106 ECONOMICS OF LAND TENURE IN GEORGIA [ I0 6 



The situation is about as follows : The future is sure 

 to demand the use of improved methods of production. 

 The landlord will not be willing to add more and better 

 machinery to his farm unless he either personally directs 

 the use of such improvements or employs some one to 

 do this managing work for him. When he increases the 

 capital invested in the industry and assumes the manage- 

 ment so as to lessen the risks and bring about the most 

 efficient combination of the labor and the capital he will 

 not be content with a plan of distribution that gives him 

 only one-half of the gains. That is not the way the eco- 

 nomic motive normally works, nor is it the way it is 

 likely to work in Georgia. 



So far as the farming industry alone is concerned there 

 are three main avenues leading away from the cropping 

 system, and each of them is offering substantial induce- 

 ments to those connected with the system to migrate 

 into another. One avenue leads the cropper to the direct 

 acquisition of a small farm for himself. To the extent 

 that he displays energy and foresight enough to acquire 

 such a proprietorship it is likely that he possesses ability 

 enough to manage his farming operations prudently, and 

 he therefore makes an important addition to the state's 

 citizenry. Some have already taken this route away 

 from the cropping system, some are doing so now, and 

 some will do so in the years that are to come. There 

 are no indications, however, that this avenue is to be 



security for the advance of fertilizers by the merchants was an offset to 

 the cropper's extra work in "putting in" the guano. 



It may be said, too, that some of the landlords now have the croppers 

 pay for one-half of the cotton seed planted. This is an illustration 

 of the plans that must be adopted when operating under rigid im- 

 putation principles. But there are limits to these schemes, and a pro- 

 gressive society soon passes beyond these limits and must discard the 

 system beset with such limitations. 



