MARKETS. 161 



otherwise of property and farming. Every other con- 

 sideration depends upon this. 



As soon as the producer finds a large sale for his com- 

 modities, his attention is naturally directed to questions 

 to which hitherto he had not paid any attention ; for 

 instance, what produce brings the highest price relatively 

 to its cost of production ? By what means is the cost of 

 production to be reduced, in order to increase the net 

 profit ifln this consists the whole agricultural revolution. 

 The first consequence is the abandonment of those crops 

 w T hich, in a given situation, are not profitable, throwing 

 the attention of the producer upon those which pay 

 best ; the second is the discovery of methods for econo- 

 mising labour, thereby rendering it more productive// 



Why does the English farmer, for example, give a 

 preference to the production of meat ? It is not only 

 because the animals maintain, by means of their manure, 

 the fertility of the land, but also because meat is an article 

 very much in demand, and which sells with the greatest 

 facility throughout England. If our French producers 

 could all at once furnish as much meat, the price would 

 fall below the expenses of production, because the de- 

 mand is not great enough. Our population at present is 

 not rich enough to pay for meat ; we must wait until 

 manufactures and commerce have made sufficient progress 

 to furnish the means of exchange. In proportion as we 

 make progress in these the demand will increase, and 

 our producers will then set themselves to supply it ; it 

 would be madness to expect them to do it sooner. With- 

 out Arkwright and Watt, Bakewell would have been im- 

 possible ; the latter appeared just at the moment when 

 the impetus given to industrial production rapidly in- 

 creased the demand for meat. We do not require to go 

 so far as England to see that the production of this food 



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