terwards discovered by which it can be raised
on No. 1 and 2, without employing No. 3, it is evident that the
immediate effect must be a fall of rent; for No. 2, instead of No. 3,
will then be cultivated without paying any rent; and the rent of No. 1,
instead of being the difference between the produce of No. 3 and No. 1,
will be the difference only between No. 2 and 1. With the same
population, and no more, there can be no demand for any additional
quantity of corn; the capital and labour employed on No. 3, will be
devoted to the production of other commodities desirable to the
community, and can have no effect in raising rent unless the raw
material from which they are made cannot be obtained without employing
capital less advantageously on the land, in which case No. 3 must again
be cultivated.

It is undoubtedly true, that the fall in the relative price of raw
produce, in consequence of the improvement in agriculture, or rather in
consequence of less labour being bestowed on its production, would
naturally lead to increased accumulation; for the profits of stock would
be greatly augmented. This accumulation would lead to an increased
demand for labour, to higher wages, to an increased population, to a
further demand for raw produce, and to an increased cultivation. It is
only, however, after the increase in the population, that rent would be
as high as before; that is to say, after No. 3 was taken into
cultivation. A considerable period would have elapsed, attended with a
positive diminution of rent.

But improvements in agriculture are of two kinds: those which increase
the productive powers of the land, and those which enable us to obtain
its produce with less labour. They both lead to a fall in the price of
raw produce; they both affect rent, but they do not affect it equally.
If they did not occasion a fall in the price of raw produce, they would
not be improvements; for it is the essential quality of an improvement
to diminish the quantity of labour before required to produce a
commodity; and this diminution cannot take place without a fall of its
price or relative value.

The improvements which increase the productive powers of the land, are
such as the more skilful rotation of crops, or the better choice of
manure. These improvements absolutely enable us to obtain the same
produce from a smaller quantity of land. If, by the introduction of a
course of turnips, I can feed my sheep besides raising my corn, t