CHAPTER VII 



AGRICULTURAL CAPITAL 



Broadly speaking, the productiveness of any industry 

 is in proportion to the amount of capital invested in 

 it. Where large amounts of capital are employed, the 

 product of industry is large ; and where the capital 

 invested is small, the gross output is small also. This 

 is as true of agriculture as of other industries. The 

 produce per acre is largest in those countries in which 

 capital is most freely invested in agriculture. In 

 England, where the yield per acre is heavier than in 

 any other country (with the possible exception of the 

 Netherlands), both landlord and tenant are in the 

 habit of investing capital in the farm. But in countries 

 in which the industry is in the hands of small farmers, 

 whether proprietors or tenants, agriculture has hitherto 

 always suffered from want of capital. In France and 

 Germany, no less than in Ireland, the peasant secures 

 a smaller return than his farm is capable of yielding, 

 owing to the want of capital. 



The same form of land tenure produces in India the 

 same result. Indian agriculture is poorly supplied 

 with capital. Three persons in India have an interest 

 in agriculture — the landlord, the tenant, and the 

 Government. With regard to the first, it is not the 

 custom of the country for the landlord to invest 

 capital in the improvement of his estate to any impor- 

 tant extent, and his contribution to agricultural capital 

 usually takes the form of remittances of rent or other 



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