第22章

Furthermore，arelativelyinferiorsoilwhichisnewlycultivatedandneverbeforetouchedbycivilisationprovidedtheclimaticconditionsarethennotcompletelyunfavourable，hasaccumulatedagreatdealofplantfoodthatiseasilyassimilated-atleastintheupperlayersofthesoil-sothatitwillyieldcropsforalongtimewithouttheapplicationoffertilisersandevenwithverysuperficialcultivation。ThewesternprairieshavetheadditionaladvantageofhardlyrequiringanyclearingexpensessinceNaturehasmadethemarable。[33a]Inlessfertileareasofthiskind，thesurplusisnotproducedasaresultofthehighfertilityofthesoil，i。e。，theyieldperacre，butasaresultofthelargeacreagewhichmaybesuperficiallycultivated，sincesuchlandcoststhecultivatornothing，ornexttonothingascomparedwitholdercountries。Thisisthecase，forinstance，wheresharecroppingexists，asinpartsofNewYork，Michigan，Canada，etc。Afamilysuperficiallycultivates，say，100acres，andalthoughtheoutputperacreisnotlarge，theoutputfrom100acresyieldsaconsiderablesurplusforsale。Inadditiontothis，cattlemaybegrazedonnaturalpasturesatalmostnocost，withoutrequiringartificialgrassmeadows。Itisthequantityoftheland，notitsquality，whichisdecisivehere。ThepossibilityofsuchsuperficialcultivationIisnaturallymoreorlessrapidlyexhausted，namely，ininverseproportiontothefertilityofthenewsoilandindirectproportiontotheexportofitsproducts。”Andyetsuchacountrywillgiveexcellentfirstcrops，evenofwheat，andwillsupplytothosewhoskimthefirstcreamoffthecountry，alargesurplusofthisgraintosendtomarket”

(1，c。，p。224)。Propertyrelationsincountrieswithmaturercivilisations，withtheirdeterminationofthepriceofuncultivatedsoilbythatofthecultivated，etc。，makesuchanextensiveeconomyimpossible。

Thatthissoil，therefore，neednotbeexceedinglyrich，asRicardoimagines，northatsoilsofequalfertilityneedbecultivated，maybeseenfromthefollowing。IntheStateofMichigan465，900acreswereplantedin1848towheatwhichyielded4，739，300bushels，oranaverageof101/

bushelsperacreafterdeductingseedgrain，thisleaveslessthan9bushelsperacre。Ofthe29countiesofthisState，2producedanaverageof7

bushels，3anaverageof8bushels，2——9，7——10，6——11，3——12，4——13bushels，andonlyonecountyproducedanaverageof16bushels，andanother18bushelsperacre(l。c。，p。225)。

Forpracticalcultivationhighersoilfertilitycoincideswithgreatercapabilityofimmediateexploitationofsuchfertility。Thelattermaybegreaterinanaturallypoorsoilthaninanaturallyrichone；butitisthekindofsoilwhichacolonistwilltakeupfirst，andmusttakeupwhencapitaliswanting。

Finally，theextensionofcultivationtolargerareas-asidefromthecasejustmentioned，inwhichrecoursemustbehadtosoilinferiorthanthatcultivatedhitherto-tothevariouskindsofsoilfromAtoD，thus，forinstance，thecultivationoflargertractsofBandCdoesnotbyanymeanspresupposeapreviousriseingrainpricesanymorethantheprecedingannualexpansionofcottonspinning，forinstance，requiresaconstantriseinyarnprices。Althoughconsiderableriseorfallinmarket-pricesaffectsthevolumeofproduction，regardlessofitthereisinagriculture(justasinallothercapitalisticallyoperatedlinesofproduction)neverthelessacontinuousrelativeover-production，initselfidenticalwithaccumulation，evenatthoseaveragepriceswhoselevelhasneitheraretardingnorexceptionallystimulatingeffectonproduction。Underothermodesofproductionthisrelativeoverproductioniseffecteddirectlybythepopulationincrease，andincoloniesbysteadyimmigration。Thedemandincreasesconstantly，and，inanticipationofthisnewcapitaliscontinuallyinvestedinnewland，althoughthisvarieswiththecircumstancesfordifferentagriculturalproducts。Itistheformationofnewcapitalswhichinitselfbringsthisabout。Butsofarastheindividualcapitalistisconcerned，hemeasuresthevolumeofhisproductionbythatofhisavailablecapital，totheextentthathecanstillcontrolithimself。Hisaimistocaptureasbigaportionaspossibleofthemarket。Shouldtherebeanyover-production，hewillnottaketheblameuponhimself，butplacesituponhiscompetitors。Theindividualcapitalistmayexpandhisproductionbyappropriatingalargeraliquotshareoftheexistingmarketorbyexpandingthemarketitself。

33a[ItispreciselytherapidlygrowIngcultivationofsuchprairieorstepperegionswhichoflateturnstherenownedstatementofMaithus，that”thepopulationisaburdenuponthemeansofsubsistence，”intoridicule，andproducedinitssteadtheagrarianlamentthatagriculture，andwithitGermany，willberuined，unlessthemeansofsubsistencewhichareaburdenuponthepopulationareforciblykeptawayfromthem。Thecultivationofthesesteppes，prairies，pampas，ilanos，etc。，isneverthelessonlyinitsbeginning；

itsrevolutionisingeffectonEuropeanagriculturewill，therefore，makeitselffeltinthefutureevenmoresothanhitherto-F。E。

Capital，Vol。3，Chapter40KarlMarxCAPITALVol。III

THEPROCESSOF

CAPITALISTPRODUCTIONASAWHOLEPartVI

TRANSFORMATIONOFSURPLUS-PROFIT

INTOGROUNDRENTCHAPTER40

SecondFormofDifferentialRent(DifferentialRentII)

Thusfarwehaveconsidereddifferentialrentonlyastheresultofvaryingproductivityofequalamountsofcapitalinvestedinequalareasoflandofdifferentfertility，sothatdifferentialrentwasdeterminedbythedifferencebetweentheyieldfromthecapitalinvestedintheworst，rentlesssoilandthatfromthecapitalinvestedinsuperiorsoil。Wehadsidebysidecapitalsinvestedindifferentplotsofland，sothateverynewinvestmentofcapitalsignifiedamoreextensivecultivationofthesoil，anexpansionofcultivatedarea。Inthelastanalysis，however，differentialrentwasbyitsnaturemerelytheresultofthedifferentproductivityofequalcapitalsinvestedinland。Butcanitmakeanydifferenceifcapitalsofdifferentproductivityareinvestedsuccessivelyinthesameplotoflandorsidebysideindifferentplotsofland，providedtheresultsarethesame？

Tobeginwith，thereisnodenyingthat，insofarastheformationofsurplus-profitisconcerned，itisimmaterialwhether£；3inproductionpriceperacreofAyield1qr，sothat£；3isthepriceofproductionandtheregulatingmarket-priceof1qr，while£；3inproductionpriceperacreofByield2qrs，andthereby£；3ofsurplus-profit，similarly，£；3inproductionpriceperacreofCyield3qrsand£；6ofsurplus-profit，and，finally，£；3inproductionpriceperacreofDyield4qrsand£；9ofsurplus-profit；orwhetherthesameresultisachievedbyapplyingthese£；12inproductionprice，or£；10

ofcapital，withthesamesuccessinthesamesequenceupononeandthesameacre。Itisinbothcasesacapitalof£；10，whosevalueportionsof£；21/2eacharesuccessivelyinvested——whetherinfouracresofvaryingfertilitysidebyside，orsuccessivelyinoneandthesameacreofland——andbecauseoftheirvaryingoutputs，oneportionyieldsnosurplus-profit，whereastheotherportionsyieldsurplus-profitproportionatetotheirdifferenceinyieldwithrespecttorentlessinvestment。

Thesurplus-profitandthevariousratesofsurplus-profitforthedifferentvalueportionsofcapitalareformedinthesamemannerinbothcases。

Andtherentisnothingbutaformofthissurplus-profit，whichconstitutesitssubstance。Butatanyrate，inthesecondmethod，therearesomedifficultiesconcerningthetransformationofsurplus-profitintorent，thischangeofform，whichincludesthetransferofsurplus-profitfromthecapitalisttenanttothelandowner。ThisaccountsfortheobstinateresistanceofEnglishtenantstoofficialagriculturalstatistics。Anditaccountsfortheirstruggleagainstthelandlordsoverthedeterminationofactualresultsderivedfromtheircapitalinvestment(Morton)。Forrentisfixedwhenlandisleased，andafterthatthesurplus-profitarisingfromsuccessiveinvestmentsofcapitalflowsintothepocketsofthetenantaslongastheleaselasts。Thisiswhythetenantshavefoughtforlongleases，and，ontheotherhand，duetothegreaterpowerofthelandlords，anincreaseinthenumberoftenanciesatwillhastakenplace，i。e。，leaseswhichcanbecancelledannually。

Itisthereforeevidentfromtheveryoutsetthat，evenifimmaterialforthelawofformationofsurplus-profit，itmakesaconsiderabledifferenceforthetransformationofsurplus-profitintoground-rentwhetherequalcapitalsareinvestedsidebysideinequalareasoflandwithunequalresults，orwhethertheyareinvestedsuccessivelyinthesameland。Thelattermethodconfinesthistransformation，ontheonehand，withinnarrowerlimits，ontheotherhand，withinmorevariablelimits。Forthisreason，theworkofthetax-assessor，asMortonshowsinhisResourcesofEstates，becomesaveryimportant，complicatedanddifficultprofessionincountriespractisingintensivecultivation(and，economicallyspeaking，wemeannothingmorebyintensivecultivationthantheconcentrationofcapitaluponthesameplotratherthanitsdistributionamongseveraladjoiningpiecesofland)。Ifsoilimprovementsareofamorepermanentnaturetheartificiallyincreaseddifferentialfertilityofthesoilcoincideswithitsnaturaldifferentialfertilityassoonastheleaseexpires，andthereforetheassessmentoftherentcorrespondstothedeterminationoftherentonplotsofdifferentfertilitiesingeneral。Ontheotherhand，insofarastheformationofsurplus-profitisdeterminedbythemagnitudeofoperatingcapital，theamountofrentforacertainamountofoperatingcapitalisaddedtotheaveragerentofthecountryandthusprovisionismadeforthenewtenanttocommandsufficientcapitaltocontinuecultivationinthesameintensivemanner。

InthestudyofdifferentialrentII，thefollowingpointsarestilltobeemphasised。

First，itsbasisandpointofdeparture，notjusthistorically，butalsoinsofarasconcernsitsmovementsatanygivenperiodoftime，isdifferentialrentI，thatis，thesimultaneouscultivationsidebysideofSoilsofunequalfertilityandlocation；inotherwords，thesimultaneousapplication，sidebyside，ofunequalportionsofthetotalagriculturalcapitaluponplotsoflandofunequalquality。

Historicallythisisself-evident。Inthecolonies，colonistshavebutlittlecapitaltoinvest；theprincipalproductionagentsarelabourandland。Everyindividualheadoffamilyseeksforhimselfandhiskinanindependentfieldofemploymentalongsidehisfellow-colonists。Thismustgenerallybethecaseinagricultureproperevenunderpre-capitalistmodesofproduction。Inthecaseofsheep-herdingandcattle-raising，ingeneral，asindependentlinesofproduction，exploitationofthesoilismoreorlesscommonandextensivefromtheveryoutset。Thecapitalistmodeofproductionhasforitspointofdepartureformermodesofproductioninwhichthemeansofproductionwere，infactorlegally，thepropertyofthetillerhimself，inaword，fromahandicraft-likepursuitofagriculture。

Itisinthenatureofthingsthatthelattergiveswaybutgraduallytotheconcentrationofmeansofproductionandtheirtransformationintocapital，asagainstdirectproducerstransformedintowage-labourers。Insofarasthecapitalistmodeofproductionismanifestedheretypically，itoccursatfirstparticularlyinsheep-herdingandcattle-raising。Butitisthusnotmanifestedinaconcentrationofcapitaluponarelativelysmallareaofland，butinproductiononalargerscale，economisingintheexpenseofkeepinghorses，andinotherproductioncosts；but，infact，notbyinvestingmorecapitalinthesameland。Furthermore，inaccordancewiththenaturallawsoffieldhusbandry，capital——usedhere，atthesametime，inthesenseofmeansofproductionalreadyproduced——becomesthedecisiveelementinsoilcultivationwhencultivationhasreachedacertainlevelofdevelopmentandthesoilhasbeencorrespondinglyexhausted。

Solongasthetilledareaissmallincomparisonwiththeuntilled，andsolongasthesoilstrengthhasnotbeenexhausted(andthisisthecasewhencattle-raisingandmeatconsumptionprevailintheperiodbeforeagricultureproperandplantnutritionhavebecomedominant)，thenewdevelopingmodeofproductionisopposedtopeasantproductionmainlyintheextensivenessofthelandbeingtilledforacapitalist，inotherwords，againintheextensiveapplicationofcapitaltolargerareasofland。ItshouldthereforeberememberedfromtheoutsetthatdifferentialrentIisthehistoricalbasiswhichservesasapointofdeparture。Ontheotherhand，themovementofdifferentialrentIIatanygivenmomentoccursonlywithinaspherewhichisitselfbutthevariegatedbasisofdifferentialrentI。

Secondly，inthedifferentialrentinformII，thedifferencesindistributionofcapital(andabilitytoobtaincredit)amongtenantsareaddedtothedifferencesinfertility。Inmanufacturingproper，eachlineofbusinessrapidlydevelopsitsownminimumvolumeofbusinessandacorrespondingminimumofcapital，belowwhichnoindividualbusinesscanbeconductedsuccessfully。Inthesameway，eachlineofbusinessdevelopsanormalaverageamountofcapitalabovethisminimum，whichthebulkofproducersshould，anddo，command。Alargervolumeofcapitalcanproduceextraprofit；asmallervolumedoesnotsomuchasyieldtheaverageprofit。

Thecapitalistmodeofproductionspreadsinagriculturebutslowlyandunevenly，asmaybeobservedinEngland，theclassiclandofthecapitalistmodeofproductioninagriculture。Insofarasthefreeimportationofgraindoesnotexist，oritseffectisbutlimitedbecausethevolumeissmall，producersworkinginferiorsoil，andthusunderworsethanaverageconditionsofproduction，determinethemarket-price。Alargeportionofthetotalmassofcapitalinvestedinhusbandry，andingeneralavailabletoit，isintheirhands。

Itistruethatthepeasant，forexample，expendsmuchlabouronhissmallplotofland。Butitislabourisolatedfromobjectivesocialandmaterialconditionsofproductivity，labourrobbedandstrippedoftheseconditions。

Thiscircumstanceenablestheactualcapitalisttenantstoappropriateaportionofsurplus-profit——afactwhichwouldnotobtain，atleastsofarasthispointisconcerned，ifthecapitalistmodeofproductionwereasevenlydevelopedinagricultureasinmanufacture。

Letusfirstconsiderjusttheformationofsurplus-profitwithdifferentialrentII，withoutforthepresentbotheringabouttheconditionsunderwhichthetransformationofthissurplus-profitintoground-rentmaytakeplace。

ItisthenevidentthatdifferentialrentIIismerelydifferentlyexpresseddifferentialrentI，butidenticaltoitinsubstance。ThevariationinfertilityofvarioussoiltypesexertsitsinfluenceinthecaseofdifferentialrentIonlyinsofarasunequalresultsareattainedbycapitalsinvestedinthesoil，i。e。，theamountofproductsobtainedeitherwithrespecttoequalmagnitudesofcapital，orproportionateamounts。Whetherthisinequalitytakesplaceforvariouscapitalsinvestedsuccessivelyinthesamelandorforcapitalsinvestedinseveralplotsofdifferingsoiltype——thiscanchangenothinginthedifferenceinfertilitynorinitsproductandcanthereforechangenothingintheformationofdifferentialrentforthemoreproductivelyinvestedportionsofcapital。Itisstillthesoilwhich，nowasbefore，showsdifferentfertilitywiththesameinvestmentofcapital，savethatherethesamesoilperformsforacapitalsuccessivelyinvestedindifferentportionswhatvariouskindsofsoildointhecaseofdifferentialrentIfordifferentequalportionsofsocialcapitalinvestedinthem。

Ifthesamecapitalof£；10，whichisshowninTableItobeinvestedintheformofindependentcapitalsof£；21/2eachbyvarioustenantsineachacreofthefoursoiltypesA，B，CandD，wereinsteadsuccessivelyinvestedinoneandthesameacreD，sothatthefirstinvestmentyielded4qrs，thesecond3，thethird2，andthefourth1qr(orinthereverseorder)，thenthepriceofthequarterfurnishedbytheleastproductivecapital，namely=£；3，wouldnotyieldanydifferentialrent，butwoulddeterminethepriceofproduction，solongasthesupplyofwheatwhosepriceofproductionis£；3wereneeded。

Andsinceourassumptionisthatthecapitalistmodeofproductionprevails，sothatthepriceof£；3includestheaverageprofitmadebyacapitalof£；21/2generally，theotherthreeportionsof£；21/2eachwillyieldsurplus-profitinaccordancewiththedifferenceinoutput，sincethisoutputisnotsoldatitsownpriceofproduction，butatthepriceofproductionoftheleastproductiveinvestmentof£；21/2；thelatterinvestmentdoesnotyieldanyrentandthepriceofitsproductsisdeterminedbythegenerallawofpricesofproduction。Theformationofsurplus-profitwouldbethesameasinTableI。

OnceagainitisseenherethatdifferentialrentIIpresupposesdifferentialrentI。Theminimumoutputobtainedfromacapitalof£；21/2，i。e。，fromtheworstsoil，ishereassumedtobe4qr。Assumed，also，isthatasidefromthe£；21/2whichyield4qrsandforwhichhepaysadifferentialrentof3qrs，thetenantoperatingwithsoiltypeDinvestsinthissamesoil£；21/2whichyieldonly1qr，likethesamecapitalupontheworstsoilA。Thiswouldbeaninvestmentofcapitalwhichdoesnotyieldrent，sinceitreturnstohimonlyaverageprofit。Therewouldbenosurplus-profitwhichcouldbetransformedintorent。Ontheotherhand，thisdecreasingyieldofthesecondinvestmentofcapitalinDwouldhavenoinfluenceontherateofprofit。Itwouldbethesameasthough£；21/2hadbeeninvestedanewinanadditionalacreofsoiltypeA，acircumstancewhichwouldinnowaya