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In estimating the expence of any one acre or of any onecrop* another difficulty occurs, from the circumstance, thatthese expences are not applied to either exclusively. Theexpences of a fallow or fallow-crop, for instance, must be ap-portioned over all the years and all the crops of the rotation ;and as these crops are introduced in different proportions,and are productive in different degrees, it must be evident,that the cost of a quarter of each of the several kinds of graincultivated, cannot be ascertained with perfect accuracy, eventhough the expences of the whole course are exactly known.
The expences of cultivation are a good deal varied by theextent of the occupation. On a small farm, they must bo, ingeneral, much higher, than on one so large as to admit of asystematic arrangement of crops and live-stock, and, in somedegree, of a division of labour. The cultivator upon a smallscale cannot avail himself of the most effective, but in thefirst instance the most expensive, implements and machinery :The threshing-mill, in particular, gives to the farmer of a con-siderable extent of land a great advantage over the occupierof a very small farm. It will therefore be necessary to takea farm that employs several ploughs, as the basis of calcula-tion ; and in order to introduce the implements of the bestcultivated districts, a farm of 300 English acres, which maybe considered a moderate size, may afford a more convenientillustration, than a very large or a very small one.
The capital of every cultivator is necessarily divided intotwo parts, which require to be distinguished. The one ispartly expended on implements or permanent stock of a moreor less perishable nature, and partly vested in the soil; for thistile farmer is entitled to a certain rate of interest, or an an-nuity that will replace that part of his capital. The other isemployed in defraying the necessary charges as they occurthroughout the year, the whole of which should be replacedby the yearly produce. These two branches of expence arefirst both in the order of time and in magnitude of amount.
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