THE POSSIBILITIES OF AGRICULTURE. 103 



treated as vegetables are treated in horticulture. Such 

 is, at least, the idea which began to germinate since the 

 methods of cereal culture that are resorted to in China 

 and Japan became better known in Europe. (See Ap- 

 pendix L.) 



The future a near future, I hope will show what 

 practical importance such a method of treating cereals 

 may have. But we need not speculate about that future. 

 We have already, in the facts mentioned in this chapter, 

 an experimental basis for quite a number of means of 

 improving our present methods of culture and of largely 

 increasing the crops. It is evident tha,t in a book which 

 is not intended to be a manual of agriculture, all I can 

 do is to give only a few hints to set people thinking 

 for themselves upon this subject. But the little that has 

 been said is sufficient to show that we have no right 

 to complain of over-population, and no need to fear it 

 in the future. Our means of obtaining from the soil 

 whatever we want, under any climate and upon any 

 soil, have lately been improved at such a rate that we 

 cannot foresee yet what is the limit of productivity of 

 a few acres of land. The limit vanishes in proportion 

 to our better study of the subject, and every year makes 

 it vanish farther and farther from our sight 



