TENANCY AND L AN D O WN ERSHI P 



and the negro farmers are more commonly tenants 

 where the negroes are most numerous. In the 

 states containing the black belt the percentage 

 of tenancy among the negroes is relatively high. 



The present situation with respect to tenancy 

 and landownership among the negro farmers, is 

 described in a recent census bulletin in the follow- 

 ing terms :* "Present conditions in the farm life 

 of the southern negro can be understood only by 

 bringing to mind the historic development. Be- 

 fore the war the southern plantation consisted of 

 the owner, from 20 to 200 slaves, and several 

 hundred acres of land. . . . One of the most strik- 

 ing features in connection with plantations such 

 as these is their large area. . . . Between 1850 and 

 1860 the average size of the plantations in the 

 cotton growing South increased from 427 to 431 

 acres; leaving out Texas, whose ranches in 1850 

 were not really farms, the increase was from 353 

 to 408 acres, or 15.7 per cent/' 



"The situation of the farming population in 

 the black belt to-day shows four well defined eco- 

 nomic classes. There is the farm laborer who 

 receives for his work, at the end of the year, cer- 

 tain fixed wages, varying from $30 to $60. 

 Some receive also a house, perhaps with a garden 

 spot, and have their supplies of food and clothing 

 advanced ; in such cases the supplies must be paid 



1 Negroes in the United States, Bulletin 8, Bureau of the 

 Census, pp. 78 to 82. 



253 



