mand for food for urban workers and raw materials for industrial plants produced a realignment of world trade. Science and technology developed for industrial purposes were adapted for agricultural, eventually resulting in the agribusiness's of the mid-20th century. In the 17th and 18th centuries the first systematic attempts were made to study and control pests. Before this time, hand picking and spraying were the usual methods of pest control. In the 19th century, poisons of various types were developed for use in sprays, and biological controls such as predatory insects were also used. Resistant plant varieties were cultivated; this was particularly successful with the European grapevine, in which the grape-bearing stems were grafted onto resistant American rootstocks to defeat the Phylloxera aphid (Compton 95).Scientific methods are now exploited to pest control, limiting overuse if insecticides in fungicides and employing more varied and targeted application techniques. New understanding of significant biological control measures and emphasis on integrated pest management make possible more efficient control of certain kinds of insects. Chemicals for weed control are important for a number of crops, such as cotton and corn. The increasing use of chemicals for the control of insects, diseases, and weeds, however, has resulted in additional environmental problems and regulations that place strong demands on the skill of farmers.In North America, agriculture had progressed significantly before European colonists arrived. There is evidence that corn was cultivated at least as early as 3000 years ago in the southwestern United States. Although few Native Americans relied on domesticated animals, some groups had advanced methods of cultivating food crops. The Wampanoag people of what is now Massachusetts fertilized their corn seeds by burying fish in the group near the seeds. The Iroquois of the eastern United States exploit...
