go PLANT LIFE. 



plants varies very greatly, as is shown by the following 

 estimate : 



Sago palm, - 292,320 lbs. of food per acre. 



Banana, - - 242,000 „ „ 



Potato, - - 4,000 „ „ 



Wheat, - - 2,000 „ „ 



Manioc (Cassava), 6,650 „ „ 



Nothing is so persistently forgotten as the depend- 

 ence of mankind upon these food reserves stored up by 

 Grasses, Potatoes and a few other plants for the use of 

 their embryos and young buds. Even botany is of less 

 importance than the cultivation of the soil, and the 

 strongest claim of the science upon mankind depends 

 upon the possibility of its being occasionally a useful 

 handmaid to agriculture. 



For Great Britain particularly, a knowledge of the 

 amount of possible harvest for every acre of the country, 

 and of the amount of foreign-grown corn annually 

 imported should be within the reach of every enquirer. 

 Sir William Crooke's address to the British Association 

 in 1898, is perhaps the single broad and complete 

 attempt to analyse the sources and available extent of 

 food for civilised man. 



In this address it is very clearly shown that the land 

 capable of economical cultivation is limited in amount, 

 whilst bread-eating peoples are increasing every year 

 without any limit at all. Thus the danger is perfectly 

 obvious, and is sure to manifest itself in an acute shape 

 within a short period. 



On a broader view, taking into account the whole food 

 supply of the world (that is Bananas, Sago, Potatoes, all 

 the Cereals and other valuable plants), it is clear that 

 the area which can be devoted to their production is 



