2017苜蓿筆記2

2. 作者這章節的介紹開始於「養馴的動物」：

Domesticated animals are a great boon for many purposes, but they, too, must eat. The earliest named fodder crop is alfalfa or lucerne (Medicago sativa). This small-seeded clover-type legume was part of the same steppe biome of western Eurasia that also brought the domesticated horse. Horses of the nomadic tribes could graze on naturally growing alfalfa, and it became the preferred cultivated fodder crop of those who adopted the horse for trade and warfare.

苜蓿 (Medicago sativa) 的出處主要是歐亞大陸板塊的西部，也就是古代波斯地區的大草原生物區。這兒遊牧民族的馬高大強壯，主要啃的就是大草原上的苜蓿。歷史的轉變重要因子是貿易與戰爭，這兩者都需要馬，所以漸漸各個民族重視畜養馬，而馬的糧食也隨之引進和栽種。中國的典型例子是汗血馬和苜蓿園，希臘也引進苜蓿。

        至於，人類甚麼時候開始也吃苜蓿？我寫的論文引用中國文學作品中的例子，通常是窮困之際或是「裝窮」時候，才會吃馬吃的苜蓿。但是，今天大家吃的「苜蓿芽」，被視作營養價值極高的食物，我尚未考證是誰發明吃苜蓿芽，雖然我常常吃苜蓿芽。

圖片出處: https://sites.google.com/site/steppebiome/map

This is a map showing where the steppe biome or "grasslands" are found all over the world. The steppe Biome can be found  everywhere but Australia and Antarctica. It can be found in the USA, Mongolia, Siberia, Tibet, China, and many other countries.