PRODUCTION AND MOVEMENT 



317 



WHEAT CROP OF COUNTRIES NAMED, 1901-1906* 

 (In round thousands of bushels.) 



in the supply of wheat would exist by 1931 on account of the 

 increasing population. Such predictions generally over-empha- 

 size the numerical increase in population which is current, and 

 fail to give due regard to the laws which control the produc- 

 tion of the food supply and its ratio to population. A scar- 

 city of wheat simply raises its price and increases its production. 

 In the world markets a sudden and acute scarcity of the gen- 

 eral food supply is impossible. A gradual decrease in the gen- 

 eral food supply until a serious shortage exists is equally impos- 

 sible, for, whatever the standard of living, population will limit 

 itself long before acute conditions are reached. While several 

 countries each possess many millions of acres of the finest lands 

 lYearbook U. S. Dept. Agr., 1905-6. 



