72 HUMAN FACTORS IN COTTON CULTURE 



and the operation of the gin and supply store. A gin me- 

 chanic is kept only during the active ginning season, but 

 if the plantation is fairly large a store manager is em- 

 ployed the year around. It is the business of the farm 

 manager to look after the work of tenant farmers and 

 the wage hands whom he delegates to the charge of an 

 overseer. In addition the hired white labor in care of 

 stock, blacksmith shops, and grist mills must be appor- 

 tioned. 61 



The modern cotton plantation is a unified organiza- 

 tion, but because of the very nature of agriculture there 

 are many difficulties in the way of centralized supervision. 

 The work, stock, tools, and the crop, whether belonging 

 to landlord or tenant, are looked after. In order to avoid 

 loss, the manager supervises the tenant's financial dealing 

 so that his living expenses advanced do not exceed his 

 productive capacity. Tenants may desert at critical 

 times, leaving debts unpaid and crops untended. These 

 contingencies require in the plantation manager a skill- 

 ful blend of tact and firmness in dealing with the human 

 elements on the plantation. 62 Men of such qualities are 

 hard to find and when found often work up to other busi- 

 ness opportunities or become plantation owners them- 

 selves. The average salary for plantation managers in 

 1920 was $2,100 a year and included free house rent, 

 food for the family, and privileges of pasture for live 

 stock. 63 Assistant managers and overseers received $1,550 

 and $1,000 with perquisites. The average cost of manage- 



61 Brannen, Relation of Land Tenure to Plantation Organization, 

 Dept. of Agriculture Bulletin 1269, p. 12. 



62 See ibid., p. 11 for a discussion of this topic. 



63 Ibid., pp. 16-17. 



