|
Books > Professional & Technical > Agriculture & farming > Horticulture > General
|
Food Energy
(Paperback)
Fouad A S Soliman, Amira A Abo-Talib, Doaa H Hanafy
|
R1,418
Discovery Miles 14 180
|
Ships in 10 - 15 working days
|
|
'An absorbing love letter to the English apple tree...lyrical and
joyful' - TLS 'A delightful book' - Sunday Times Shortlisted for
the Andre Simon Food and Drink Book Award 2016 A Radio 4 Book of
the Week 'Wonderful, revelatory ... very moving' - Sheila Dillon,
BBC Radio 4 'His ability to laugh at himself, openness to wonder
and willingness to go wherever the search takes him make Brown an
engaging writer and The Apple Orchard an entertaining journey' -
Mail on Sunday Taking us through the seasons in England's
apple-growing heartlands, this magical book uncovers the stories
and folklore of our most familiar fruit. 'An orchard is not a
field. It's not a forest or a copse. It couldn't occur naturally;
it's definitely cultivated. But an orchard doesn't override the
natural order: it enhances it, dresses it up. It demonstrates that
man and nature together can - just occasionally - create something
more beautiful and (literally) more fruitful than either could
alone. The vivid brightness of the laden trees, studded with
jewels, stirs some deep race memory and makes the heart leap. Here
is bounty, and excitement.'
Spices, scents and silks were at the centre of world trade for
millennia. Exotic luxuries such as cinnamon, ginger, pepper,
saffron, clove, frankincense and myrrh. Through their international
trade, humans were pushed to explore and then travel to the far
corners of the earth. Almost from their inception, the earliest
great civilizations - Egypt, Sumer and Harappa - became addicted to
the luxury products of far-off lands and established long-reaching
trade networks. Over time, great powers fought mightily for the
kingdoms where silk, spices and scents were produced. The New World
was accidentally discovered by Columbus in his quest for spices.
What made trade in these products so remarkable was that the plants
producing them grew in very restricted areas of the world, distant
from the wealthy civilizations of northern Africa, Greece and
Europe. These luxuries could be carried from mysterious locations
on the backs of camels or in the holds of ships for months on end,
and arrived at their final destination in nearly perfect condition.
Once the western world discovered the intoxicating properties of
these products, their procurement became a dominant force in the
world economy. Nothing else compared with their possible profit
returns. In this book, eminent horticulturist and author James
Hancock examines the origins and early domestication and culture of
spices, scents and silks and the central role they played in the
lives of the ancients. The book also traces the development of the
great international trade networks and explores how struggles for
trade dominance and demand for such luxuries shaped the world.
Recommended for academics, students and general readers with an
interest in crop and agricultural development, world trade,
economic botany, history of food, and global economics and public
policy, Spices, Scents and Silk offers a fascinating and insightful
history.
Many of the crops widely grown today stem from a very narrow
genetic base; understanding and preserving crop genetic resources
is vital to the security of food systems worldwide. Plant Breeding
Reviews presents state-of-the-art reviews on plant genetics and the
breeding of all types of crops by both traditional means and
molecular methods. The emphasis on this landmark series is on
methodology, a fundamental understanding of crop genetics, and
applications to major crops. Coverage includes a wide range of
crops: row crops, fruits, vegetables, nuts, and trees grown for
timber and pulp. Numerous references provide easy, time-saving, and
cost-effective access to the primary literature.
|
You may like...
RHS Orchids
Charlotte Brooks
Hardcover
R873
Discovery Miles 8 730
|