PRODUCTIVENESS OF THE EARTH. 35 



few years ago, in regard to the results of tlie application of 

 chemistry to agriculture ; but 1 believe the diversity of ingre- 

 dients in the soil, in dilferent parts of the same field, presents 

 an insurmountable difficulty in the way of the successful 

 analysis of soils. 



But although science may not have succeeded, in this partic- 

 ular instance, in etfecting any great addition to the productive- 

 ness of the ground, yet there can be no doubt that it will be 

 found true in this matter, as in others, that " knowledge is 

 power ;^^ and it is therefore reasonable to look for a vast 

 increase in the productiveness of land in all countries where 

 civilization and intelligence prevail. It is only by gradual 

 steps, as knowledge has increased and prejudice has been over- 

 come, that the present amount of productiveness has been 

 attained ; yet the advancement, though gradual, has been 

 wonderfully great. In the eleventh century, the average yield 

 of wheat was not more than six bushels to the acre. It has 

 fully trebled since that time, has it not ? And to go back only 

 half a century, the productive power of Great Britain, in the 

 article of wheat alone, increased from 1801 to 1851, to an 

 extent sufficient to support an additional population of seven 

 millions ; and this increase was mainly owing to improved 

 cultivation. 



The productiveness of the soil may be considered again, as 

 affected by its division into small or large estates. Whether 

 the greatest amount of natural products and of national 

 prosperity can be obtained by having few owners and large 

 estates, or by having many proprietors and small farms, is a 

 question about which writers on political and social science are 

 not agreed. Where the owners are ^QVf^ and the estates large, 

 the accumulation of capital gives greater facilities for introduc- 

 ing all improvements in the mode of cultivation, and so favors 

 the highest degree of productiveness. But, on the other hand, 

 where the landholders are many and the farms small, more 

 land will be brought under cultivation, and so the aggregate 

 production may be greater than where a smaller portion of the 

 soil is tilled in the most approved methods, and brought to the 

 highest degree of fruitfulness. The question will be likely to 

 be decided by each one according to his preference of an aristo- 



