72 ECONOMICS OF LAND TENURE IN GEORGIA [y 2 



in regard to the size of negro holdings. 1 The following 

 table gives a resume of the figures on negro proprietor- 

 ships for thirty-one counties as presented in detail in the 

 appendix : 



1873 1880 1890 1902 



Under three acres 18 ioo 371 690 



3 to 10 39 131 579 760 



10 to 20 19 154 372 713 



20 to 50 88 434 678 1,068 



50 to 100 107 451 664 883 



100 to 175 130 327 444 619 



175 to 260 78 180 242 276 



260 to 500 29 69 116 153 



500 to 1000 6 17 39 50 



1000 acres and over 2 5 9 



Total number of owners . . . 514 1,865 3,510 5,221 



Total number of acres . . . .58,556 174,940 249,469 336,216 



Average size of holdings . . 113.9 98.3 71.0 64.3 



This table shows the average size of negro holdings 

 to be sixty-four acres, which is, as would be expected, 

 very much smaller than the average acreage of white 

 holdings. It is seen also that negro holdings on the 

 average have tended to grow smaller in size, just as 

 throughout the same period there has been a decrease in 

 the average size of white proprietorships. In the latter 

 case, however, the decreased size was brought about by 

 a multiplication of the smaller holdings at the expense of 

 the larger ones, whereas in the case of the negroes there 

 has been an increase in the number of large as well as 

 small holdings, though the latter have increased faster 



1 Neither the census of the United States nor the reports of the comp- 

 troller-general of the state throw any light on this subject. Just as in 

 the case of the ownership of land among the whites, information was 

 obtained from the county tax digests. Thirty-one counties were inves- 

 tigated for the years 1873, 1880, 1890 and 1902, and the negro holdings 

 were classified according to acreage as presented in the Appendix, 

 below. 



