Das Kapital II — Kap. 13

Kap. 13

Produktionszeit und Arbeitszeit

Chapter 12 measured the connected working days a product demands. This chapter opens the gap on the far side: production time can exceed all the working time in it — and what fills the gap adds nothing.

Die Arbeitszeit ist immer Produktionszeit, d.h. Zeit, während deren das Kapital in die Produktionssphäre gebannt ist. Aber umgekehrt ist nicht alle Zeit, während deren das Kapital sich im Produktionsprozeß befindet, deswegen notwendig auch Arbeitszeit.

working time versus production time

Working time is always production time — time during which capital is tied up in the sphere of production. But the reverse doesn't hold: not all the time capital spends in the production process is working time.

Es handelt sich hier nicht um Unterbrechungen des Arbeitsprozesses, welche durch die Naturschranken der Arbeitskraft selbst bedingt sind, obgleich sich gezeigt hat, wie sehr der bloße Umstand, daß das fixe Kapital, Fabrikgebäude, Maschinerie usw., während der Pausen des Arbeitsprozesses brachliegt, eins der Motive wurde zur unnatürlichen Verlängrung des Arbeitsprozesses und zur Tag - und Nachtarbeit. <Siehe Band 23, S. 271 - 278> Es handelt sich hier von einer, von der Länge des Arbeitsprozesses unabhängigen, durch die Natur des Produkts und seiner Herstellung selbst bedingten Unterbrechung, während deren der Arbeitsgegenstand kürzer oder länger dauernden Naturprozessen unterworfen ist, physikalische, chemische, physiologische Veränderungen durchmachen muß, während deren der Arbeitsprozeß ganz oder teilweise suspendiert ist.

a different kind of break

This isn't about the breaks in the labour process that come from the natural limits of labour-power itself — though we've already seen how idle fixed capital, factory buildings, machinery, sitting unused during those breaks became one motive for stretching the working day unnaturally, into day-and-night work. What's at issue here is a different kind of interruption, one that has nothing to do with how long the labour process runs. It comes from the nature of the product and how it is made. During it, the object being worked on is left to natural processes, shorter or longer, and must go through physical, chemical, or biological changes on its own — while the labour process is wholly or partly suspended.

So muß gekelterter Wein erst eine Zeitlang die Gärung durchmachen und dann wieder eine Zeitlang liegen, um einen bestimmten Grad der Vollkommenheit zu erreichen. In vielen Industriezweigen muß das Produkt eine Trocknung durchmachen, wie in der Töpferei, oder gewissen Umständen ausgesetzt sein, um seine chemische Beschaffenheit zu ändern, wie in der Bleicherei. Winterkorn braucht vielleicht neun Monate zur Reife. Zwischen Saat- und Erntezeit ist der Arbeitsprozeß fast ganz unterbrochen. In der Holzzucht, nachdem die Aussaat und die dabei nötigen Vorarbeiten beendet, braucht der Same vielleicht 100 Jahre, um in fertiges Produkt verwandelt zu werden; während dieser ganzen Zeit braucht er relativ nur sehr unbedeutende Einwirkung von Arbeit.

examples: wine, pottery, corn, timber

Wine that has been pressed, for instance, must first ferment for a while, then rest for a while, before it reaches a certain degree of quality. In many trades the product has to dry out, as in pottery, or sit exposed to certain conditions to change its chemical make-up, as in bleaching. Winter corn may need nine months to ripen; between sowing and harvest, the labour process is almost entirely interrupted. In growing timber, once the seed is sown and the groundwork done, the seed may need as much as 100 years to become a finished product, and through that whole stretch it needs only very little labour applied to it.

In allen diesen Fällen wird während eines großen Teils der Produktionszeit nur stellenweis zuschüssige Arbeit zugesetzt. Das im vorigen Kapitel beschriebne Verhältnis, wo dem bereits im Produktionsprozeß festgelegten Kapital zuschüssiges Kapital und Arbeit zugesetzt werden muß, findet hier nur mit längern oder kurzem Unterbrechungen statt.

extra labour added only here and there

In all these cases, for much of the production time, only occasional extra labour gets added at points along the way. The pattern from before — where capital already committed to the production process needs further capital and labour added to it — still holds here, but now broken up by interruptions, longer or shorter.

In allen diesen Fällen besteht also die Produktionszeit des vorgeschoßnen Kapitals aus zwei Perioden: Einer Periode, worin das Kapital sich im Arbeitsprozeß befindet: einer zweiten Periode, worin seine Existenzform - die von unfertigem Produkt - dem Walten von Naturprozessen überlassen ist, ohne sich im Arbeitsprozeß zu befinden. Ob diese beiden Zeiträume sich stellenweis durchkreuzen und zwischeneinanderschieben, ändert nichts an der Sache. Arbeitsperiode und Produktionsperiode decken sich hier nicht. Die Produktionsperiode ist größer als die Arbeitsperiode. Aber erst nach Zurücklegung der Produktionsperiode ist das Produkt fertig, reif, also aus der Form von produktivem Kapital verwandelbar in die von Warenkapital. Je nach der Länge der nicht aus Arbeitszeit bestehenden Produktionszeit verlängert sich also auch seine Umschlagsperiode. Soweit die über die Arbeitszeit überschüssige Produktionszeit nicht durch ein für allemal gegebne Naturgesetze bestimmt ist, wie beim Reifen des Korns, dem Wuchs der Eiche usw., kann die Umschlagsperiode oft mehr oder minder verkürzt werden durch künstliche Abkürzung der Produktionszeit. So durch Einführung der chemischen Bleicherei statt der Wiesenbleicherei, durch wirksamere Trockenapparate in Trocknungsprozessen. So in der Gerberei, wo das Eindringen der Gerbsäure in die Häute nach der alten Methode 6 bis 18 Monate wegnahm, nach der neuen, worin die Luftpumpe angewandt wird, nur anderthalb bis zwei Monate. (J. G. Courcelle-Seneuil, "Traité theorique et pratique des entreprises industrielles etc.", Paris 1857, 2. éd. [p. 49].) Das großartigste Beispiel von künstlicher Abkürzung der durch Naturprozesse ausgefüllten bloßen Produktionszeit liefert die Geschichte der Eisenproduktion und namentlich die Verwandlung von Roheisen in Stahl in den letzten 100 Jahren, von dem um 1780 entdeckten Puddling bis zu dem modernen Bessemerprozeß und den seitdem eingeführten neuesten Verfahrungsweisen. Die Produktionszeit ist enorm abgekürzt worden, aber in demselben Maß auch die Anlage von fixem Kapital vergrößert.

why turnover stretches — and how it's shortened

So in all these cases, the production time of the capital advanced falls into two periods. In one, the capital is inside the labour process. In a second, its existing form — that of an unfinished product — is left to natural processes doing their work, without being in the labour process at all. Whether these two stretches overlap here and there, running into each other, changes nothing about the point. The working period and the production period are not the same thing here — the production period is longer than the working period. Only once the production period has run its full course is the product finished, ripe, ready to change from productive capital into commodity capital. So the longer the part of the production time that isn't working time, the longer the turnover period stretches too. Where this extra production time — the part beyond working time — isn't fixed once and for all by a law of nature, as it is with grain ripening or an oak growing, the turnover period can often be shortened, more or less, by artificially cutting down the production time. Chemical bleaching can replace bleaching out on the meadow; more effective drying equipment can speed up drying processes. In tanning, the old method let the tanning acid soak into the hides over six to eighteen months; the new method, using an air pump, takes only a month and a half to two months. (J. G. Courcelle-Seneuil, Traité théorique et pratique des entreprises industrielles etc., Paris 1857, 2nd ed. [p. 49].) The most striking case of artificially cutting down production time filled by nothing but natural processes comes from the history of iron production — above all, turning pig iron into steel over the last 100 years, from the puddling process discovered around 1780 to the modern Bessemer process — blasting air straight through the molten iron — and the newer methods introduced since. Production time has been cut enormously — but in this case, fixed capital investment has grown just as much alongside it.

Ein eigentümliches Beispiel für die Abweichung der Produktionszeit von der Arbeitszeit liefert die amerikanische Fabrikation von Schuhleisten. Hier entsteht ein bedeutender Teil der Unkosten daraus, daß das Holz bis zu 18 Monaten zur Austrocknung lagern muß, damit der fertige Leisten sich nachher nicht zieht, seine Form verändert. Während dieser Zeit macht das Holz keinen andern Arbeitsprozeß durch. Die Umschlagsperiode des angelegten Kapitals ist daher nicht nur bestimmt durch die zur Leistenfabrikation selbst erheischte Zeit, sondern auch durch die Zeit, während deren es im austrocknenden Holz brachliegt. Es befindet sich 18 Monate im Produktionsprozeß, bevor es in den eigentlichen Arbeitsprozeß eintreten kann. Dies Beispiel zeigt zugleich, wie die Umschlagszeiten verschiedner Teile des zirkulierenden Gesamtkapitals verschieden sein können infolge von Umständen, die nicht innerhalb der Zirkulationssphäre, sondern aus dem Produktionsprozeß entspringen.

case in point: drying wood for shoe-lasts

A curious example of production time pulling apart from working time comes from the American manufacture of shoe-lasts. Here a large part of the cost comes simply from the wood having to lie for up to eighteen months to dry out, so that the finished last won't warp or change shape afterward. During that whole stretch the wood goes through no other labour process at all. So the turnover period of the capital invested is fixed not only by the time the last-making itself takes, but also by the time the capital lies idle in the drying wood. It sits in the production process for eighteen months before it can even enter the actual labour process. This case also shows something more general: the turnover times of different parts of the total circulating capital can differ from each other because of circumstances that arise not from the sphere of circulation, but from the production process itself.

Besonders deutlich tritt der Unterschied von Produktionszeit und Arbeitszeit hervor in der Landwirtschaft. In unsern gemäßigten Klimaten trägt das Land einmal jährlich Korn. Die Abkürzung oder Verlängrung der Produktionsperiode (für Wintersaat durchschnittlich neun Monate) ist selbst wieder vom Wechsel guter oder schlechter Jahre abhängig, daher nicht genau vorher bestimmbar und kontrollierbar wie in der eigentlichen Industrie. Nur Nebenprodukte, Milch, Käse etc., sind fortlaufend in kürzern Perioden produzierbar und verkaufbar. Dagegen stellt sich die Arbeitszeit wie folgt:

the split is sharpest in farming

The difference between production time and working time shows up especially clearly in agriculture. In our temperate climates, the land bears a crop of corn once a year. How much the production period shortens or lengthens — for winter sowing it averages nine months — depends in turn on whether the year is good or bad, so it can't be pinned down and controlled in advance the way it can in industry proper. Only the secondary products, milk, cheese, and the like, can be produced and sold continuously, in shorter cycles. The working time, by contrast, looks like this:

"Die Zahl der Arbeitstage wird in den verschiednen Gegenden von Deutschland mit Rücksicht auf die klimatischen und übrigen einwirkenden Verhältnisse für die drei Hauptarbeitsperioden anzunehmen sein: Für die Frühjahrsperiode von Mitte März oder Anfang April bis Mitte Mai auf 50 - 60; für die Sommerperiode von Anfang Juni bis Ende August auf 65 - 80; und für die Herbstperiode von Anfang September bis Ende Oktober oder Mitte oder Ende November auf 55 - 75 Arbeitstage. Für den Winter sind bloß die darin zu verrichtenden Arbeiten, wie Dünger-, Holz-, Markt-, Baufuhren zu bemerken." (F. Kirchhof, Handbuch der landwirthschaftlichen Betriebslehre, Dessau 1852, S. 160.)

German working days, season by season

"In the different regions of Germany, taking climate and other local conditions into account, the number of working days for the three main working periods can be put as follows: for the spring period, from mid-March or early April to mid-May, 50 to 60 days; for the summer period, from early June to the end of August, 65 to 80 days; and for the autumn period, from early September to the end of October or mid- to late November, 55 to 75 working days. For winter, only the tasks that need doing then are worth noting — hauling manure, timber, goods to market, building materials." (F. Kirchhof, Handbuch der landwirthschaftlichen Betriebslehre, Dessau 1852, p. 160.)

Je ungünstiger daher das Klima, desto mehr drängt sich die Arbeitsperiode der Landwirtschaft, und daher die Auslage in Kapital und Arbeit, auf kurzem Zeitraum zusammen. Z.B. Rußland. Dort ist in einigen nördlichen Gegenden Feldarbeit nur möglich während 130 - 150 Tagen im Jahr. Man begreift, welchen Verlust Rußland erleiden würde, wenn 50 aus den 65 Millionen seiner europäischen Bevölkrung ohne Beschäftigung blieben während der sechs oder acht Wintermonate, wo alle Feldarbeit aufhören muß. Außer den 200.000 Bauern, welche in den 10.500 Fabriken Rußlands arbeiten, haben sich überall auf den Dörfern eigne Hausindustrien entwickelt. So gibt es Dörfer, worin alle Bauern seit Generationen Weber, Gerber, Schuhmacher, Schlosser, Messerschmiede etc. sind; besonders ist dies der Fall in den Gouvernements Moskau, Wladimir, Kaluga, Kostroma und Petersburg. Beiläufig wird diese Hausindustrie schon mehr und mehr in den Dienst der kapitalistischen Produktion gepreßt; den Webern z.B. Kette und Einschlag von Kaufleuten direkt oder durch Vermittlung von Faktoren geliefert. (Abgekürzt nach: "Reports by H. M. Secretaries of Embassy and Legation, on the Manufactures, Commerce etc.", Nr. 8, 1865, p. 86, 87.) Man sieht hier, wie das Auseinanderfallen von Produktionsperiode und Arbeitsperiode, welche letztre nur einen Teil der erstren bildet, die natürliche Grundlage der Vereinigung der Agrikultur mit ländlicher Nebenindustrie bildet, wie andrerseits letztre wieder Anhaltspunkt wird für den Kapitalisten, der sich zunächst als Kaufmann dazwischendrängt. Indem die kapitalistische Produktion dann später die Scheidung zwischen Manufaktur und Agrikultur vollzieht, wird der Landarbeiter immer mehr von bloß zufälliger Nebenbeschäftigung abhängig und seine Lage dadurch verschlechtert. Für das Kapital, wie man später sehn wird, gleichen sich alle Verschiedenheiten im Umschlag aus. Für den Arbeiter nicht.

Russia: short season, home industry fills the gap

The worse the climate, then, the more the working period in agriculture — and with it the outlay of capital and labour — gets squeezed into a short stretch of time. Take Russia. In some of its northern regions, field work is only possible for 130 to 150 days a year. One can see what a loss Russia would suffer if 50 million of its 65 million European population were left with nothing to do during the six or eight winter months, when all field work has to stop. Besides the 200,000 peasants working in Russia's 10,500 factories, home industries of their own have grown up everywhere in the villages. There are villages where, for generations, every peasant has been a weaver, a tanner, a shoemaker, a locksmith, a knife-maker, and so on — this is especially true in the provinces of Moscow, Vladimir, Kaluga, Kostroma, and Petersburg. This home industry, incidentally, is already being pressed more and more into the service of capitalist production — weavers, for instance, get their warp and weft supplied directly by merchants, or through agents acting for them. (Abridged from Reports by H. M. Secretaries of Embassy and Legation, on the Manufactures, Commerce etc., No. 8, 1865, p. 86, 87.) Here one can see how the split between the production period and the working period — the working period forming only a part of the production period — provides the natural basis for combining agriculture with rural secondary industry; and how, in turn, that secondary industry becomes the foothold for the capitalist, who first pushes his way in as a merchant. When capitalist production later goes on to carry out the separation of manufacture from agriculture, the agricultural worker becomes more and more dependent on a merely accidental secondary occupation, and his situation gets worse because of it. For capital, as we'll see later, all these differences in turnover even out. Not for the worker.

Während in den meisten Zweigen der eigentlichen Industrie, des Bergbaus, des Transports usw. der Betrieb ein gleichmäßiger ist, gleichmäßige Arbeitszeit jahraus, jahrein gearbeitet wird und, von Preisschwankungen, Geschäftsstörungen etc. als von anormalen Unterbrechungen abgesehn, die Auslagen für das in den täglichen Zirkulationsprozeß eingehende Kapital sich gleichmäßig verteilen; während ebenfalls, bei sonst gleichbleibenden Marktverhältnissen, auch der Rückfluß des zirkulierenden Kapitals oder seine Erneuerung das Jahr hindurch in gleichmäßige Perioden sich verteilt - findet in den Kapitalauslagen, wo die Arbeitszeit nur einen Teil der Produktionszeit bildet, im Laufe der verschiednen Perioden des Jahrs die größte Ungleichmäßigkeit in der Auslage von zirkulierendem Kapital statt, indes der Rückfluß nur auf einmal zu der durch Naturbedingungen fixierten Zeit erfolgt. Bei gleicher Stufenleiter des Geschäfts, d.h. bei gleicher Größe des vorgeschoßnen zirkulierenden Kapitals, muß es daher in größren Massen auf einmal und auf längre Zeit vorgeschossen werden als in den Geschäften mit kontinuierlichen Arbeitsperioden. Die Lebensdauer des fixen Kapitals unterscheidet sich hier auch bedeutender von der Zeit, worin es wirklich produktiv fungiert. Mit der Differenz von Arbeitszeit und Produktionszeit wird natürlich auch die Gebrauchszeit des angewandten fixen Kapitals auf längre oder kürzre Zeit fortwährend unterbrochen, wie z.B. im Ackerbau bei Arbeitsvieh, Geräten und Maschinen. Soweit dies fixe Kapital aus Arbeitstieren besteht, erheischt es fortwährend dieselben oder fast dieselben Ausgaben in Futter etc. wie während der Zeit, worin es arbeitet. Bei toten Arbeitsmitteln verursacht auch der Nichtgebrauch eine gewisse Entwertung. Es findet also überhaupt Verteuerung des Produkts statt, indem die Wertabgabe an das Produkt sich berechnet nicht nach der Zeit, worin das fixe Kapital fungiert, sondern nach der Zeit, worin es Wert verliert. In diesen Produktionszweigen bildet das Brachliegen des fixen Kapitals, ob noch mit laufenden Kosten verbunden oder nicht, ebenso eine Bedingung seiner normalen Anwendung wie z.B. der Verlust eines gewissen Quantums von Baumwolle bei der Spinnerei; und ebenso zählt bei jedem Arbeitsprozeß die unter den normalen technischen Bedingungen unproduktiv, aber unvermeidlich, verausgabte Arbeitskraft geradesogut wie die produktive. Jede Verbeßrung, die unproduktive Verausgabung von Arbeitsmitteln, Rohstoff und Arbeitskraft vermindert, vermindert auch den Wert des Produkts.

uneven outlay, and the cost of idle capital

In most branches of industry proper — mining, transport, and so on — operations run steadily: the same working time is put in year after year, and if we set aside price swings, business disruptions, and other abnormal interruptions, capital pays out for the daily circulation process in a steady trickle through the year. Likewise, other things being equal in the market, the circulating capital comes back and renews itself in that same steady trickle. Where working time forms only part of production time, things are different. Over the course of the year's different periods, the outlay of circulating capital becomes as uneven as it can be, while the return flow comes only once, at a time fixed by natural conditions. So at the same scale of business — the same size of circulating capital advanced — it has to be advanced in larger amounts at once, and for a longer stretch, than in businesses with continuous working periods. The working life of fixed capital also differs here more sharply from the time it is actually productively in use. Along with the gap between working time and production time, the time the fixed capital applied is actually in use keeps getting interrupted, for longer or shorter stretches — as, for example, with draught animals, implements, and machines in farming. Where this fixed capital consists of draught animals, it continually needs much the same outlay in feed and so on as it does while it's actually working. With lifeless means of labour, non-use also brings on a certain loss of value. So the product does become dearer overall, because the value it hands over is reckoned not by the time the fixed capital is in use, but by the time it loses value. In these branches of production, fixed capital lying idle — whether that still carries running costs or not — is just as much a condition of its normal use as, say, the loss of a certain amount of cotton is in spinning. And in exactly the same way, in every labour process, the labour-power spent unproductively but unavoidably, under normal technical conditions, counts every bit as much as the labour spent productively. Any improvement that cuts down this unproductive expenditure of means of labour, raw material, and labour-power also cuts down the value of the product.

Kap. 13

Vorrat, Waldzucht, Umschlagszyklus

The asymmetry is now established; this half tests it against the documents — the farmer's year, the forest's century, the herd in the stall — and refuses the one tempting mislabel the material invites.

In der Landwirtschaft vereinigt sich beides, die längre Dauer der Arbeitsperiode und die große Differenz zwischen Arbeitszeit und Produktionszeit. Hodgskin bemerkt darüber richtig:

farming: long periods, big gaps

In farming, two things come together: a single working period runs unusually long, and there's a huge gap between labour-time and production time. Hodgskin makes a good point about this:

"Der Unterschied in der Zeit", {obgleich er hier nicht zwischen Arbeitszeit und Produktionszeit unterscheidet} "die erforderlich ist, um die Produkte der Landwirtschaft fertigzumachen, und der von andern Arbeitszweigen, ist die Hauptursache der großen Abhängigkeit der Landwirte. Sie können ihre Waren nicht in kürzrer Zeit zu Markte bringen als in einem Jahr. Während dieses ganzen Zeitraums müssen sie borgen vom Schuhmacher, Schneider, Schmied, Wagenmacher und den verschiednen andren Produzenten, von denen sie Produkte brauchen, und welche Produkte in wenig Tagen oder Wochen fertig werden. Infolge dieses natürlichen Umstands, und infolge der raschern Reichtumsvermehrung in den andern Arbeitszweigen, sind die Grundbesitzer, die den Boden des ganzen Reichs monopolisiert haben, obgleich sie außerdem sich das Monopol der Gesetzgebung angeeignet haben, dennoch unfähig, sich und ihre Diener, die Pächter, vor dem Schicksal zu retten, die abhängigsten Leute im Lande zu werden." (Thomas Hodgskin, "Popular Political Economy", London 1827, p. 147, Note.)

farmers borrow all year to survive

"The difference in time" (though he doesn't distinguish here between labour-time and production time) "needed to finish agricultural products, compared with other branches of work, is the chief reason farmers are so dependent. They can't bring their goods to market in less than a year. For the whole of that time they have to borrow from the shoemaker, the tailor, the smith, the cartwright, and the various other producers whose products they need — products that take only a few days or weeks to finish. Because of this natural circumstance, and because wealth grows faster in the other branches of work, the landowners — who have cornered the land of the whole kingdom, and on top of that have cornered the power of law-making too — still cannot save themselves, or their servants the tenant farmers, from becoming the most dependent people in the country." (Thomas Hodgskin, Popular Political Economy, London 1827, p. 147, note.)

Alle Methoden, wodurch teilweis die Ausgaben in Arbeitslohn und Arbeitsmitteln in der Agrikultur gleichmäßiger über das ganze Jahr verteilt werden, teilweis der Umschlag verkürzt wird, indem verschiedenartigere Produkte erzeugt und so verschiedne Ernten während des Jahres möglich werden, erheischen Vergrößrung des in der Produktion vorgeschoßnen, in Arbeitslohn, Dünger, Samen etc. ausgelegten zirkulierenden Kapitals. So beim Übergang von der Dreifelderwirtschaft mit Brache zur Fruchtwechselwirtschaft ohne Brache. So bei den cultures dérobées <dem Zwischenfruchtanbau> in Flandern.

spreading costs, shortening turnover

Any method that spreads spending on wages and materials in farming more evenly across the year, or that shortens turnover by growing a wider mix of products so several harvests become possible in a single year, calls for a larger circulating capital laid out on wages, fertilizer, seed, and the like. That's what happens moving from the three-field system with fallow to crop rotation without fallow. It's also what happens with catch-cropping — a second crop grown between the main ones — in Flanders.

"Man nimmt die Wurzelgewächse in culture dérobée; dasselbe Feld trägt zuerst Getreide, Flachs, Raps, für die Bedürfnisse der Menschen, und nach der Ernte werden Wurzelkräuter gesät zur Erhaltung des Viehs. Dies System, wobei das Hornvieh fortwährend im Stall bleiben kann, ergibt eine beträchtliche Anhäufung von Dünger und wird so der Angelpunkt der Wechselwirtschaft. Mehr als ein Drittel der bebauten Oberfläche wird in den Sandgegenden auf die cultures dérobées verwandt; es ist gerade so, als ob man die Ausdehnung des bebauten Landes um ein Drittel vermehrt hätte."

the Flemish catch-crop system

Root crops are grown as the catch crop: the same field first bears grain, flax, or rape for human needs, and after that harvest, root vegetables are sown to feed the cattle. Under this system the cattle can stay in the barn the whole time, which builds up a large amount of manure and becomes the pivot of the whole rotation. In the sandy regions, more than a third of the cultivated area is used for catch crops — it's exactly as if the area under cultivation had been increased by a third.

Neben Wurzelgewächsen wird hierzu auch Klee und andre Futterkräuter verwandt.

clover too

Besides root crops, clover and other fodder plants are also used for this.

"Der Ackerbau, so auf einen Punkt getrieben, wo er in Gartenbau übergeht, erfordert begreiflicherweise ein verhältnismäßig beträchtliches Anlagekapital. In England rechnet man 250 Franken Anlagekapital auf die Hektare. In Flandern werden unsre Bauern ein Anlagekapital von 500 Franken per Hektare wahrscheinlich viel zu niedrig finden." ("Essais sur l'Économie Rurale de la Belgique", par Émile de Laveleye. Bruxelles 1863, p. 59, 60, 63.)

gardening-level farming needs real capital

Farming pushed this far — to the point where it turns into something like gardening — obviously needs a fairly large capital laid out to set it up. In England, people reckon 250 francs of this per hectare. In Flanders, our farmers would probably find 500 francs per hectare far too low a figure. (Émile de Laveleye, Essais sur l'Économie Rurale de la Belgique, Brussels 1863, pp. 59, 60, 63.)

Nehmen wir schließlich die Holzzucht. -

turning to forestry

Finally, take forestry.

"Die Holzproduktion unterscheidet sich von den meisten übrigen Produktionen wesentlich dadurch, daß bei ihr die Naturkraft selbständig wirkt und bei natürlicher Verjüngung der Menschen- und Kapitalkraft nicht bedarf. Übrigens ist auch selbst da, wo die Wälder künstlich verjüngt werden, der Aufwand von Menschen- und Kapitalkraft neben dem Wirken der Naturkräfte nur gering. Außerdem findet der Wald noch auf Bodenarten und in Lagen Gedeihen, wo das Getreide nicht mehr fortkommt oder dessen Produktion doch nicht mehr lohnt. Der Waldbau erfordert aber auch, zu einer regelmäßigen Wirtschaft, einen größren Flächenraum als die Getreidekultur, indem bei kleinren Parzellen keine forstwirtschaftliche Schlagführung ausführbar ist, die Nebennutzungen meist verloren gehn, der Forstschutz schwerer zu handhaben ist usw. Der Produktionsprozeß ist aber auch an so lange Zeiträume gebunden, daß er über die Pläne einer Privatwirtschaft, einzeln sogar über die Zeit eines Menschenlebens hinausgeht. Das für Erwerbung des Waldbodens <1. und 2. Auflage: Landbodens> angelegte Kapital"

forestry: how it differs from farming

"Wood production differs from most other kinds of production in one basic way: here the force of nature acts on its own, and natural regeneration needs no input of human effort or capital at all. Even where forests are replanted artificially, the input of human effort and capital alongside the working of natural forces is still small. Besides, forest thrives on soils and in locations where corn no longer grows, or where growing it no longer pays. But forestry, run as a regular business, also needs a larger stretch of land than growing corn does, since on smaller plots no proper system of felling can be carried out, most of the secondary uses are lost, and protecting the forest is harder to manage, and so on. The production process is also tied to such long stretches of time that it runs beyond the plans of any private business, and in individual cases even beyond the span of a human life. The capital laid out to acquire the forest land"

{bei Gemeinproduktion fällt dieses Kapital fort und ist die Frage nur, wieviel Boden die Gemeinde für Waldproduktion dem Acker- und Weideboden entziehen kann}

the commune version: no such capital

(in communal production this capital disappears, and the only question left is how much land the community can spare from arable and pasture land for growing wood)

"trägt nämlich erst nach langer Zeit lohnende Früchte und schlägt nur teilweise, vollständig aber erst bei manchen Holzarten in Fristen <1. und 2. Auflage: Forsten> bis zu 150 Jahren um. Außerdem erfordert die nachhaltige Holzproduktion selbst einen Vorrat lebendigen Holzes, welcher das zehn- bis vierzigfache der jährlichen Nutzung beträgt. Wer daher nicht noch andres Einkommen hat und bedeutende Waldstrecken besitzt, kann keine regelmäßige Waldwirtschaft führen." (Kirchhof, p. 58.)

slow returns, a huge standing stock

"only yields a worthwhile return after a long time, and only turns over in part — completely only for some kinds of wood, and then in periods of up to 150 years. On top of that, sustained wood production itself needs a stock of standing timber amounting to ten to forty times the annual yield. So anyone with no other income, even if they own considerable stretches of forest, cannot run a regular forestry business." (Kirchhof, p. 58.)

Die lange Produktionszeit (die einen relativ nur geringen Umfang der Arbeitszeit einschließt), daher die Länge ihrer Umschlagsperioden, macht die Waldzucht zu einem ungünstigen Privat- und daher kapitalistischen Betriebszweig, welcher letztre wesentlich Privatbetrieb ist, auch wenn statt des einzelnen Kapitalisten der assoziierte Kapitalist auftritt. Die Entwicklung der Kultur und Industrie überhaupt hat sich von jeher so tätig in der Zerstörung der Waldungen gezeigt, daß dagegen alles, was sie umgekehrt zu deren Erhaltung und Produktion getan hat, eine vollständig verschwindende Größe ist.

why forestry suits capital badly

The long production time — which takes in only a relatively small stretch of labour-time — and so the length of its turnover periods, make forestry an unfavourable branch for private business, and therefore for capitalist business too, since capitalist business is essentially private business even when an association of capitalists stands in for a single capitalist. The advance of cultivation and industry in general has always been so active in destroying forests that, by comparison, everything it has done in the other direction, to preserve and grow them, shrinks to almost nothing.

Besonders bemerkenswert in dem Zitat von Kirchhof ist folgende Stelle:

flagging the key line

One passage in the quotation from Kirchhof is especially worth noting:

"Außerdem erfordert die nachhaltige Holzproduktion selbst einen Vorrat lebendigen Holzes, welcher das zehn- bis vierzigfache der jährlichen Nutzung beträgt."

the ten-to-forty-times stock

"Sustained wood production itself needs a stock of standing timber amounting to ten to forty times the annual yield."

Also einmaliger Umschlag in zehn bis vierzig und mehr Jahren.

one turnover, decades long

So a single turnover here takes ten to forty years, or more.

Ebenso bei der Viehzucht. Ein Teil der Herde (Viehvorrat) bleibt im Produktionsprozeß, während ein andrer Teil derselben als jährliches Produkt verkauft wird. Nur ein Teil des Kapitals schlägt hier jährlich um, ganz wie bei dem fixen Kapital, Maschinerie, Arbeitsvieh etc. Obgleich dies Kapital für längre Zeit im Produktionsprozeß fixiertes Kapital ist, und so den Umschlag des Gesamtkapitals verlängert, bildet es nicht fixes Kapital im kategorischen Sinn.

tied down is not the same as fixed

It's the same with livestock-raising. Part of the herd stays in the production process, while another part of it is sold each year as that year's product. Only part of this capital turns over annually, just as with fixed capital — machinery, draught animals, and the like. Yet even though this capital is tied down in the production process for a long time, and so stretches out the turnover of the whole capital, that does not make it fixed capital in the strict sense of the term.

Was hier Vorrat genannt wird - ein bestimmtes Quantum lebendigen Holzes oder Viehs - befindet sich relativ im Produktionsprozeß (zugleich als Arbeitsmittel und als Arbeitsmaterial); nach den Naturbedingungen seiner Reproduktion, bei geregelter Wirtschaft, muß sich stets ein bedeutender Teil in dieser Form befinden.

stock that lives inside production

What's called the stock here — a set quantity of standing timber or of livestock — is, relatively speaking, inside the production process itself, working at once as both means of labour and material of labour. Given the natural conditions under which it reproduces, a well-run operation must always keep a sizeable part of its capital in this form.

Ähnlich auf den Umschlag wirkt eine andre Art des Vorrats, die nur potentielles produktives Kapital bildet, aber infolge der Natur der Wirtschaft in größren oder geringren Massen angehäuft sein, daher für längre Zeit der Produktion vorgeschossen sein muß, obgleich sie nur nach und nach in den aktiven Produktionsprozeß eingeht. Dazu gehört z.B. der Dünger, bevor er aufs Feld geführt wird, ebenso Korn, Heu etc. und solche Lebensmittelvorräte, die in die Produktion des Viehs eingehn.

waiting stock, not stock in use

A different kind of stock affects turnover in a similar way — one that is only potential productive capital. Because of how the business works, it has to be piled up in larger or smaller quantities, and so has to be advanced long before production even though it only enters the active production process bit by bit. This includes, for example, manure before it's carried out to the field, and likewise grain, hay, and the kind of food stocks that go into feeding livestock.

"Ein beträchtlicher Teil des Betriebskapitals ist in den Vorräten der Wirtschaft enthalten. Diese können aber in ihrem Wert mehr oder weniger verlieren, sobald die für ihre gute Erhaltung erforderlichen Vorsichtsmaßregeln nicht gehörig in Anwendung gebracht werden; ja es kann durch Mangel an Aufsicht selbst ein Teil der Produktenvorräte für die Wirtschaft gänzlich verlorengehn. Es wird daher in dieser Beziehung vorzugsweis eine sorgfältige Aufsicht über die Scheunen, Futter- und Getreideböden und Keller erforderlich, sowie die Vorratsräume stets gehörig zu verschließen, außerdem aber reinlich zu halten, auszulüften sind usw.; das Getreide und andre zur Aufbewahrung gebrachte Früchte müssen von Zeit zu Zeit gehörig gewendet, Kartoffeln und Rüben sowohl gegen Frost als gegen Wasser und Fäulnis <1. und 2. Auflage: Feuer > geschützt werden." (Kirchhof, p. 292.) "Bei Berechnung des eignen Bedarfs, besonders für die Viehhaltung, wobei die Verteilung nach Maßgabe des Erzeugnisses und des Zwecks vorzunehmen ist, muß man nicht nur auf die Deckung des Bedürfnisses, sondern außerdem auch noch darauf Rücksicht nehmen, daß für unvorhergesehne Fälle auch noch ein verhältnismäßiger Vorrat übrigbleibe. Sobald sich nun hierbei ergibt, daß der Bedarf durch das eigne Erzeugnis nicht vollständig gedeckt werden kann, so hat man zunächst in Betracht zu ziehn, ob man nicht durch andre Erzeugnisse (Ersatzmittel) diesen Mangel decken oder doch solche statt der fehlenden wohlfeiler anschaffen könne. Wenn z.B. sich ein Mangel an Heu herausstellen sollte, so läßt sich dieser durch Wurzelwerk mit Strohzusatz decken. Überhaupt muß man hierbei den Sachwert und den Marktpreis der verschiednen Erzeugnisse stets im Auge behalten und die Bestimmungen für die Konsumtion darnach treffen; ist z.B. der Hafer teurer, während Erbsen und Roggen verhältnismäßig niedrig stehn, so wird man mit Vorteil einen Teil des Hafers bei Pferden durch Erbsen oder Roggen ersetzen und den hierdurch erübrigten Hafer verkaufen." (Ibidem, p. 300.)

keeping stores from spoiling or running short

"A considerable part of a farm's working capital sits in its stores. But these can lose value if the precautions needed to keep them in good condition aren't properly taken — indeed, through poor oversight, part of a farm's stock of produce can be lost altogether. So careful supervision is especially called for here: watching over the barns, the fodder and grain lofts, and the cellars; keeping the storerooms properly locked, and also clean and aired out; grain and other produce kept in storage must be turned over from time to time, and potatoes and beets must be protected against frost as well as against water and rot." (Kirchhof, p. 292.) "In working out one's own needs — especially for keeping livestock, where distribution has to follow the yield and the purpose — one must think not only of covering the need itself but also of keeping back a proportional reserve for unforeseen cases. If it then turns out that the need cannot be fully met from one's own produce, the first thing to consider is whether the shortfall can be made up with other produce as a substitute, or whether such substitutes can be got more cheaply than the missing item. If, say, a shortage of hay turns up, this can be made up with root crops plus added straw. In general, one must always keep in view the real worth and the market price of the different products, and set consumption accordingly; if oats, for instance, are dearer while peas and rye are relatively cheap, it pays to replace part of the horses' oats with peas or rye, and sell the oats saved this way." (Ibidem, p. 300.)

Es ist früher bei Betrachtung der Vorratsbildung <siehe vorl. Band, S. 139 - 145 > bereits bemerkt worden, daß ein bestimmtes größres oder kleinres Quantum von potentiellem produktivem Kapital erfordert ist, d.h. von für die Produktion bestimmten Produktionsmitteln, die in größren oder kleinren Massen vorrätig sein müssen, um nach und nach in den Produktionsprozeß einzugehn. Es ist dabei bemerkt worden, daß bei einer gegebnen Geschäftsunternehmung oder einem Kapitalbetrieb von bestimmtem Umfang die Größe dieses Produktionsvorrats abhängt von der größren oder geringren Schwierigkeit seiner Erneuerung, relativer Nähe der Bezugsmärkte, Entwicklung der Transport- und Kommunikationsmittel etc. Alle diese Umstände wirken ein auf das Minimum von Kapital, das in der Form von produktivem Vorrat vorhanden sein muß, also auf die Zeitlänge, wofür die Kapitalvorschüsse zu machen, und auf den Umfang der auf einmal vorzuschießenden Kapitalmasse. Dieser Umfang, der also auch auf den Umschlag wirkt, wird bedingt durch die längre oder kürzre Zeit, für welche zirkulierendes Kapital in der Form von produktivem Vorrat als bloß potentielles produktives Kapital festliegt. Andrerseits, soweit diese Stauung von größrer oder geringrer Möglichkeit des raschen Ersatzes, von Marktverhältnissen usw. abhängt, entspringt sie selbst wieder aus der Umlaufszeit, aus Umständen, die der Zirkulationssphäre angehören.

what sets the size of the waiting stock

It was noted earlier, when looking at how stocks build up, that a certain larger or smaller quantity of potential productive capital is needed — that is, of means of production earmarked for use, which have to be kept in stock in larger or smaller amounts so they can enter the production process gradually. It was also noted there that, for a given business or a capital operation of a given size, the size of this production stock depends on how hard or easy it is to replenish, how close the supply markets are, and how developed transport and communications are, among other things. All these circumstances bear on the minimum amount of capital that has to exist in the form of a productive stock — and so on the length of time capital has to be advanced for, and on the size of the mass of capital that has to be advanced all at once. This size, which also affects turnover, is set by the longer or shorter time for which circulating capital sits locked up in the form of a productive stock, as mere potential productive capital. On the other hand, insofar as this hold-up depends on the greater or lesser possibility of quickly replacing the stock, on market conditions, and so on, it in turn springs from circulation time itself — from circumstances belonging to the sphere of circulation.

"Ferner müssen alle solche Inventarienstücke oder Zutaten, wie Handarbeitsgeräte, Siebe, Körbe, Stricke, Wagenschmiere, Nägel usw., um so mehr zum augenblicklichen Ersatze im Vorrat vorhanden sein, je weniger man die Gelegenheit in der Nähe hat, solche schnell anschaffen zu können. Endlich soll jährlich das ganze Geräteinventar im Winter sorgfältig nachgesehn und für die hierbei sich notwendig machende Ergänzung und Instandsetzung sofort gesorgt werden. Ob man sich nun aber im allgemeinen größre oder kleinre Vorräte zum Bedarf des Inventars halten soll, wird hauptsächlich durch die Lokalverhältnisse bestimmt. Wo Handwerksleute und Kaufläden nicht in der Nähe sind, da muß man auf größre Vorräte halten als dort, wo man solche im Orte oder doch sehr nahe findet. Wenn man aber unter sonst gleichen Verhältnissen die bedürfenden Vorräte in größren Mengen auf einmal anschafft, gewinnt man in der Regel den Vorteil des billigen Einkaufs, wenn man nur sonst hierzu einen geeigneten Zeitpunkt gewählt hat; freilich entzieht man hierdurch aber auch dem umlaufenden Betriebskapital eine um so größre Summe auf einmal, welche nicht immer gut aus dem Wirtschaftsbetriebe entbehrt werden kann." (Kirchhof, p. 301.)

stocking spare parts and tools

"Likewise, all such items of equipment or supplies — hand tools, sieves, baskets, rope, axle-grease, nails, and so on — need to be kept in stock ready for immediate replacement, and the less nearby opportunity there is to get hold of them quickly, the more of them need to be on hand. Finally, every year in winter the whole stock of equipment should be carefully checked over, and whatever making-good or repair this shows to be necessary should be seen to at once. Whether one should generally keep larger or smaller stocks of equipment is decided mainly by local conditions. Where craftsmen and shops aren't nearby, one has to keep larger stocks than where they can be found in the district or close by. But if, other things being equal, the needed stocks are bought in larger quantities at once, one usually gains the advantage of a cheap purchase, provided a suitable moment has been chosen for it; though of course this also ties up, at a single stroke, a correspondingly larger sum out of the circulating working capital, and that isn't always something the business can easily spare." (Kirchhof, p. 301.)

Die Differenz von Produktions- und Arbeitszeit läßt, wie wir gesehn, sehr verschiedne Fälle zu. Das zirkulierende Kapital kann sich in der Produktionszeit befinden, ehe es in den eigentlichen Arbeitsprozeß eingeht (Leistenfabrikation); oder es befindet sich in Produktionszeit, nachdem es den eigentlichen Arbeitsprozeß durchgemacht hat (Wein, Saatkorn); oder die Produktionszeit wird stellenweis durch Arbeitszeit durchbrochen (Feldhau, Holzzucht); ein großer Teil von zirkulationsfähigem Produkt bleibt dem aktiven Produktionsprozeß einverleibt, während ein viel geringrer Teil in die jährliche Zirkulation eingeht (Holz- und Viehzucht); die größre oder geringre Zeitlänge, für welche zirkulierendes Kapital in der Form von potentiellem produktivem Kapital, also auch die größre oder geringre Masse, worin dies Kapital auf einmal ausgelegt werden muß, entspringt teils aus der Art des Produktionsprozesses (Agrikultur) und hängt teils von der Nähe von Märkten etc., kurz, von Umständen ab, die der Zirkulationssphäre angehören.

five shapes the gap can take

As we've seen, the gap between production time and labour-time allows for very different cases. Circulating capital can sit in production time before it enters the actual labour process at all — as with the timber for boot-lasts, left to season first. Or it can sit in production time after it has already been through the labour process — as with wine, or seed-corn. Or production time can be broken up here and there by spells of labour-time — as with field-work, or forestry. A large part of the product that's ready to circulate can stay bound up in the active production process, while only a much smaller part enters the annual circulation — as with forestry and livestock-raising. And the length of time for which circulating capital sits in the form of potential productive capital — and so also the size of the mass in which this capital has to be advanced at one go — springs partly from the nature of the production process itself, as in agriculture, and partly from the nearness of markets and the like: in short, from circumstances belonging to the sphere of circulation.

Man wird später sehn (Buch III), welche widersinnige Theorien bei MacCulloch, James Mill etc. der Versuch veranlaßt hat, die von der Arbeitszeit abweichende Produktionszeit mit der erstren zu identifizieren, ein Versuch, selbst wieder entspringend aus falscher Anwendung der Werttheorie.

a mistake saved for Book III

Later on, in Book III, we'll see what absurd theories the attempt to identify production time — where it diverges from labour-time — with labour-time itself has led to in MacCulloch, James Mill, and others: an attempt that itself springs from a mistaken application of the theory of value.

Der Umschlagszyklus, den wir vorher betrachtet, ist gegeben durch die Dauer des dem Produktionsprozeß vorgeschoßnen fixen Kapitals. Da dieser eine größre oder geringre Reihe von Jahren umfaßt, so auch eine Reihe jährlicher, resp. während des Jahres wiederholter Umschläge des fixen Kapitals.

the cycle set by fixed capital's lifespan

The turnover cycle looked at before is set by how long the fixed capital advanced to production lasts. Since that stretch covers a longer or shorter run of years, it also means a series of yearly turnovers — or, within a single year, turnovers repeated several times over — of the fixed capital.

In der Agrikultur entsteht ein solcher Umschlagszyklus aus dem System der Fruchtfolge.

agriculture's version: crop rotation

In agriculture, a cycle like this comes from the system of crop rotation.

"Die Dauer der Pachtzeit darf jedenfalls nicht kürzer angenommen werden als die Umlaufszeit der eingeführten Fruchtfolge aussagt <1. und 2. Auflage: Fruchfolgeaussaat >, daher bei der Dreifelderwirtschaft immer mit 3, 6, 9 gerechnet wird. Bei angenommener Dreifelderwirtschaft mit reiner Brache wird aber der Acker in sechs Jahren nur viermal bebaut, und in den Baujahren mit Winter- und Sommergetreide, und erfordert oder erlaubt es die Beschaffenheit des Bodens, auch mit Weizen und Roggen, Gerste und Hafer gewechselt. Jede Getreideart vervielfältigt sich nun auf demselben Boden mehr oder weniger als die andre, jede hat einen andren Wert und wird auch für einen andren Preis verkauft. Deshalb fällt der Ertrag des Ackers in jedem Baujahre anders aus, auch anders in der ersten Hälfte des Umlaufs" (in den ersten drei Jahren), "anders in der zweiten. Selbst der durchschnittliche Ertrag in der Umlaufszeit ist nicht in der einen wie in der andern gleich groß, indem die Fruchtbarkeit nicht allein von der Güte des Bodens, sondern auch von der Jahreswitterung, sowie die Preise von mancherlei Verhältnissen abhängen. Berechnet man nun den Ertrag <1. u. 2. Auflage: Betrag> des Ackers nach mittlern Fruchtjahren der ganzen Umlaufszeit auf sechs Jahre und nach den Durchschnittspreisen derselben, so hat man den Gesamtertrag auf ein Jahr sowohl in der einen als in der andern Umlaufszeit gefunden. Dies ist jedoch nicht der Fall, wenn der Ertrag nur für die Hälfte der Umlaufszeit, also für drei Jahre berechnet wird, indem alsdann der Gesamtertrag ungleich ausfallen würde. Hieraus geht hervor, daß die Dauer der Pachtzeit bei der Dreifelderwirtschaft mindestens auf sechs Jahre bestimmt werden muß. Weit wünschenswerter aber für Pächter und Verpächter bleibt es aber immer, wenn die Pachtzeit ein Vielfaches der Pachtzeit" {sic! <- so steht es wörtlich da!>} "ausmacht, und also bei der Dreifelderwirtschaft anstatt auf 6 auf 12, 18 und noch mehr Jahre, bei Siebenfelderwirtschaft aber anstatt auf 7 auf 14, 28 Jahre gestellt ist." (Kirchhof, p. 117, 118.)

why the lease must match the rotation

"The length of a lease must in any case not be set shorter than the cycle of the rotation that's been introduced calls for — hence with the three-field system it's always reckoned as 3, 6, 9. But under an assumed three-field system with pure fallow, the arable land is actually cultivated only four times in six years, and in the years it is cultivated, winter and summer corn are grown, and — where the quality of the soil requires or allows it — wheat and rye, barley and oats are alternated too. Now each kind of grain multiplies more or less than the others on the same soil, each has a different value, and each sells at a different price. So the yield of the field comes out differently in each year it's cultivated, and differently again in the first half of the cycle" (the first three years) "than in the second. Even the average yield across the whole cycle is not the same from one cycle to the next, since fertility depends not only on the quality of the soil but also on the year's weather, just as prices depend on all sorts of conditions. Now, if one works out the field's yield from the average crop years of the whole six-year cycle, and from the average prices over that time, one gets the total yield for one year — and that holds for one cycle as much as for another. But this is not the case if the yield is worked out for only half the cycle, that is for three years, since the total yield would then come out unevenly. From this it follows that, with the three-field system, the length of the lease must be fixed at six years at the very least. But it always remains far more desirable for both tenant and landlord if the length of the lease is a multiple of the length of the lease" {sic} "— so that with the three-field system it is set at 12, 18, or more years instead of 6, and with the seven-field system at 14 or 28 years instead of 7." (Kirchhof, pp. 117, 118.)

{Hier steht im Manuskript: "Die englische Fruchtwechselwirtschaft. Hier Note zu machen."}

a note left for later

(The manuscript states here: "English crop-rotation farming. A note to be made here.")

Kap. 13

Production Time and Working Time

Working time is always production time, i.e. time during which capital is confined to the production sphere. But it is not true, conversely, that the entire time for which capital exists in the production process is necessarily therefore working time.

working time versus production time

What is at issue here are not interruptions in the labour process conditioned by the natural limits of labour-power itself, even though we have seen the extent to which the mere fact that fixed capital - factory buildings, machinery, etc. - lies idle during the pauses in the labour process became one of the motives for the unnatural extension of the labour process, and for working day and night. What is involved is rather an interruption independent of the length of the labour process, an interruption conditioned by the nature of the product and its production, during which the object of labour is subjected to natural processes of shorter or longer duration, and has to undergo physical, chemical or physiological changes while the labour process is either completely or partially suspended.

a different kind of break

After grapes have been pressed, for instance, the wine must go through a period of fermentation, and then also rest for a while before it reaches a certain degree of readiness. In many branches of industry the product must undergo a process of drying, as in pottery, or else be exposed to certain conditions in order to change its chemical properties, as with bleaching. Winter corn needs nine months or so to ripen. Between seed-time and harvest, the labour process is almost completely interrupted. In the raising of timber, once planting and the preliminary work connected with this is completed, the seed may need 100 years to be transformed into a finished product; during this whole time, only a relatively very insignificant intervention of labour is needed.

examples: wine, pottery, corn, timber

In all these cases, additional labour is added only occasionally for a large part of the production time. The situation described in the previous chapter, where additional capital and labour has to be added to capital already tied up in the production process, occurs here only with interruptions of a greater or lesser extent.

extra labour added only here and there

In all these cases, therefore, the production time of the capital advanced consists of two periods: a period in which the capital exists in the labour process, and a second period in which its form of existence – that of an unfinished product – is handed over to the sway of natural processes, without being involved in the labour process. This situation is not altered if the two periods of time occasionally cut across one another or are interspersed. Here the working period and the production period do not coincide. The production period is longer than the working period. But it is only after the production period has been left behind that the product is finished and mature, and can thus be transformed from the form of productive capital into that of commodity capital. The turnover period is then extended according to the length of that part of the production time that does not consist of working time. In so far as this time of production over and above the labour time is not determined by natural laws given once and for all, as with the ripening of corn, the growth of an oak, etc., the turnover period can often be shortened to a greater or lesser extent by the artificial shortening of the production time. Examples of this are the introduction of chemical in place of open-air bleaching, and more effective drying apparatus in the drying processes. In tanning, the penetration of tannic acid into the skins, which used to take between six and eighteen months with the old method, only takes one and a half to two months with the new method involving the use of the air-pump (J. D. Courcelle-Seneuil, Traité théorique et pratique des entreprises industrielles, etc., Paris, 1857, 2nd edn [p. 49]). The most far-reaching example of artificial shortening of a production time made up exclusively of natural processes is given by the history of iron production over the last 100 years, from the invention of puddling in 1780 to the modern Bessemer process and the latest procedures introduced since then. The production time has been enormously curtailed, but the application of fixed capital has also increased to the same extent.

why turnover stretches — and how it's shortened

A peculiar example of the divergence between production time and working time is provided by the American manufacture of shoe-lasts. Here a significant part of the expense arises from the wood having to dry out in store for up to eighteen months, so that the finished lasts do not warp. During this time, the wood does not undergo any other labour process. The turnover period of the capital applied is therefore not only determined by the time required to produce the lasts themselves, but also by the time for which the capital has to lie idle in the shape of wood which is being dried out. The capital exists in the production process for eighteen months before it can enter the labour process proper. This example also shows how the turnover times of various parts of the total circulating capital may differ as a result of circumstances that arise from the production sphere and not from the circulation sphere.

case in point: drying wood for shoe-lasts

The distinction between production time and working time is particularly important in agriculture. In our temperate climates, the land brings forth grain once a year. The shortening or lengthening of the production period (an average of nine months for winter sowing) is itself dependent on the alternation of good and bad years, and hence cannot be precisely determined in advance and controlled, as in industry proper. Only subsidiary products such as milk, cheese, etc. can be produced and sold continuously in short periods. But the working time is in the following quite different situation:

the split is sharpest in farming

'The number of working days for the three main working periods is assumed to be as follows in the different districts of Germany, with respect to the climatic and other conditions involved: the spring period from mid-March or the beginning of April up to the middle of May, 50-60 days; the summer period from early June to late August, 65-80 days; the autumn period from early September to the end of October or middle or late November, 55-75 days. As far as winter goes, there is simply the work suited to that period, such as haulage of fertilizer, wood, goods for market, building materials, etc.' (P. Kirchhof, Handbuch der landwirtschaftlichen Betriebslehre, Dessau, 1852, p. 160).

German working days, season by season

Thus the more unfavourable the climate, the more the agricultural working period, and hence the outlay of capital and labour, is compressed into a short interval, as for example in Russia. 'In some of the northern districts, field labour is only possible during from 130 to 150 days in the course of the year, and it may be imagined what a loss Russia would sustain, if out of 65,000,000 of her European population, 50,000,000 remained unoccupied during six or eight months of winter, when all agricultural labour is at a standstill.' Besides the 200,000 peasants who work in Russia's 10,500 factories, particular cottage industries have grown up everywhere in the villages. 'There are villages, for instance, in Russia in which all the peasants have been for generations either weavers, tanners, shoemakers, locksmiths, cutlers, etc.'; this is particularly the case in the gubernias of Moscow, Vladimir, Kaluga, Kostroma and St Petersburg. These cottage industries, incidentally, are already being pressed more and more into the service of capitalist production; for example, merchants supply the weavers with warps and weft, either directly, or by intermediate agents. (Abbreviated from Reports by H.M. Secretaries of Embassy and Legation, on the Manufactures, Commerce etc., no. 8, 1865, pp. 86, 87.) We see here how the distinction between production period and working period, with the latter forming only a part of the former, constitutes the natural basis for the unification of agriculture with rural subsidiary industries, just as these, in turn, are points of vantage for the capitalist, who first intrudes in his capacity as merchant. In so far as capitalist production later manages to complete the separation between manufacture and agriculture, the rural worker becomes ever more dependent on merely accidental subsidiary employments and his condition thereby worsens. As far as capital is concerned, as we shall see later on, all these differences in the turnover balance out. Not so for the worker.

Russia: short season, home industry fills the gap

In most branches of industry proper, as well as in mining, transport, etc., production proceeds evenly and the same working time is worked year in year out; apart from fluctuations of price, disturbances of business, etc. and abnormal interruptions, the outlay of capital going into the daily circulation process is evenly distributed. While market conditions remain the same, therefore, the reflux or renewal of circulating capital is distributed over the whole year in equal portions. However, in those investments of capital where working time forms only one part of the production time, there is great unevenness in the outlay of circulating capital in the course of the different periods of the year, in as much as the reflux only follows, at one stroke, at a time prescribed by natural conditions. On a given scale of business, therefore, i.e. with the same volume of circulating capital advanced, this must be advanced in larger amounts at once, and for a longer time, than in those businesses with continuous working periods. The life of fixed capital is significantly different here from the time in which it actually functions productively. With this difference between working time and production time, the time during which the fixed capital is utilized is of course constantly interrupted for a longer or shorter interval; in agriculture for instance, with the use of draught cattle, implements and machines. In so far as this fixed capital consists of draught animals, it continues to require the same or almost the same outlay on fodder, etc. as during the time in which it operates. In the case of dead means of labour, non-use also gives rise to a certain depreciation. The product thus always becomes dearer, since the transfer of value to the product is not calculated according to the time for which the fixed capital functions, but rather according to the time in which it loses value. In these branches of production it is a condition of normal use that fixed capital should lie idle, whether or not this still involves running costs, just as in spinning a condition of normal use is the loss of a certain quantity of cotton; and in the same way, in every labour process, the labour-power expended unproductively, but unavoidably so under normal technical conditions, counts just as much as the productive. Every improvement that reduces the unproductive expenditure of means of labour, raw materials and labour-power also reduces the value of the product.

uneven outlay, and the cost of idle capital

Kap. 13

Stock, Forestry, the Turnover Cycle

In agriculture the two things are combined, the long duration of the working period and a great difference between working time and production time. Hodgskin correctly notes on this point:

farming: long periods, big gaps

In farming, two things come together: a single working period runs unusually long, and there's a huge gap between labour-time and production time. Hodgskin makes a good point about this:

'The difference of time' (although he does not differentiate here between working time and production time) 'required to complete the products of agriculture, and of other species of labour' is 'the main cause of the great dependence of the agriculturists. They cannot bring their commodities to market in less time than a year. For that whole period they are obliged to borrow of the shoemaker, the tailor, the smith, the wheelwright, and the various other labourers, whose products they cannot dispense with, but which are completed in a few days or weeks. Owing to this natural circumstance, and owing to the more rapid increase of the wealth produced by other labour than that of agriculture, the monopolizers of all the land, though they have also monopolized legislation, have not been able to save themselves and their servants, the farmers, from becoming the most dependent class of men in the community' (Thomas Hodgskin, Popular Political Economy, London, 1827, p. 147, note).

farmers borrow all year to survive

All methods in agriculture which on the one hand distribute expenditure on wages and means of labour more evenly over the whole year, and on the other hand shorten the turnover, by diversifying the products and thus making different crops possible during the year, require an increase in the circulating capital laid out on production, on wages, fertilizer, seed, etc. This is the case with the transition from the three-field system (with fallow) to the system of crop rotation without fallow. Also with the cultures dérobées [undersowing system] in Flanders.

spreading costs, shortening turnover

'The root crops are planted by undersowing; the same field first bears corn, flax or rape-seed for human requirements, and then after the harvest root crops are sown for the maintenance of cattle. This system, which enables the horned cattle to remain permanently in the stall, produces a considerable amount of manure and is thus the cornerstone of crop rotation. More than a third of the cultivated area in the sandy districts is undersown in this way; it is just as if the cultivated land had been extended by a third.'

the Flemish catch-crop system

Besides root crops, clover and other fodder is also used here:

clover too

Besides root crops, clover and other fodder plants are also used for this.

'Agriculture, being thus carried to the point at which it is transformed into horticulture, understandably requires a relatively considerable capital investment. In England the sum reckoned with is 250 francs of investment capital to the hectare. In Flanders our farmers will probably find an investment capital of 500 francs per hectare far too low' (Essais sur l'économie rurale de la Belgique, par Émile de Laveleye, Brussels, 1863, pp. 59, 60, 63).

gardening-level farming needs real capital

Let us finally consider timber-raising:

turning to forestry

Finally, take forestry.

'The production of timber is fundamentally different from most others in that here natural forces work independently, and the power of men or capital is not required for natural growth. Even where forests are artificially cultivated, the amount of human and capital power expended in comparison with the action of natural forces is only slight. Furthermore, forests will thrive in types of soil and places where grain cannot grow, or where it no longer pays to produce it. Forest culture, however, requires a greater surface area than the cultivation of grain, if it is to be conducted on a regular commercial basis. Since small plots do not allow proper forestry methods, the secondary uses are abandoned, and forest protection is made more difficult, etc. The production process is also tied to such a long period of time that it extends beyond the plans of a private undertaking, and sometimes even beyond a single human life. Capital invested in the acquisition of forest land' (in communal production this capital disappears and the question is simply how much land the community can withdraw from arable and grazing land for timber production) 'only bears fruit after a comparatively long period of time, and turns over only partially, taking up to 150 years in the case of many types of wood. Moreover, effective timber production actually requires a reserve stock of growing timber amounting to between ten and forty times the annual yield. Thus someone who does not have other income or possess substantial areas of forest cannot pursue regular forestry' (Kirchhof, p. 58).

forestry: how it differs from farming

M–A merges

the commune version: no such capital

(in communal production this capital disappears, and the only question left is how much land the community can spare from arable and pasture land for growing wood)

M–A merges

slow returns, a huge standing stock

The long production time (which includes a relatively slight amount of working time), and the consequent length of the turnover period, makes forest culture a line of business unsuited to private and hence to capitalist production, the latter being fundamentally a private operation, even when the associated capitalist takes the place of the individual. The development of civilization and industry in general has always shown itself so active in the destruction of forests that everything that has been done for their conservation and production is completely insignificant in comparison.

why forestry suits capital badly

Particularly worthy of note in the quotation from Kirchhof is the following passage:

flagging the key line

One passage in the quotation from Kirchhof is especially worth noting:

'Moreover, effective timber production actually requires a reserve stock of timber amounting to between ten and forty times the annual yield.'

the ten-to-forty-times stock

"Sustained wood production itself needs a stock of standing timber amounting to ten to forty times the annual yield."

Thus the turnover takes from ten years up to forty and more.

one turnover, decades long

So a single turnover here takes ten to forty years, or more.

It is the same with cattle-raising. Part of the herd (cattle stock) remains in the production process, while another part is sold as the annual product. Here only one part of the capital turns over each year, just as in the case of the fixed capital - machinery, draught cattle, etc. Even though this capital is fixed for a longer time in the production process, and thus lengthens the turnover of the total capital, it does not constitute fixed capital in the categorical sense.

tied down is not the same as fixed

What is referred to here as a stock - a definite quantity of growing wood or cattle - exists partially in the production process (both as means of labour and material of labour); depending on the natural conditions of its reproduction, a significant part must always exist in this form in the case of regular cultivation.

stock that lives inside production

A further kind of stock has a similar effect on the turnover, a stock that forms only potential productive capital, but has to be accumulated in larger or smaller amounts as a result of the nature of agriculture, and must be advanced to production for a relatively long time even though it enters the active production process only bit by bit. This includes manure, for example, before it is carted to the field, as well as corn, hay, etc. and any stocks of feed that go into the production of cattle.

waiting stock, not stock in use

'A considerable part of the working capital is contained in the stocks of the business. These can lose their value to a greater or lesser extent if the appropriate measures of protection required for their maintenance in good order are not taken; a part of the production stock can even be completely lost to the business by lack of attention. What is principally required in this connection is painstaking attention to the barns, fodder and grain lofts and cellars; the storage places must always be kept well closed, and also kept clean, ventilated, etc.; the grain and other crops kept in store must be thoroughly turned over from time to time, and potatoes and beets protected against frost, water and rot' (Kirchhof, p. 292).

'In calculating one's own requirements, particularly for cattle, in which connection a division must be made according to the measure of the product and the intended use, attention must be paid not only to covering requirements, but also to having a sufficient stock left over for unforeseen contingencies. As soon as it appears that the need cannot be fully met by one's own production, it is necessary to take into consideration whether this lack cannot be covered by other products (substitutes), or whether these cannot be procured more cheaply in place of the missing products. If there should be a lack of hay, for example, this can be made up by root crops with added straw. In general, the material value and market price of the different products must be constantly borne in mind, and consumption regulated accordingly; if oats are dearer, for instance, while peas and rye are relatively cheap, then it will be advantageous to replace some of the oats for the horses with peas and rye, and sell the superfluous oats' (ibid., p. 300).

keeping stores from spoiling or running short

In considering the formation of stock, we have already noted that a greater or lesser quantity of potential productive capital is required, i.e. a quantity of means of production destined for production, which has to be held in reserve in a greater or lesser amount in order to go into the production process bit by bit. We noted in this connection that with a capital investment of a given scale, the size of this production stock depends on the greater or lesser difficulty of its replacement, its relative proximity to the supplying markets, the development of means of transport and communication, etc. All these circumstances affect the minimum capital that must exist in the form of productive stock, and thus the period of time for which advances of capital have to be made, and the volume of capital that has to be advanced at once. This volume, which also has an effect on the turnover, is determined by the longer or shorter time for which circulating capital is tied up in the form of productive stock, as only potentially productive capital. On the other hand, in so far as the extent of this stagnation depends on the greater or lesser possibility of rapid replacement, on market conditions, etc., it itself arises from the circulation time, from circumstances that pertain to the circulation sphere.

what sets the size of the waiting stock

'Moreover, a stock of all these implements or accessories, working tools, sieves, baskets, ropes, axle grease, nails, etc. is all the more necessary for replacement at any moment, the less opportunity there is of procuring them quickly in the vicinity. Finally, the entire inventory should be carefully inspected each winter, and the necessary additions and repairs immediately put in hand. Whether a larger or smaller stock of implements is generally needed is principally determined by local conditions. Where there are no craftsmen or shops in the vicinity, a greater stock must be kept than where these are to be found in the locality or very close by. If the requisite stocks are procured in greater quantities at once, under otherwise similar conditions, the advantage in cheap purchase is generally obtained, provided that a suitable point of time has been chosen; but of course a greater sum is then withdrawn at once from the current capital, which cannot always be dispensed with in the business ' (Kirchhof, p. 301).

stocking spare parts and tools

The difference between production time and working time, as we have seen, permits a wide range of possibilities. The circulating capital can be in its production time before it enters the actual labour process (manufacture of lasts); it may still be in production time after it has undergone the actual labour process (wine, seed-corn); the production time may be occasionally interrupted by labour time (field crops, timber); or a large part of the product in a condition ready for circulation may remain incorporated in the active production process, while a much smaller part enters into the annual circulation (timber and cattle-growing); the greater or lesser length of time, thus the greater or lesser measure in which circulating capital has to be laid out all at once in the form of potential productive capital, partly arises from the kind of production process (agriculture) and partly depends on the proximity of markets, etc., in short, on circumstances that belong to the circulation sphere.

five shapes the gap can take

We shall see later on (in Volume 3) what nonsensical theories MacCulloch, James Mill etc. were led to in their attempts to identify this production time diverging from working time with working time, attempts which in their turn arose from an incorrect application of the theory of value.

a mistake saved for Book III

The turnover cycle that we considered previously is a function of the durability of the fixed capital advanced to the production process. Since this encompasses a greater or smaller number of years, it also encompasses a series of turnovers of the fixed capital, repeated either yearly or within a year.

the cycle set by fixed capital's lifespan

In agriculture, a turnover cycle of this kind arises from the system of crop rotation:

agriculture's version: crop rotation

In agriculture, a cycle like this comes from the system of crop rotation.

'The duration of the lease must in any case not be shorter than the time taken to complete the system of crop rotation that is introduced, and hence with the three-field system it is always reckoned in terms of 3, 6, 9, etc. If we assume the three-field system with complete fallow, the field is cultivated only four times in six years, and in the years cultivated, with both winter and summer grain; the properties of the soil also require or permit this to be alternated between wheat and rye, barley and oats. Each kind of grain grows on the same soil better or worse than the others, each has a different value and is also sold at a different price. The yield of the land thus varies with the years of cultivation; it is different in the first half of the cycle ' (in the first three years) 'and in the second. Even the average yield over the whole cycle is not the same in one case as in the other, since fertility does not just depend on the quality of the soil, but also on the year's weather, the price also depending on many different conditions. If the yield is calculated on the basis of the average years of the entire cycle of six years, and of the average prices in these years, then the total yield for one year can be arrived at for either period of the rotation. But this is not the case if the yield is only calculated for half of the rotation, i.e. for three years, since then the total yields would not be the same. It is evident from this that the duration of the lease in the three-field system must be fixed at at least six years. It is always far more desirable for both landlord and tenant that the lease should run for a multiple of the lease (sic: F.E.) and thus instead of six years in the case of the three-field system, it should be twelve or eighteen years or more, and in the case of the seven-field system not seven but fourteen or twenty-eight' (Kirchhof, pp. 117, 118).

why the lease must match the rotation

(The manuscript states here: 'The English system of crop rotation. A note on this to be given.' - F.E.)

a note left for later

(The manuscript states here: "English crop-rotation farming. A note to be made here.")