ABSTRACT
C o l u m b u s，d is c o v e r y o f A m erica opened the N e w W o rld to
E uropean plants, anim als, and crafts. T h e discoverer him self
b rough t out the first seeds and b reed ing stock in 1493, an
the Spaniards as they advanced from island to island and from the
islands to the continent, experim ented continually to acclim ate new
crops. Some of these like sugar cane and cassia prospered in the W est
Indies w hile others, like w heat，olives and grapes ere successful
only upon the m ain land . F rom C hile to C aliforn ia these transfers
w ere strik ing achievem ents, one of them being the in troduction of silk
cu ltu re from the fam ous centers of southern Spain.
