November, 1910.] 



433 



Miscellaneous, 



Such an ideal will also have the sup- 

 port of the actual facts of evolution, as 

 illustrated by the animal or vegetable 

 kingdom. Not only are there in these 

 large and complex organisms such as 

 man or the higher flowering plants, but 

 there also survive large numbers of the 

 very simple plants and animals in which 

 any part may perform any function, and 

 in which, therefore, there is but little 

 specialisation. And all intermediate 

 stages also occur. Such an ideal may 

 therefore be regarded as in all probab- 

 ility possible of attainment, for it has 

 already been attained in plants and 

 animals under natural conditions. 



Looking back over what we have thus 

 far considered, it is evident that one of 

 the most powerful, if not actually the 

 most powerful, of the factors causing 

 progress, is increasing density of popula- 

 tion, involving a struggle for existence. 

 With a very thin population, the people 

 live upon wild produce, and they pro- 

 gress, with increasing density of peop- 

 ling, through chenas to mixed gardens 

 and fields. The denser the population, 

 the fewer chenas and the more fields. 



The operation of this factor must of 

 course be determined by the circum- 

 stances of the case. Assuming that the 

 population increases, which will natu- 

 rally be the case in the absence of wars 

 and other checks, then, if any improve- 

 ment in agriculture, making it more 

 efficient, arises, the extra population 

 will survive, otherwise it will perish. 

 The improvement having appeared, the 

 population will increase up to the new 

 limit of subsistence allowed, and then, 

 if no further improvement appears, will 

 remain stationary. A steadily increas- 

 ing population means a steadily im- 

 proving agriculture. 



In natural evolution, as of animals or 

 plants, it is quite possible that this 

 factor, of struggle for existence, is the 

 only propelling factor, and it is, there- 

 fore, open to argument that an ideal 

 such as that we have set up of diversi- 

 fication of agriculture being based upon 

 the facts of natural evolution, can only 

 be attained in a similar way. Mankind, 

 however, is in general of the opinion 

 that Governments aud other institutions 

 can do something to help forward pro- 

 gress, and we must therefore consider 

 our subject from this point of view. 

 Northern countries are undoubtedly 

 more progressive than tropical in agri- 

 cultural matters, and is this only due to 

 a greater struggle for existence, or to 

 other causes ? 



The struggle for existence in the north 

 is undoubtedly keener, on account of the 

 greater needs and ambitions of the 

 55 



people, and it is quite possible that the 

 difference in the rate of progress may be 

 entirely accounted for by this difference 

 in the struggle for existence. If this be 

 so, there is little likelihood of rapid pro- 

 gress iu the tropics at present, but as 

 the efforts of Governments, societies, 

 and individuals seem to have accelerated 

 progress in the north, we may hope that 

 they will do the same in the tropics. 



This being so, we must obviously do 

 all we can to increase the density of 

 population, by removing those hind- 

 rances to agricultural progress that in- 

 terfere with it. There are many other 

 factors in agricultural progress. A man 

 who means to practise agriculture must 

 have land, drained and irrigated as 

 necessary. It must be in a suitable 

 climate, and he must have suitable crops 

 to grow upon it, and must cultivate them 

 with the necessary tools- He must have 

 sufficient capital to enable him to plant 

 and wait for the return, and must also 

 have means of transport to enable him 

 to get rid of the crop, and markets 

 in which to sell it, unless he is to re- 

 main at the grow-what-you-want-and- 

 consume-what-you-grow stage. If he is 

 to cultivate more than a very minute 

 acreage, he must have some labour be- 

 sides that of his own family. And he 

 must have enough education to take 

 advantage of all these things. A very 

 little consideration is required to show 

 that all these factors must come in 

 before the actual improvement of crops, 

 methods, tools, and the like, which we 

 may call the scientific improvement of 

 agriculture, A man without land properly 

 settled, without capital or without trans- 

 port, cannot afford to try experiments 

 with new methods, crops, Or tools. It is 

 in che absence, or inefficiency, of one or 

 more of these preliminary factors, that 

 the weak point of agriculture in most 

 tropical countries lies. 



None of these factors, perhaps, is to be 

 regarded as primary, initiatory or 

 independent, for each more or less in- 

 volves the others. They come into 

 operation at different times, land before 

 capital, capital before transport, this 

 before education. Agriculture is a very 

 complex art, with many underlying 

 sciences, and a change in any one part 

 of it usually involves changes in others, 

 as a few examples will show. Let us 

 suppose that the supply of food for the 

 cattle in a given country is poor, then 

 the cattle themselves will also be poor, 

 and thus their powers of draught will be 

 small. The result of this will be that the 

 tools must be small and inefficient, and 

 therefore, that the fields will be badly 

 cultivated, or of small extent. This 



