104 Negro Migration 



immediately any assumption that it is due to inherent race 

 traits rather than to the environment, for the white popu- 

 laton is moving in the same direction. It was previously 

 noted that the increases in both white and colored popula- 

 tion for the various counties are very similar. 8 



Using the increase in total number of farms as the best 

 index of opportunity, we note that increase in farms corre- 

 sponds closely with increase in population (see also Table 

 17). This is shown graphically on Diagram I, which charts 

 the percentage increase 1900-1910 in farms operated by Ne- 

 groes and in the Negro population. The diagram is based 

 on the total increase in the groups of counties as combined 

 in Table 16. The fact that they vary so nearly together 

 shows that the presence or absence of opportunity for farm- 

 ers is a powerful factor in the rural population movement. 



8 See Footnote 1, Introduction. 



