ABSTRACT
The resources of production are then, broadly, men using things. But both the men and the things’ may be more or may be less specialised to yield certain particular goods. Land can be used to grow a wide variety of crops, from wheat to trees, or as pasture, or to erect buildings or roads on, or for playing fields or parks, or for any of a hundred other purposes. Increase human knowledge, and the range of possible uses for much land will be greatly increased. The produce which men derive from the land, or the minerals which they extract from it, are also capable of many alternative uses. Timber, iron and other metals, and coal all enter into a host of further products. A ton of coal has a wider range of possible uses than the coke, tar and other by-products into which it can, but need not, be converted in order to serve men’s ends.
