Chap. XVL AppenciS, No; 1.

273

The principles that appear to regulate the size of farms* seemto be the following.

Capital will ever endeavour to invest itself in the manner inwhich it can yield the greatest return. Now, a considerable ex-tent of farm (such as to admit, as much as possible, of subdi-vision of labour, in appropriating particular classes of servants,or even of horses, exclusively to one occupation), seems neces-sary here, as elsewhere, to make labour most productive. Infarming, too, (at least in a climate such as that of Scotland ),advantage must often be taken of states of the weather, suitedto particular operations, lest the opportunity should escape: suchcalls require a number of hands, and these would be kept in anexpensive and most unprofitable state of preparation, were not thefarm of such magnitude as to afford room for separate occupationto the whole at all other seasons.

The competition of capital for the most profitable mode of in-vestiture, will thus tend to the enlargement of farms to the sizeof most profitable occupancy.

The same competition of capital will also tend equally to pre -vent farms from stretching beyond these proper bounds* and thusto prevent monopoly. For though one man may excel anotherin point of intellect and exertion, the difference is very limited .-the generality are upon the equal footing of mediocrity. Thereis an extent of farm, to the 'personal management and superinten-dence of which no man’s energy can reach, but where he must ofnecessity have recourse to the uninterested, and therefore unen-ergetic, management of delegation. But an interested and sharp-sighted personal superintendance will ever be able to outbid, in af-fordable rent, the more languid and inefficient management of de-legation. Indeed, it is upon no other footing that farmers existas a class distinct from proprietors, but that the proprietor findshe can obtain more as rent than his lands will afford him of profit*although he pays no rent, under a management delegated to over-seers ; as has been already noticed in tracing the origin of lease-holding.

Where there is sufficiency of capital to occupy and employ thewhole lands most productively, the competition of capital willthus both enlarge farms to the proper extent, and circumscribethem within the proper bounds for yielding the largest productionto proportion to the labour employed ; and such excess of agri-cultural production, above the consumpt of the labourers employ-ed in raising it, is the only fund which can support the great num-bers employed in commerce and manufactures, without raisingU P a population of this description dependent upon the agricul-ture of other nations for subsistence ;—not to mention the num-bers of unproductive classes in the army, navy, cabinet, priest-hood and forum, and those disengaged from any professional em-ployment, who can receive subsistence from no other source but

S2