IF THERE BE SUPPLIES OF FOSSIL FUEL. 191 



as the population thickens, supplies of fossil fuel are met 

 with in sufficient ahundarice, the whole available surface 

 may be so employed, and the population above arrived 

 at of five and a half millions fully supported. 



But, if fossil fuel should not be found, then a certain 

 sensible proportion of the whole surface of every farm, 

 in fact must, as in Scandinavia and Finland, be kept 

 in forest for the supply of fuel to the farmer s family. 

 Comparing the yearly produce of woodland in this 

 province with the average annual consumption of fuel, I 

 find that about two acres must be reserved under wood 

 for each individual inhabitant ; and, supposing the half 

 of this to be supplied by the waste land, or in other ways, 

 so as not materially to affect the production of food, 

 still, one acre for each individual must be kept under 

 wood, which might otherwise be employed in the produc 

 tion of food. This reduces the population-sustaining 

 capability of the province to 



Men, women, and children, . 4,200,000 



Horses, 450,000 



Cattle, 1,800,000 



Sheep and pigs, . 3,750,000 



If we compare these numbers with the previous 

 calculation, we shall see that the presence or absence of 

 a full supply of fossil fuel will make a difference of one 

 fall fourth in the agricultural capability of the province, 

 as represented by the number of people it will support. 



The extent to which good coal, capable of being 

 worked to a profit, exists in the colony, is, therefore, a 

 matter of important inquiry in connection, not only with 

 the commercial and manufacturing, but also with the 

 agricultural capabilities of the province. Nor is the 

 inquiry one which, in this agricultural connection, it will 

 be prudent to postpone till the population thickens, and 

 a scarcity either of food or fuel is to be apprehended in 

 the province as a whole. Where the land is good, the 



