MANS AGRICULTURAL NEEDS 31 
easily be made. As Man lives at present, forests cannot 
be dispensed with. And in Japan, and several other 
countries, practically all land available for the growth 
of food-stuffs has been utilised. It is not simply a 
question whether more food-stuffs can be grown or 
not, but whether they can be profitably grown. The 
results must be sufficient to reward the effort. We 
have to remember that the areas now cultivated have 
been selected for their fitness, and those left unculti- 
vated have been such as do not warrant their use in 
this way, under the conditions which at present govern 
human effort. 
Out of the total arable land, no less than go-79 per 
cent. is used for cereals and food-crops. An examina- 
tion of the whole of the data makes it quite evident 
that any possible variation, by human effort, of the 
above areas can bring about but relatively small 
changes. The Japanese Department of Agriculture 
hopes, of course, still to improve the agriculture of 
the country, but well-informed Japanese think that, 
relatively, the total effect will be inconsiderable. 
Already’ Japan uses, exclusive of chemical manures, 
large quantities of fertilising agents over the whole 
of her cultivated areas. For each inhabitant the area 
devoted to the growth of her cereals and food-crops 
averages an area equal to a square the sides of which 
are slightly less than 111 feet. The survey of the 
whole situation does not offer any ground for believ- 
ing that the future will be characterised by material 
changes for the better. 
Moreover when one considers possible extensions of 
agricultural area, it is quickly realised that, as already 
pointed out, there are conditions to be fulfilled. Thus 
the land must not be quite infertile and must not be 
too stony or hilly for cultivation; it must either have 
a sufficient rainfall or must be irrigable; and the 
supply of water for particular crops, and at the growing