able to export some grain; but now the demand for importation is great
and regular. It has had a vast influence on the balance of trade, which,
though it has been great some years, has not, upon the whole, been
equal to what it was previous to the American war, when the whole
amount of foreign commerce was not one-half of what it has been for
these last ten years.

{119} If it could be done, it would bring on poverty; but, as the excess
of crops over the consumption is not, in any nation, equal to one-tenth
of its whole revenue; and, as the expense of eatables amount to nearly
one-half, the wealth of a nation would soon be destroyed, if it were
possible to produce from other nations a supply. The calculation
would be nearly as under for England, putting the population at nine
millions.

In ordinary times, nine millions of people living on bread, potatoes,
&c. would require about four millions of acres; but nine millions,
living on animal food, will require thirty-six millions of acres.
-=-

[end of page #145]

live in a more expensive way than the rest; perhaps, this may be
reckoned at one-fourth, but, in countries that are poor, even that fourth
cannot afford to eat animal food. If, however, a country becomes
sufficiently rich for one-sixth to live chiefly on animal food, and the
other five-sixths to live one day in the week on that food, the effect
will be as if one-third lived on it constantly, which would require two-
thirds more territory than when the whole lived on bread.