130 RESOURCES OF SOUTHERN ALABAMA. 



Negroes specialize on cotton here more than the whites 

 do (and this seems to be the case throughout the cotton 

 belt), but do not usually make quite so much per acre in 

 spite of having more fertile soil on the average, the differ- 

 ence being perhaps due to the use of less prolific varieties or 

 less fertilizer. In corn, one of the simplest and most wide- 

 spread of all American crops, there is not much difference 

 between the two races. 



VARIATIONS IN SIZE OF FARMS. 



The figures for average size, value, equipment, expenses 

 and products of farms in the foregoing tables, obtained by 

 dividing the regional totals by the number of farms, tell 

 nothing about how many farms rank above and below the 

 average and how far the extremes depart from the average. 

 But we have data on this point for size of farms at several 

 different censuses. Those of 1860 and 1870 grouped all 

 farms in each county and state according to whether the 

 number of improved acres was below or above 3, 10, 20, 50, 

 100, 500 and 1,000 acres. In 1880 and 1890 the same num- 

 bers were used, but for total acreage instead of improved 

 acreage (although improved acreage seems the more signifi- 

 cant). In 1900 two additional divisions were inserted be- 

 tween 100 and 500 r namely at 175 and 260 acres; and in 

 1910 the same grouping was used, and given for white and 

 colored farmers separately in the South ("colored" includ- 

 ing a few Indians, etc., which however do not materially 

 affect the results) . 



The results for 1910 are probably typical enough to il- 

 lustrate the general principles at least, and from them have 

 been constructed for each of the regions here treated sta- 

 tistically a series of curves showing the range of size of 

 farms for white and colored farmers separately. (Fig. 28.) 

 In this diagram vertical distances represent acres and hori- 

 zontal distances percentages, and the distance from any 

 point on any curve to the right-hand edge corresponds with 

 the percentage of the total number of farms that are of the 

 size indicated or larger. The space between each curve and 

 the base-line may be regarded as filled with a multitude of 

 narrow columns, one for each farm, with lengths propor- 

 tional to the size of farms, and arranged in order of length. 



