THE WEALTH OF NATIONS.

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profit, that it affords a high rent, or a low rent, or no rentat all.

The particular consideration, first, of those parts of theproduce of land, which always afford some rent; secondly,of those which sometimes may and sometimes may not af-ford rent ; and, thirdly, of the variations which, in the dif-ferent periods of improvement, naturally take place in therelative value of those two different sorts of rude produce,when compared both with one another and with manufac-tured commodities, will divide this chapter into three parts.

PART I.

Of the Produce of Land which ahvays affords Rent .

As men, like all other animals, naturally multiply in propor-tion to the means of their subsistence, food is always, moreor less, in demand. It can always purchase or command agreater or smaller quantity of labour, and somebody can al-ways be found who is willing to do something in order to ob-tain it. The quantity of labour, indeed, which it can pur-chase, is not always equal to what it could maintain, if ma-naged in the most economical manner on account of the highwages which are sometimes given to labour. But it canalways purchase such a quantity of labour as it can main-tain, according to the rate at which that sort of labour iscommonly maintained in the neighbourhood.

But land, in almost any situation, produces a greaterquantity of food than what is sufficient to maintain all thelabour necessary for bringing it to market in the most liberalway in which that labour is ever maintained. The surplustoo is always more than sufficient to replace the stock whichemployed that labour, together with its profits. Something,therefore, always remains for a rent to the landlord.

The most desert moors in Norway and Scotland producesome sort of pasture for cattle, of which the milk and the in-crease are always more than sufficient, not only to maintainall the labour necessary for tending them, and to pay the ordi-nary profit to the farmer or owner of the herd or flock ; butto afford some small rent to the landlord. The rent increasesin proportion to the goodness of the pasture. The same ex-tent of ground not only maintains a greater number of cattle,but as they are brought within a smaller compass, less labourbecomes requisite to tend them, and to collect their produce.