The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1888-08-21
MEANS OF SUBSISTENCE.
MEN WHO PREDICT THE EXITING TON
OF HUMANIY BY STARVATION.

facts Moro Convincing Ai:an theories.
The Whole Matter of Food supply Rcvo-
iutiouixei-fhc Coming Man May Die
Of Overcatins.
Il seems strange that nj time when food
Of all kinds IS cheaper and more plenty than
IL ever was before in the history Of toe
world, and when famine nowhere exists,
then of mind and learning should bc pre-
dieting the extinction Of humanity b. s.arya-
ton. Still the matter has recently been DIS
cussed BY Mr. Frederick b. Hawley in the
Quarterly Journal of Economics and by Mr.
Edward Atkinson in The Forum Bo.h
writers refer at length to the writings OF
Nautilus ard Ricardo, the first Of whom
taught that |ere is a tendency Of population
to increase faster than the means OF suDsist-
ence-the first increasing IN n geometricaI
and the last in an arithmetical ratio-and
the second Of whom showed that land cuiti-
waited for series of years yielded diminish
ing returns in proportion TO the amount OF
labor and capital expended upon 1t.
1t is certainly difficult 20 re:utc the propo-
sitions of Nautilus and Ricardo by arguments.
They Were acute reasOners and plausible
writers. Facts, however, are more convln-
cling than theories The population Of the
world is much greater than when these men
wrote and food IS cheaper ana more plenty.
Science as applied TO the raising 81 crops
and TO TRANSFORMATION has revolutionlzed the
whole matter of the supply Of food Fifty
years ago wise men informed their soEs that
the time would soon come when tncy could
cat white bread but half the time, for the
reason that wheat enough could not bc cut 10
supply the material to mako IT, There vas
then no implement for harvesting wheat but
the sickle But the horse harvester ana SELF
binder soon made wheat cheaper than corn
was when the pre- LECTION was made
TIE PAsr AND THE PRESENT.
Forty years ago "a man with hand hoe
tho only Implement used-couid only plan,
aud cultivate four acres of corn. By the aid
of machines one man now finds no difficulty
in planting and tending forty acres Expert
ments are now being made with machines for
harvesting and thrash.ng corn, ~ld wi.HA
five years time they will be brought 10 "er
lection and in general use. Potatoes are row
planted, cultivated, dug, sorted ana bagSed
by machinery. The machine has done more
for the field than for the shop IN the matter
of increasing production.
Skill IL brco ling and feeding has reduced
the time necessary to prepare o steer for the
market from f1ur years - aboGt eighteen
months = few years ago j, Wa estimated
that the product Of FIVE acres ~ land vas
necessary 10 support cOw or ctccr Vow
the produc, Of one acre, preserved IN Silo,
will keep the animal. Sliacc ], the coming
food for all animals kept on farms for the
purpose Of producing meat.
Producirg new varieties OF small fruits
and melons and improving their cultivation
have added much % the food supply Of the
world Frlit is now aluo. as common oa
tables as bread t..oHs. ....-.-. ...-i..el-
r.cs and grapes form parts of tlr poor mans 7
breakfast Sugar is one of tho cheapest /
articles o, food and tie country is flowing /
with honey" strained for Us uuGcl comb :
and ccstiu, hnt four cents per poH2d Dur I
ing the PAST few years graves durir, their /
season have been about as cheap as potatoes, /,
and the prospC.5 Is that tnev WI sool be In /
cluded among Tao most common articles of /
food.
PRESERVATION OF rE!GsIABLE FOODS.
The process of canning fresh fruit, 1cse- |
tables, lsh and meat has prevented about !
half the amount os these articles annually |
produced from going to waste and rendered /
their preservation practical for years. Cars /
and vessc., fitted up as rcfrigerators now /
carry food products classed rs pcrishablc !
round the world We can dine on fresh sal /.
mon caught in the Columbia river ten years !
ago, green turtle captured in the Ncs1 Indies /
at the sainc time, and pineapplcs raised in
South America.
Huxley lis us that the "haryes. Of tho I
sea" has but just commenced, and or own /
Seth Green has apparently demonstrated |
that 'watcr farming Is more profitable than |
land farming He thinks that all will soon /
be convinced that an acre of wafer is capa- |
BILE of producing as muck food as an acre Of /
land.
Grain producing territo.y large enough to !
form an empire has just been brought into /
notice in several parts Of the world Agri- !
cultural experts state that Siberia is capable |
of supplying all the people il continental /
Europe WIKI grain, \ like stctcmant is /
made in rsard to Canada. Most of the
land in tie world once clasacl as desert
has been found to be very productive. The
first set legs 90 t.llorI.a l-O.,u tie i.o,t
Of the SOL would prodacc nothing. The
state is HOW exporting vast quantities of
food.
There is 10 danger that the coming man
will starvo Ii j, riorc likely that he will
die of ovclcatins thinking thar j.: h.s duty
TO do bis part in "diaposnS OF the surplus"
Possibly tie las, neu VIII laugh himself into
al untimc.y grave while reading the absurd
theories O. Nautilus and noticing how his
predictions came Out-Chlca,o Times