From: Andrew Raphael (raphael@research.canon.oz.au)
Date: Sat 20 Aug 1994 - 19:30:11 EEST
>Let's quantify this. Quoting in full from RuneQuest Cities (and who am I
>to doubt their facts):-
>'Based on medieval and Renaissance yields, it takes 12,000-20,000
>square maters of farmed land to feed one person. Usually one-third of the
>farming land was left fallow each season, so five square kilometers of
>farm land supported 80-130 people.'
The article "Agriculture for Developing Nations" (Francesca Bray, Scientific American, July 1994, pp18), describes why this is so.
"This farming system used land _extensively_ and could not support high population densities. The typical 11th century English holding, as recorded in the Domesday Book, was 30 acres (12 hectares)."
Ms Bray contrasts this with the maize/bean/squash intensive polyculture of Central America, and the wet rice intensive polyculture of Asia.
What does this mean for Genertela? I'd say that those areas most like early northern Europe are the ones who need Bless Crops the most. The Orlanthi cultures. The maize (Peloria?) & rice (Kralorela) areas are doing OK. I suspect the West has been through the enclosure of open fields the get the economies of scale needed to feed their cities.
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