494 



CHAINS OF CIRCUMSTANCE 



extraordinary power of agriculture in multiplying numbers 

 can be gained from a very simple comparison of the bearing 

 power of cultivated and uncultivated land at the present 

 day. Contrast the cases of the wild districts of Ardna- 

 murchan in Argyll or Lochaber in Inverness, with the highly 

 cultivated Linlithgow district, taking in each, lest the differ- 

 ence should be over-emphasized, only the areas given over 

 to domestic stock and crops. 



To put these figures in comparative form : The burden 

 of each 1000 acres in the three districts is : 



This comparison, graphically represented in the accom- 

 panying diagram (Fig. 87), markedly as it shows the 

 influence of agriculture in increasing numbers, minimizes 

 the effects of cultivation, for neither Ardnamurchan nor 

 Lochaber were wholly uncultivated, the former having 4638 

 and the latter 8802 acres under grass and crops, while even 

 a part of Linlithgow district was unbroken moor. Further 



