tenth the total land area, while 3% was 

 devoted to hay and 2% to all other crops 

 except pasture. 



Without going into details, it may be 

 stated with reasonable assurance that: (i) 

 During the last half of the last century, the 

 production of cereals has increased much 

 faster than the population. For example, 

 in 1850, there were raised in the United 

 States one ton of cereal grains per capita; 

 by 1900 this amount had increased to one 

 and one-half tons for each inhabitant. 



(2) Since the number of persons engaged 

 in agriculture has decreased in proportion 

 to population, the quantity of cereals pro- 

 duced in proportion to persons engaged in 

 agriculture has increased in still greater 

 ratio. So far, therefore, as the amount of 

 cereals is concerned, the farmer has been 

 getting an increasingly larger return for his 

 labor. 



(3) The quantity of cereals has increased 

 in proportion to the arable land. This may 

 be due to one or more of three causes: (a) 

 greater average yield per acre; (b) greater 



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