PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION. 363 



an amount of work equal to that performed in 10 hours by a machine 

 described in problem 1. 



The time was when 90% of the people had to engage in 

 agricultural pursuits; this was because nearly all the work of 

 producing or raising food had to be done by hand or with crude 

 and simple mechanical appliances. 



Now it is estimated that from five to ten men on a great 

 western farm with the latest improved modern machinery can 

 raise enough food to maintain a village of one thousand 

 population. 



The result now is that instead of many laborers being 

 engaged on the farm to do the work now done by machin- 

 ery operated by a few men, these men are engaged in mining 

 coal and iron, in transportation of manufacturing and food mate- 

 rials; in manufacturing this improved machinery, so that indi- 

 rectly the energy and labor of the factory is transferred to the 

 fields in the form of powerful machines that do the work of 

 seeding and harvesting, hauling, transporting and milling. 



The cotton gin now does the work of hundreds ; machinery 

 now enables a man to cut and cure a ton of hay in one and one- 

 half instead of eleven hours. The reaper does the work of a 

 dozen men. The steam thresher does the work of a hundrd 

 flails. The amount of labor required to raise a bushel of wheat 

 has been shortened from three hours to ten minutes. The amount 

 of labor required to raise a bushel of corn has been shortened 

 from four and one-half hours to thirty minutes. 



PROBLEMS. 



1. According to competent authority, in 1855 it took four and one- 

 half hours to produce one bushel of corn; now it only requires about 

 30 minutes to produce the same amount. Our corn productive power is 

 therefore how many times greater now than in 1855? 



2. In 1855 it took 3 hours to produce a bushel of wheat; now it 

 does not require to exceed 10 minutes to produce the same results. How 

 many times greater is the power of producing wheat now, than in 1855? 



According to the reports of the International Institute of 

 Agriculture : 



