what is the origin of the word agriculture
Agriculture The word agriculture is a late Middle English adaptation of Latin agricultūra, from ager, "field", and cultūra, "cultivation" or "growing".[3] Agriculture usually refers to human activities, although it is also observed in certain species of ant, termite and ambrosia beetle.[4] To practice agriculture means to use natural resources to "produce commodities which maintain life, including food, fiber, forest products, horticultural crops, and their related services."[5] This definition includes arable farming or agronomy, and horticulture, all terms for the growing of plants, animal husbandry and forestry.[5] A distinction is sometimes made between forestry and agriculture, based on the former's longer management rotations, extensive versus intensive management practices and development mainly by nature, rather than by man. Even then, it is acknowledged that there is a large amount of knowledge transfer and overlap between silviculture (the management of forests) and agriculture.[6] In traditional farming, the two are often combined even on small landholdings, leading to the term agroforestry.[7]
History of the potato Early colonists in Virginia and the Carolinas may have grown potatoes from seeds or tubers from Spanish ships, but the earliest certain potato crop in North America was in Londonderry, New Hampshire in 1719. The plants were from Ireland, so the crop became known as the "Irish potato".[11] Potatoes were planted in Idaho as early as 1838; by 1900 the state's production exceeded a million bushels (about 27,000Â tonnes[31]). Before 1910, the crops were stored in barns or root cellars, but, by the 1920s, potato cellars or barns came into use. U.S. potato production has increased steadily; two-thirds of the crop comes from Idaho, Washington, Oregon, Colorado, and Maine, and potato growers have strengthened their position in both domestic and foreign markets.