal and Ceccato performed a study in Stockholm, Sweden to determine if it would be useful to apply to parks, their study indicated that while CPTED could be useful, due to the
Loganberry
The loganberry is a hybrid of blackberry and raspberry. The plant and the fruit resemble the blackberry more than the raspberry, but the fruit color is a dark red, rather than black as in blackberries. Loganberries are cultivated commercially and by gardeners; the loganberry was derived from a cross between Rubus ursinus'Aughinbaugh' as the female parent and Rubus idaeus'Red Antwerp' as the male parent. It was accidentally created in 1881 in Santa Cruz, California, by the American judge and horticulturist James Harvey Logan. Logan was unsatisfied with the existing varieties of blackberries and tried crossing two varieties of blackberries to produce a superior cultivar, he happened to plant them next to plants of an old variety of red raspberry,'Red Antwerp', all of which flowered and fruited together. The two blackberry cultivars involved in these experiments were probably'Aughinbaugh' and'Texas Early', which were two of the three varieties that Logan had planted in his yard that year. Logan gathered and planted the seed from his cross-bred plants.
His 50 seedlings produced plants similar to the blackberry parent'Aughinbaugh', but larger and more vigorous. One was the loganberry. Since Logan's time, crosses between the cultivars of raspberry and blackberry have confirmed the loganberry's parentage, with an earlier theory that the loganberry originated as a red-fruiting form of the common Californian blackberry Rubus ursinus now disproved. Progeny from Logan's original plant was introduced to Europe in 1897. A prickle-free mutation of the loganberry, the'American Thornless', was developed in 1933; the tayberry is a similar raspberry-blackberry hybrid. The'Phenomenal' berry or'Burbank's Logan', developed by Luther Burbank in 1905, is a raspberry-blackberry hybrid, but is a second-generation cross. Other similar hybrids include the nessberry, a cross between a dewberry and a red raspberry, youngberry, a three-way cross between blackberry and dewberry; the loganberry has been used as a parent in more recent crosses between various Rubus species, such as boysenberry, the Santiam blackberry, the olallieberry.
Excerpt from Santa Cruz County. The Loganberry, being a variety unfamiliar to people in any other place, I will devote more space to its account than to others. From a circular giving its history I extract these notes: The Loganberry originated with Judge J. H. Logan, of Santa Cruz, Cal. from whom it derives its name. Several years ago, growing in his garden, were plants of the Aughinbaugh blackberry and Red Antwerp raspberry; the plants, being near each other, had grown together. The judge, having noticed that they bloomed and ripened their fruit together, conceived the idea of planting the seeds, from which planting resulted the production of the Loganberry, he is entitled to all credit for the origination of this noble fruit, which will be a perpetual monument, placing his name beside those of Longworth, Hovey and other originators of new varieties of fruit. He has done more than they, he has produced a fruit or berry unlike any in previous existence, a hybrid or mixture of two fruits, partaking of the characteristics of both of its parents.
The Aughinbaugh blackberry, from the seed of which the Logan is supposed to have originated, has pistillate or imperfect flowers, which must have been fertilized by the pollen of the raspberry, producing this most singular and valuable fruit. The vines or canes of the Loganberry grow unlike either the blackberry or raspberry, they grow upon the ground more like the dewberry. They are exceedingly strong growers, each shoot or branch reaching a growth of eight to ten feet in one season without irrigation, the aggregate growth of all the shoots on one plant amounting to from forty to fifty feet; the canes or vines are large—without the thorns of the blackberry bushes—but have fine soft spines, much like those of raspberry bushes. The leaves are of a deep green color and thick, like those of the raspberry; the fruit is as large as the largest size blackberry, is of the same shape, with globules similar to that fruit, the color, when ripe, is a'dark bright red'. It has the combined flavor of both berries, mild, delightful to the taste and peculiar to this fruit alone.
It is excellent for the table, eaten raw or cooked, for jelly or jam is without an equal. The seeds are small and not abundant, being different from both its parents in this respect; the vines are enormous bearers, the fruit is firm and carries well. The fruit begins to ripen early—the bulk being ripe and gone before either blackberries or raspberries become plentiful. In filling in a place just ahead of these fruits the market value of the Loganberry is enhanced. In ordinary seasons the fruit begins to ripen from the middle to the last of May; when extensively planted and known, this berry is destined to take front rank owing to its earliness, large size, beautiful appearance, superior quality, delightful flavor, together with its firmness and good carrying or shipping quality. Mr. James Waters, of this valley, has sole right with this vine. Due to its high vitamin C content, the loganberry was used by the British navy at the beginning of t
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and actor regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's greatest dramatist. He is called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon", his extant works, including collaborations, consist of 39 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more than those of any other playwright. Shakespeare was raised in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children: Susanna and twins Hamnet and Judith. Sometime between 1585 and 1592, he began a successful career in London as an actor and part-owner of a playing company called the Lord Chamberlain's Men known as the King's Men. At age 49, he appears to have retired to Stratford. Few records of Shakespeare's private life survive; such theories are criticised for failing to adequately note that few records survive of most commoners of the period.
Shakespeare produced most of his known works between 1589 and 1613. His early plays were comedies and histories and are regarded as some of the best work produced in these genres; until about 1608, he wrote tragedies, among them Hamlet, King Lear, Macbeth, all considered to be among the finest works in the English language. In the last phase of his life, he collaborated with other playwrights. Many of Shakespeare's plays were published in editions of varying quality and accuracy in his lifetime. However, in 1623, two fellow actors and friends of Shakespeare's, John Heminges and Henry Condell, published a more definitive text known as the First Folio, a posthumous collected edition of Shakespeare's dramatic works that included all but two of his plays; the volume was prefaced with a poem by Ben Jonson, in which Jonson presciently hails Shakespeare in a now-famous quote as "not of an age, but for all time". Throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, Shakespeare's works have been continually adapted and rediscovered by new movements in scholarship and performance.
His plays remain popular and are studied and reinterpreted through various cultural and political contexts around the world. William Shakespeare was the son of John Shakespeare, an alderman and a successful glover from Snitterfield, Mary Arden, the daughter of an affluent landowning farmer, he was born in Stratford-upon-Avon and baptised there on 26 April 1564. His actual date of birth remains unknown, but is traditionally observed on 23 April, Saint George's Day; this date, which can be traced to a mistake made by an 18th-century scholar, has proved appealing to biographers because Shakespeare died on the same date in 1616. He was the third of eight children, the eldest surviving son. Although no attendance records for the period survive, most biographers agree that Shakespeare was educated at the King's New School in Stratford, a free school chartered in 1553, about a quarter-mile from his home. Grammar schools varied in quality during the Elizabethan era, but grammar school curricula were similar: the basic Latin text was standardised by royal decree, the school would have provided an intensive education in grammar based upon Latin classical authors.
At the age of 18, Shakespeare married 26-year-old Anne Hathaway. The consistory court of the Diocese of Worcester issued a marriage licence on 27 November 1582; the next day, two of Hathaway's neighbours posted bonds guaranteeing that no lawful claims impeded the marriage. The ceremony may have been arranged in some haste since the Worcester chancellor allowed the marriage banns to be read once instead of the usual three times, six months after the marriage Anne gave birth to a daughter, baptised 26 May 1583. Twins, son Hamnet and daughter Judith, followed two years and were baptised 2 February 1585. Hamnet died of unknown causes at the age of 11 and was buried 11 August 1596. After the birth of the twins, Shakespeare left few historical traces until he is mentioned as part of the London theatre scene in 1592; the exception is the appearance of his name in the "complaints bill" of a law case before the Queen's Bench court at Westminster dated Michaelmas Term 1588 and 9 October 1589. Scholars refer to the years between 1585 and 1592 as Shakespeare's "lost years".
Biographers attempting to account for this period have reported many apocryphal stories. Nicholas Rowe, Shakespeare's first biographer, recounted a Stratford legend that Shakespeare fled the town for London to escape prosecution for deer poaching in the estate of local squire Thomas Lucy. Shakespeare is supposed to have taken his revenge on Lucy by writing a scurrilous ballad about him. Another 18th-century story has Shakespeare starting his theatrical career minding the horses of theatre patrons in London. John Aubrey reported; some 20th-century scholars have suggested that Shakespeare may have been employed as a schoolmaster by Alexander Hoghton of Lancashire, a Catholic landowner who named a certain "William Shakeshafte" in his will. Little evidence substantiates such stories other than hearsay collected after his death, Shakeshafte was a common name in the Lancashire area, it is not known definitively when Shakespeare began writing, but contemporary allusions and records of performances show that several of
Environmentalism
Environmentalism or environmental rights is a broad philosophy and social movement regarding concerns for environmental protection and improvement of the health of the environment as the measure for this health seeks to incorporate the impact of changes to the environment on humans, animals and non-living matter. While environmentalism focuses more on the environmental and nature-related aspects of green ideology and politics, ecology combines the ideology of social ecology and environmentalism. Ecology is more used in continental European languages while ‘environmentalism’ is more used in English but the words have different connotations. Environmentalism advocates the preservation, restoration and/or improvement of the natural environment and critical earth system elements or processes such as the climate, may be referred to as a movement to control pollution or protect plant and animal diversity. For this reason, concepts such as a land ethic, environmental ethics, biodiversity and the biophilia hypothesis figure predominantly.
At its crux, environmentalism is an attempt to balance relations between humans and the various natural systems on which they depend in such a way that all the components are accorded a proper degree of sustainability. The exact measures and outcomes of this balance is controversial and there are many different ways for environmental concerns to be expressed in practice. Environmentalism and environmental concerns are represented by the colour green, but this association has been appropriated by the marketing industries for the tactic known as greenwashing. Environmentalism is opposed by anti-environmentalism, which says that the Earth is less fragile than some environmentalists maintain, portrays environmentalism as overreacting to the human contribution to climate change or opposing human advancement. Environmentalism denotes a social movement that seeks to influence the political process by lobbying and education in order to protect natural resources and ecosystems. An environmentalist is a person who may speak out about our natural environment and the sustainable management of its resources through changes in public policy or individual behaviour.
This may include supporting practices such as informed consumption, conservation initiatives, investment in renewable resources, improved efficiencies in the materials economy, transitioning to new accounting paradigms such as Ecological economics and revitalizing our connections with non-human life or opting to have one less child to reduce consumption and pressure on resources. In various ways, environmentalists and environmental organisations seek to give the natural world a stronger voice in human affairs. In general terms, environmentalists advocate the sustainable management of resources, the protection of the natural environment through changes in public policy and individual behaviour. In its recognition of humanity as a participant in ecosystems, the movement is centered around ecology and human rights. A concern for environmental protection has recurred in diverse forms, in different parts of the world, throughout history; the earliest ideas of environment protectionism can be traced in Jainism, revived by Mahavira in 6th century BC in ancient India.
Jainism offers a view that may seem compatible with core values associated with environmental activism, i.e. protection of life by nonviolence. In Europe, King Edward I of England banned the burning of sea-coal by proclamation in London in 1272, after its smoke had become a problem; the fuel was so common in England that this earliest of names for it was acquired because it could be carted away from some shores by the wheelbarrow. Earlier in the Middle East, the Caliph Abu Bakr in the 630s commanded his army to "Bring no harm to the trees, nor burn them with fire," and "Slay not any of the enemy's flock, save for your food." Arabic medical treatises during the 9th to 13th centuries dealing with environmentalism and environmental science, including pollution, were written by Al-Kindi, Qusta ibn Luqa, Al-Razi, Ibn Al-Jazzar, al-Tamimi, al-Masihi, Ali ibn Ridwan, Ibn Jumay, Isaac Israeli ben Solomon, Abd-el-latif, Ibn al-Quff, Ibn al-Nafis. Their works covered a number of subjects related to pollution, such as air pollution, water pollution, soil contamination, municipal solid waste mishandling, environmental impact assessments of certain localities.
At the advent of steam and electricity the muse of history shuts her eyes. The origins of the environmental movement lay in the response to increasing levels of smoke pollution in the atmosphere during the Industrial Revolution; the emergence of great factories and the concomitant immense growth in coal consumption gave rise to an unprecedented level of air pollution in industrial centers. The first large-scale, modern environmental laws came in the form of Britain's Alkali Acts, passed in 1863, to regulate the deleterious air pollution given off by the Leblanc process, used to produce soda ash. An Alkali inspector and four sub-inspectors were appointed to curb this pollution; the responsibilities of the inspectorate were expanded, culminating in the Alkali Order 1958 which placed all major heavy industries that emitted smoke, grit and fumes under supervision. In industrial cities local experts and reformers after 1890, took the lead in identifying enviro
Agriculture
Agriculture is the science and art of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to live in cities; the history of agriculture began thousands of years ago. After gathering wild grains beginning at least 105,000 years ago, nascent farmers began to plant them around 11,500 years ago. Pigs and cattle were domesticated over 10,000 years ago. Plants were independently cultivated in at least 11 regions of the world. Industrial agriculture based on large-scale monoculture in the twentieth century came to dominate agricultural output, though about 2 billion people still depended on subsistence agriculture into the twenty-first. Modern agronomy, plant breeding, agrochemicals such as pesticides and fertilizers, technological developments have increased yields, while causing widespread ecological and environmental damage. Selective breeding and modern practices in animal husbandry have increased the output of meat, but have raised concerns about animal welfare and environmental damage.
Environmental issues include contributions to global warming, depletion of aquifers, antibiotic resistance, growth hormones in industrial meat production. Genetically modified organisms are used, although some are banned in certain countries; the major agricultural products can be broadly grouped into foods, fibers and raw materials. Food classes include cereals, fruits, meat, milk and eggs. Over one-third of the world's workers are employed in agriculture, second only to the service sector, although the number of agricultural workers in developed countries has decreased over the centuries; the word agriculture is a late Middle English adaptation of Latin agricultūra, from ager, "field", which in its turn came from Greek αγρός, cultūra, "cultivation" or "growing". While agriculture refers to human activities, certain species of ant and ambrosia beetle cultivate crops. Agriculture is defined with varying scopes, in its broadest sense using natural resources to "produce commodities which maintain life, including food, forest products, horticultural crops, their related services".
Thus defined, it includes arable farming, animal husbandry and forestry, but horticulture and forestry are in practice excluded. The development of agriculture enabled the human population to grow many times larger than could be sustained by hunting and gathering. Agriculture began independently in different parts of the globe, included a diverse range of taxa, in at least 11 separate centres of origin. Wild grains were eaten from at least 105,000 years ago. From around 11,500 years ago, the eight Neolithic founder crops and einkorn wheat, hulled barley, lentils, bitter vetch, chick peas and flax were cultivated in the Levant. Rice was domesticated in China between 11,500 and 6,200 BC with the earliest known cultivation from 5,700 BC, followed by mung and azuki beans. Sheep were domesticated in Mesopotamia between 11,000 years ago. Cattle were domesticated from the wild aurochs in the areas of modern Turkey and Pakistan some 10,500 years ago. Pig production emerged in Eurasia, including Europe, East Asia and Southwest Asia, where wild boar were first domesticated about 10,500 years ago.
In the Andes of South America, the potato was domesticated between 10,000 and 7,000 years ago, along with beans, llamas and guinea pigs. Sugarcane and some root vegetables were domesticated in New Guinea around 9,000 years ago. Sorghum was domesticated in the Sahel region of Africa by 7,000 years ago. Cotton was domesticated in Peru by 5,600 years ago, was independently domesticated in Eurasia. In Mesoamerica, wild teosinte was bred into maize by 6,000 years ago. Scholars have offered multiple hypotheses to explain the historical origins of agriculture. Studies of the transition from hunter-gatherer to agricultural societies indicate an initial period of intensification and increasing sedentism. Wild stands, harvested started to be planted, came to be domesticated. In Eurasia, the Sumerians started to live in villages from about 8,000 BC, relying on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and a canal system for irrigation. Ploughs appear in pictographs around 3,000 BC. Farmers grew wheat, vegetables such as lentils and onions, fruits including dates and figs.
Ancient Egyptian agriculture relied on its seasonal flooding. Farming started in the predynastic period at the end of the Paleolithic, after 10,000 BC. Staple food crops were grains such as wheat and barley, alongside industrial crops such as flax and papyrus. In India, wheat and jujube were domesticated by 9,000 BC, soon followed by sheep and goats. Cattle and goats were domesticated in Mehrgarh culture by 8,000–6,000 BC. Cotton was cultivated by the 5th-4th millennium BC. Archeological evidence indicates an animal-drawn plough from 2,500 BC in the Indus Valley Civilisation. In China, from the 5th century BC there was a nationwide granary system and widespread silk farming. Water-powered grain mills were in use followed by irrigation. By the late 2nd century, heavy ploughs had been developed with iron mouldboards; these spread westwards across Eurasia. Asian rice was domesticated 8,200–13,500 years ago – depending on the molecular clock estimate, used – on the Pearl River in southern China with a single genetic origin from the wild rice Oryza rufipogon
