i88 5 .] 
507 
The Population Question. 
A bolder and at the same time more scientific argument 
was brought forward by the late Charles Darwin. He ad- 
mitted that the unlimited increase of mankind was the cause 
of much misery ; but he contended that this misery was the 
price necessarily paid for the improvement of our race, and 
that were it removed there would set in a reign of degene- 
racy and retrogression. 
i.° meet, this contention we must bring forward an illus- 
tration which is certainly not original, but which strikes us 
as being unanswerable : — Suppose two turnip-fields which 
have been sown in the usual manner. The owner of the 
one he may be Mr. George, believing that a given plot of 
land will support any number of organisms, or he may be 
Darwin trusting in the “ survival of the fittest ’’—leaves all 
the seedlings to grow and find sustenance as best they may. 
The owner of the second field, following the usual custom, 
hoes away all plants above the number which experience 
proves can find sufficient nourishment on afield of such size. 
We ask now which of the two fields will, at the end of the 
season, present not merely the finest and largest individual 
roots, but the best average ? Everyone who has had any 
experience of farming knows that the competition field 
would, in sporting phrase, be simply “ nowhere.” Its finest 
roots would not bear comparison with the average of the 
field duly thinned out. We must remember, too, that in 
thinning out young turnips the farmer does not seledt for 
survival the most promising plants. He leaves simply those 
which happen to stand at the right distance from each other 
in the rows. 
But we need not speak of turnips exclusively. In all 
farming and gardening operations, and in the rearing of 
cattle, no struggle for existence is tolerated. The grazier 
calculates how many sheep and oxen per acre his land will 
carry, so that each individual may find ample nourishment. 
The forester takes similar precautions with his young 
plantations, thinning out the saplings more and more as 
they require additional room. The gardener plants his young 
fruit-trees at what an outsider thinks wastefully wide dis- 
tances apart ; he takes similar care with all seeds which 
yield large plants requiring much nourishment, and he even 
thins out the clusters on his vines and the single fruits on 
his peach-trees, &c., on the same principle. 
It will be noted that, though different methods are used 
in accordance with secondary differences, the one essential 
point is the same in all cases — the limitation of numbers in 
accordance with the space to be filled. Further, not only is 
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