232 HUMAN FACTORS IN COTTON CULTURE 



recreation. "Few families of any tenure class take vaca- 

 tions and but few more patronize movies or theaters." 

 It is interesting to note that approximately twice as 

 much is spent for tobacco and similar personal expenses 

 as for recreation. 42 About one out of six croppers own 

 automobiles to one out of two share tenants and three 

 out of four owners. Telephones cost less and are rela- 

 tively more in use. About one out of five croppers, half 

 the share tenants, and six to seven out of ten owners 

 have telephones. 43 All owners read periodicals and daily 

 papers, but 39.1 per cent of croppers reported no period- 

 icals whatever. 44 



In the schools it was found that 96.5 per cent of own- 

 ers' daughters were promoted for the school year as com- 

 pared with only 77.2 per cent of tenants' daughters; 

 and 88.6 per cent of owners' sons were promoted as 

 compared with only 65.6 per cent of tenants' sons. As 

 Sanders states, "the tenant's child is from six months to 

 a year behind the owner's child in grade attainments." 

 The enrollment of tenants' children reaches its lowest 

 stage during cotton-picking time in October, November, 

 and December. "This low enrollment ... is due to the 

 fact that tenants as a rule feel that they cannot afford 

 to hire their cotton picked and to the fact that the land- 

 lords expect, and sometimes demand, that renters' chil- 

 dren be put into the cotton fields in order to rush picking 

 as much as possible." The low enrollment for cotton ten- 

 ants' children during other parts of the year is due to 

 "the fact that children of tenants who move into the 

 school district are not enrolled the first part of the school 



., p. 54. /&., p. 55. 



"Ibid., p. 56. **Ibid., p. 59. 



