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PART III.-Of the variations in the Proportion between the

respective Values of that sort of Produce which always affords

Rent, and of that which sometimes does, and sometimes does not,

afford Rent.

The increasing abundance of food, in consequence of the

increasing improvement and cultivation, must necessarily increase

the demand for every part of the produce of land which is not

food, and which can be applied either to use or to ornament. In

the whole progress of improvement, it might, therefore, be

expected there should be only one variation in the comparative

values of those two different sorts of produce. The value of that

sort which sometimes does, and sometimes does not afford rent,

should constantly rise in proportion to that which always affords

some rent. As art and industry advance, the materials of clothing

and lodging, the useful fossils and materials of the earth, the

precious metals and the precious stones, should gradually come to

be more and more in demand, should gradually exchange for a

greater and a greater quantity of food; or, in other words,

should gradually become dearer and dearer.