222 THE SOCIAL LIFE OF ANIMALS 



The land required to produce feed for one horse 

 will equally well provide food for a man. Baker, 

 the agricultural economist cited earlier, estimates 

 that the land released annually by this change in 

 farm technique can be turned to growing human 

 food almost as fast as our population is increasing. 



The question seems rather one of adequate food 

 distribution than of shortage of food. Under con- 

 ditions which we can visualize at present there seems 

 little likelihood of a real food shortage for the world 

 as a whole. 



If, however, these conclusions prove to be com- 

 pletely wrong, and the world population is now or 

 will become too high by biological standards, there 

 is still the question as to whether war is a sound 

 and sufficient means of controlling population 

 growth. The theory that war is an efficient means 

 of stopping the increase of mankind is so contrary 

 to fact that I allow myself to say No in the first 

 place and present the evidence later. 



The immediate effect of a war upon the civilian 

 population is to depress the birth rate and raise the 

 death rate on both sides of the line, whether in the 

 winning or the losing nation. Figure 44, taken from 

 a study by Pearl on population trends during the 

 World War, gives these data for the unoccupied parts 



