AROUND THE YEAE WITH COTTON 163 



weather, it is three weeks until the squares open into cot- 

 ton blooms. The blossom resembles that of the hollyhock, 

 first cream colored, next pink and red. On the third day 

 the bloom withers and drops to the ground, leaving a 

 little pod. If the southern sun shines on, the folk saying 

 has it right: "It takes six weeks from the bloom to the 

 grown boll." 



The routine of the cotton cropper and tenant is incom- 

 plete without an account of the activities of the landlord, 

 the plantation owner, and the supply merchant during 

 the growing season. In general, it is safe to state that the 

 landlord living in town visits the tenant when he fears 

 the crop is being neglected; the tenant visits the land- 

 lord when he wants to ask for something, be it wire 

 screens on the window or more seed for planting. The 

 tenant's every trip to town on Saturday is occasion for 

 a conference. But if the trips become too frequent the 

 landlord is likely to suggest that he is neglecting the 

 crop. Sunday is occasion for the vigilant landlord to visit 

 his farm, walk over his acres, and inspect the crop. The 

 tour often ends with a visit to the tenant's shack and 

 much good advice. The advent of the boll weevil caught 

 tenants and croppers unprepared, and the landlords and 

 managers have supervised the fight in many cases. 



The plantation manager or owner keeps a closer tab 

 on his renters than the town landlord. Negro croppers 

 in the Black Belts and the Deltas have more of the status 

 of hired men paid with a share of the crop than of ten- 

 ants. They are under close supervision, and on some 

 plantations the work stock is returned to central farms 

 at the close of the day to be fed and secured from thence 

 in the morning. The routine in planting, fertilizing, and 

 chopping is standardized, and each cropper and his fam- 



