Page:Manual of Political Economy.djvu/97

48 so dense as to consume all the wheat there grown, the land, although it may be not more fertile, will be more productive of wealth; for the wheat will no longer be wanting an utility, which, amongst others, gives it the character of wealth, namely, of being in the place where it is required to be consumed: an utility which cannot now be conferred upon it without considerable cost. Everything, therefore, which facilitates the transport of produce, increases the productiveness of land. A great portion of the most fertile land in the world is entirely unproductive. Products might be raised from it which would be eminently serviceable to man, but various obstacles interpose which render these products unavailable for consumption. The most splendid pine-trees are often seen rotting on the sides of the Swiss mountains, because it would cost more to bring the timber to market than it is worth.

The increase of population may create a demand for a product, and thus make the land from which it is obtained more productive. The great natural pastures of Australia have for many years supported immense flocks of sheep. In England the carcase of a sheep is far more valuable than its wool; but the reverse was the case in Australia—the wool was valuable, the carcase was almost worthless. Wool is not a bulky commodity, and the cost of sending a fleece from Australia to England is comparatively trifling; but so great a quantity of meat was almost worthless to so sparse a population. The gold discoveries at once caused the population of Australia to be largely increased; the mutton which had been before wasted was now required; the sheep became much more valuable; and the pastures upon which the sheep graze thus became far more productive of wealth, although the fertility of these pastures has remained unchanged.

If the productiveness of labour is estimated by the amount of wealth which is produced by a certain quantity of labour, then the productiveness of labour is partly the cause and partly the effect of the fertility of the land. "Quantity of labour" may be conveniently defined by the labour of a certain number of men working for a certain number of hours per day. The amount