Re: Magic to aid farming in space

actually, when taken in context, the web page i was citing *did* mean 9 farmers
for every city dweller.

>From my history classes in college I now remember one difference between US
farmers and european farmers. IIRC, in the US, farmers lived on their land, in
Europe, farmers lived in a village, and then commuted to work their land every
day. What I don't know is how much a difference that makes in this discussion.

-eric-

--- Niche Johnson <niche_o_las@???????.com> wrote:
> >In 1820, (yeah, I know, but it was all I could find) 90% of the US
> >population
> >was rural. By, 1990 the number was less than 10%. I would suggest that
> >farming
> >in the 1820's was better, but not hugely better than renaissance farming
> >techniques. I like the 90% number in that it makes any math very easy, but
> >understand that it may not be accurate. For renaissance farming
> >productivity, I
> >would suggest 20 to 1?
>
> Keep in mind that "rural" doesn't mean all of that 90% are farmers. Rural
> would include general stores, village blacksmiths, whole towns that are just
> the miniature versions of cities, and are as dependant on outlying farms as
> the cities. A 90% rural population does _not_ mean 9 farmers for every
> non-farmer.
>
>
>
> --
> "So! Where the hell was Biggles when you needed him last Saturday?"
>           -- Jethro Tull, "Thick as a Brick"
>
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