Ifitdid，morelandwouldsoonbeturnedtothispurpose。InseveralprovincesofFrance，thefeedingofpoultryisconsideredasaveryimportantarticleinruraleconomy，andsufficientlyprofitabletoencouragethefarmertoraiseaconsiderablequantityofIndiancornandbuck—wheatforthispurpose。Amiddlingfarmerwilltheresometimeshavefourhundredfowlsinhisyard。ThefeedingofpoultryseemsscarceyettobegenerallyconsideredasamatterofsomuchimportanceinEngland。Theyarecertainly，however，dearerinEnglandthaninFrance，asEnglandreceivesconsiderablesuppliesfromFrance。Intheprogressofimprovement，theperiodatwhicheveryparticularsortofanimalfoodisdearestmustnaturallybethatwhichimmediatelyprecedesthegeneralpracticeofcultivatinglandforthesakeofraisingit。Forsometimebeforethispracticebecomesgeneral，thescarcitymustnecessarilyraisetheprice。
Afterithasbecomegeneral，newmethodsoffeedingarecommonlyfallenupon，whichenablethefarmertoraiseuponthesamequantityofgroundamuchgreaterquantityofthatparticularsortofanimalfood。Theplentynotonlyobligeshimtosellcheaper，butinconsequenceoftheseimprovementshecanaffordtosellcheaper;forifhecouldnotaffordit，theplentywouldnotbeoflongcontinuance。Ithasbeenprobablyinthismannerthattheintroductionofclover，turnips，carrots，cabbage，etc。，hascontributedtosinkthecommonpriceofbutcher’smeatintheLondonmarketsomewhatbelowwhatitwasaboutthebeginningofthelastcentury。
Thehog，thatfindshisfoodamongordureandgreedilydevoursmanythingsrejectedbyeveryotherusefulanimal，is，likepoultry，originallykeptasasave—all。Aslongasthenumberofsuchanimals，whichcanthusberearedatlittleornoexpense，isfullysufficienttosupplythedemand，thissortofbutcher’smeatcomestomarketatamuchlowerpricethananyother。Butwhenthedemandrisesbeyondwhatthisquantitycansupply，whenitbecomesnecessarytoraisefoodonpurposeforfeedingandfatteninghogs，inthesamemannerasforfeedingandfatteningothercattle，thepricenecessarilyrises，andbecomesproportionablyhigherorlowerthanthatofotherbutcher’smeat，accordingasthenatureofthecountry，andthestateofitsagriculture，happentorenderthefeedingofhogsmoreorlessexpensivethanthatofothercattle。InFrance，accordingtoMr。
Buffon，thepriceofporkisnearlyequaltothatofbeef。InmostpartsofGreatBritainitisatpresentsomewhathigher。
ThegreatriseinthepriceofbothhogsandpoultryhasinGreatBritainbeenfrequentlyimputedtothediminutionofthenumberofcottagersandothersmalloccupiersofland;aneventwhichhasineverypartofEuropebeentheimmediateforerunnerofimprovementandbettercultivation，butwhichatthesametimemayhavecontributedtoraisethepriceofthosearticlesbothsomewhatsoonerandsomewhatfasterthanitwouldotherwisehaverisen。Asthepoorestfamilycanoftenmaintainacatoradogwithoutanyexpense，sothepoorestoccupiersoflandcancommonlymaintainafewpoultry，orasowandafewpigs，atverylittle。Thelittleoffalsoftheirowntable，theirwhey，skimmedmilk，andbuttermilk，supplythoseanimalswithapartoftheirfood，andtheyfindtherestintheneighbouringfieldswithoutdoinganysensibledamagetoanybody。Bydiminishingthenumberofthosesmalloccupiers，therefore，thequantityofthissortofprovisions，whichisthusproducedatlittleornoexpense，mustcertainlyhavebeenagooddealdiminished，andtheirpricemustconsequentlyhavebeenraisedbothsoonerandfasterthanitwouldotherwisehaverisen。Soonerorlater，however，intheprogressofimprovement，itmustatanyratehaverisentotheutmostheighttowhichitiscapableofrising;ortothepricewhichpaysthelabourandexpenseofcultivatingthelandwhichfurnishesthemwithfoodaswellasthesearepaiduponthegreaterpartofothercultivatedland。