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A corn field of moderate fertility produces a much greater

quantity of food for man, than the best pasture of equal extent.

Though its cultivation requires much more labour, yet the surplus

which remains after replacing the seed and maintaining all that

labour, is likewise much greater. If a pound of butcher's meat,

therefore, was never supposed to be worth more than a pound of

bread, this greater surplus would everywhere be of greater value

and constitute a greater fund, both for the profit of the farmer

and the rent of the landlord. It seems to have done so

universally in the rude beginnings of agriculture.