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There is likewise in every society or neighbourhood an ordinary

or average rate of rent, which is regulated, too, as I shall shew

hereafter, partly by the general circumstances of the society or

neighbourhood in which the land is situated, and partly by the

natural or improved fertility of the land.

These ordinary or average rates may be called the natural rates

of wages, profit and rent, at the time and place in which they

commonly prevail.

When the price of any commodity is neither more nor less than

what is sufficient to pay the rent of the land, the wages of the

labour, and the profits of the stock employed in raising,

preparing, and bringing it to market, according to their natural

rates, the commodity is then sold for what may be called its

natural price.