ofIndiancorn，61/4d。;3d。worthofredherring，Id。salt，Id。vinegar，2d。pepperandsweetherbs，inall203/4。;makeasoupfor64men，andatthemediumpriceofbarleyandofIndiancorn……thissoupmaybeprovidedat1/4d。，theportionof20ounces。[41]Withtheadvanceofcapitalisticproduction，theadulterationoffoodrenderedThompson’sidealsuperfluous。[42]Attheendofthe18thandduringthefirsttenyearsofthe19thcentury，theEnglishfarmersandlandlordsenforcedtheabsoluteminimumofwage，bypayingtheagriculturallabourerslessthantheminimumintheformofwages，andtheremainderintheshapeofparochialrelief。AnexampleofthewaggishwayinwhichtheEnglishDogberriesactedintheir\"legal\"fixingofawagestariff:\"ThesquiresofNorfolkhaddined，saysMr。Burke，whentheyfixedtherateofwages;thesquiresofBerksevidentlythoughtthelabourersoughtnottodoso，whentheyfixedtherateofwagesatSpeenhamland，1795……Theretheydecidethat’income（weekly）shouldbe3s。foraman，’whenthegallonorhalf—peckloafof8lbs。11oz。isat1s。，andincreaseregularlytillbreadis1s。5d。;whenitisabovethatsumdecreaseregularlytillitbeat2s。，andthenhisfoodshouldbe1/5thless。\"[43]BeforetheCommitteeofInquiryoftheHouseofLords，1814，acertainA。Bennett，alargefarmer，magistrate，poor—lawguardian，andwage—regulator，wasasked:\"Hasanyproportionofthevalueofdailylabourbeenmadeuptothelabourersoutofthepoors’rate？\"Answer:\"Yes，ithas;theweeklyincomeofeveryfamilyismadeuptothegallonloaf（8lbs。11oz。），and3d。perhead！……Thegallonloafperweekiswhatwesupposesufficientforthemaintenanceofeverypersoninthefamilyfortheweek;andthe3d。isforclothes，andiftheparishthinkpropertofindclothes;the3d。isdeducted。ThispracticegoesthroughallthewesternpartofWiltshire，and，Ibelieve，throughoutthecountry。\"[44]\"Foryears，\"exclaimsabourgeoisauthorofthattime，\"they（thefarmers）
havedegradedarespectableclassoftheircountrymen，byforcingthemtohaverecoursetotheworkhouse……thefarmer，whileincreasinghisowngains，haspreventedanyaccumulationonthepartofhislabouringdependents。\"[45]Thepartplayedinourdaysbythedirectrobberyfromthelabourer’snecessaryconsumption—fundintheformationofsurplus—value，and，therefore，oftheaccumulation—fundofcapital，theso—calleddomesticindustryhasservedtoshow。（Ch。xv。，sect。8，c。）Furtherfactsonthissubjectwillbegivenlater。
Althoughinallbranchesofindustrythatpartoftheconstantcapitalconsistingofinstrumentsoflabourmustbesufficientforacertainnumberoflabourers（determinedbythemagnitudeoftheundertaking），itbynomeansalwaysnecessarilyincreasesinthesameproportionasthequantityoflabouremployed。Inafactory，supposethat100labourersworking8hoursadayyield800working—hours。Ifthecapitalistwishestoraisethissumbyonehalf，hecanemploy50moreworkers;butthenhemustalsoadvancemorecapital，notmerelyforwages，butforinstrumentsoflabour。Buthemightalsoletthe100labourerswork12hoursinsteadof8，andthentheinstrumentsoflabouralreadytohandwouldbeenough。Thesewouldthensimplybemorerapidlyconsumed。Thusadditionallabour，begottenofthegreatertensionoflabour—power，canaugmentsurplus—productandsurplus—value（i。e。，thesubject—matterofaccumulation），withoutcorrespondingaugmentationintheconstantpartofcapital。
Intheextractiveindustries，mines，&c。，therawmaterialsformnopartofthecapitaladvanced。Thesubjectoflabourisinthiscasenotaproductofpreviouslabour，butisfurnishedbyNaturegratis，asinthecaseofmetals，minerals，coal，stone，&c。Inthesecasestheconstantcapitalconsistsalmostexclusivelyofinstrumentsoflabour，whichcanverywellabsorbanincreasedquantityoflabour（dayandnightshiftsoflabourers，e。g。）。Allotherthingsbeingequal，themassandvalueoftheproductwillriseindirectproportiontothelabourexpended。
Asonthefirstdayofproduction，。theoriginalproduce—formers，nowturnedintothecreatorsofthematerialelementsofcapital？manandNature？stillworktogether。Thankstotheelasticityoflabour—power，thedomainofaccumulationhasextendedwithoutanypreviousenlargementofconstantcapital。