of working farmers is relative, not real. The number of land owners, however, shows a decided tendency to actually decrease, and this will be discussed in the next chapter.
Dr. Mathews figured that the world would soon reach the limit of its capacity to feed the population, but the progress of American agriculture sets all his predictions aside. Machinery and scientific farming solve the problem. When 13 per cent of the people can feed the entire population and export almost as much more to foreign lands, there is no need to worry over the food supply.
Even in Great Britain, Prof. Marshall of the University of Dublin estimates that, with a proper store of fertilizers, the British people would be able to withstand an indefinite blockade, machinery and science having settled the problem of food supply.
