170 Of the Checks to Population in Bk. i. 



to pass a harrow once over it in the spring. And 

 this is continued till the fertility of the soil be- 

 gins to diminish. It is observed, very justly, that 

 the cultivation of no kind of grain can so exactly 

 suit the indolent inhabitants of the plains of 

 Siberia.* 



With such a system of agriculture, and with 

 few or no manufactures, the demand for labour 

 must very easily be satisfied. Corn will undoubt- 

 edly be very cheap; but labour will in proportion 

 be still cheaper. Though the farmer may be able 

 to provide an ample quantity of food for his own 

 children, yet the wages of his labourer may not be 

 sufficient to enable him to rear up a family with 

 ease. 



If, from observing the deficiency of population 

 compared with the fertility of the soil, we were 

 to endeavour to remedy it by giving a bounty 

 upon children, and thus enabling the labourer to 

 rear up a greater number, what would be the 

 consequence ? Nobody would want the work of 

 the supernumerary labourers that were thus 

 brought into the market. Though the ample sub- 

 sistence of a man for a day might be purchased 

 for a penny, yet nobody would give these people 

 a farthing for their labour. The farmer is able to 

 do all that he wishes, all that he thinks necessary 

 in the cultivation of the soil, by means of his own 

 family and the one or two labourers that he might 

 have before. As these people therefore can give 

 him nothing that he wants, it is not to be ex- 



* Decouv. Russ. vol. iv. p. 329. 8vo. 4 vols. Berne. 



