(2.i.19) But it is not true, that our conclusions stand in need of any such correction, even formetaphysical exactness. There is land, such as the sands of Arabia, which yields nothing. Land isfound at all the intermediate stages from this to the highest fertility. Some land, though notabsolutely incapable of yielding any thing for the accommodation of man, could not be made toyield what would maintain the labourers required for its cultivation. This land can never becultivated. There is land, the annual produce of which would just maintain the labour necessaryfor its cultivation, and no more. This land is just capable of being cultivated, but obviouslyincapable of paying rent. The objection, therefore, is not only practically immaterial, it ismetaphysically unsound.
(2.i.20) It may be safely affirmed, that there is no country, of any considerable extent, inwhich there is not land incapable of yielding rent: that is, incapable of yielding to human labour morethan would be necessary for the maintenance of that labour. That such, at least, is the case in thiscountry, seems very unlikely to be disputed. There are parts of its mountains where nothing lesshardy than heath, others where nothing but moss, can vegetate. When it is asserted that everypart of the mountains of Scotland pays rent, the state of the facts is misunderstood. It is only truethat there is no tenant of any portion of any man's estate in the highlands of Scotland, who doesnot pay rent. The reason is, because even in the mountains of Scotland there are spots in thevalleys, the produce of which is considerable. It does not follow, though hundreds of acres ofmountain are added to these valleys, that therefore every part of the mountain yields rent; it iscertain that many parts neither do nor can.
(2.i.21) Even where the land is not absolutely barren, and where there is still something forthe more hardy of the useful animals to pick up, it is not to be allowed that rent is the necessaryconsequence. It ought to be remembered, that these cattle are capital, and that the land mustafford enough not only to make the return for that capital, but to pay for the tendance of thecattle, of which, in such situations, especially in winter, not a little is required. Unless the landyields all this, and something more, it cannot yield any rent.
(2.i.22) In the greater part of this island, there is hardly a farm, of any considerable extent,which does not contain land, some of more, some of less fertility, varying from a high or moderatedegree of fertility, down to land which yields not enough to afford any rent. Of course I do notrequest admission to this affirmation upon my authority; I rest it upon an appeal to theexperience of those men who am best acquainted with the circumstances. If the state of the factscorresponds with the affirmation, it follows demonstratively, that the last portion of the landwhich is placed under cultivation yields no rent. In such farms as those we have now described,the tenant has bargained for a certain sum to the landlord. That, of course, was calculated, uponthe produce of the land which yielded not only the proper return for the capital with which it wascultivated, but something more. As the motive of the tenant to cultivate is wholly constituted bythe proper return to his capital, if there is any portion of the barren land, included in his farm,which will just yield the profit of stock, and no more; though it will not afford any thing for rent,it affords to him the adequate motive for cultivation. It can hardly be denied that, in theinsensible degrees by which land declines from greater to less fertility, there will, in allconsiderable farms, be generally found a portion with this particular degree and no more.
(2.i.23) The conclusion, however, may be established, by the clearest evidence, withoutregard to the question, whether all land pays or does not pay rent. On land which pays the highest rent, wehave seen that capital, applied in successive doses, is not attended with equal results. The firstdose yields more, possibly much more, than the return for the capital. The second also may yieldmore, and so on. The rent, if accurately calculated, will be equal to all that is rendered by thoseseveral doses, over and above the profits of stock. The cultivator, of course, applies all thoseseveral doses of capital on which he has agreed to pay rent. But immediately after them comesanother dose, which though it yields nothing for rent, may fully yield the ordinary profits ofstock. It is for the profits of stock, and them alone, that the farmer cultivates. As long, therefore,as capital applied to his farm will yield the ordinary profits of stock, he will apply capital, if hehas it. I therefore conclude, with assurance, that in the natural state of things, in everyagricultural country, one portion of the capital employed upon the land pays no rent; that rent,therefore, consists wholly, of that produce which is yielded by the more productive portions ofcapital, over and above a quantity equal to that which constitutes the return to the leastproductive portion, and which must be received, to afford his requisite profits, by the farmer.
Section II. Wages (2.ii.1) Production is performed by labour. Labour, however, receives the raw materialwhich it fashions, and the machinery by which it is aided, from capital, or more properly speaking, thesearticles are the capital.
(2.ii.2) The labourer is sometimes the owner of all the capital which his labour requires. Theshoemaker or tailor has, sometimes, not only the tools with which he works, but also the leatheror cloth upon which his labour is employed. In all cases of that description, the commodity iswholly the property of the man by whose labour it is prepared.
