INCIDENCE OF RATES AND TAXES 125 



agricultural rental is a kind of profit on 

 the investment of capital in the past. Profit, 

 again, is complex, and the different elements 

 in gross profit ought to be taken separately, 

 especially if we are considering the effects 

 of taxes. 



Some of the improvements effected in land 

 are of such a character that they become in 

 time part and parcel of the land itself. 

 Such are the results of the clearing of land 

 and of the introduction of arterial drainage 

 and permanent roads. Even in these cases, 

 however, the benefit of the improvements 

 cannot be retained unless there is a more or 

 less continued application of capital and 

 labour. Take, for example, the drainage 

 and roads of the fens. And in any case, in 

 any kind of agricultural land, a considerable 

 part of the rental must be spent in renewals 

 or making good depreciation. Here, again, 

 the report of the last commission on the 



