30 THE SHADOW OF THE WORLD’S FUTURE 
31-2 per cent. as probably too small to represent the 
ultimate possibility of the world’s productive surface. 
By way of illustration it will suffice to consider two 
countries, say Japan and the United States of America, 
and the data for Japan will be reviewed first. 
Japan proper had an area of 147,650 square miles and 
a population, at the time the statistics were compiled, 
of 55-961 millions. From the standpoint of agriculture, 
if we retain the world-divisions as above indicated, the 
area may be subdivided as in the table following. The 
figures given are in square miles. 
Productive.  Unproductive. Unspecified. Total. 
115,560 1,520 30,4.80 147,650 square miles. 
78-32 1-03 20-65 100-00 per cent. 
The productive area, in this case relatively very large, 
may be divided approximately as follows: — 
ey e. Arable. Pasture. Shrubs, Forest. Marsh. 
(15,560 27,155 172 2,361 71,026 14,036 square miles, 
1000 23:48 o©o-1¢ 2-04 62-19 12°14 per cent. 
The arable land was utilised approximately as follows :— 
Toul Cereals, Food. Industrial. Fallow. Others. 
27,155 20,138 4,516 866 1,622 13 square miles. 
100-0 74-16 16:63 3-19 ¢-Q7  0+0% per cent. 
These figures show that the unproductive and un- 
specified areas added together amount only to 21-68 
per cent. of the whole. The proportion of this really 
utilisable, even at very great trouble, is probably not 
large. Of the so-called productive area, woods and 
forests occupy no less than 62-19 per cent. It is, of 
course, possible that some portion of this could with 
more or less difficulty be used for cultivation. But 
the population conditions of Japan have been difficult 
for some time past. It is evident therefore that a 
material increase in the quantity of arable land cannot