630 AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS 



of the corn raised on bushel-rented farms is fed on the land belonging 

 to the landlord, the corn is hauled off the farms where it is produced 

 and fed on a central farm, where one set of buildings is used for keep- 

 ing all the stock. Generally, the manure is not returned to the land 

 that produced the corn, but is hauled out on the land near the feed lot. 



199. TENANT SYSTEMS AT THE SOUTH 



a) IN MISSISSIPPI 1 

 BY E. A. BOEGER' 



Three general systems of renting land, with many variations, are 

 practiced hi the Yazoo-Mississippi Delta, each of the systems having 

 advocates among planters and among tenants. On large plantations 

 all three of the systems are sometimes found side by side. The main 

 points of the three systems are described in the following paragraphs: 



Half-and-half system (share croppers). Under this system the 

 tenant supplies the labor and one-half of the fertilizers, when any are 

 used, while the landlord furnishes the land, a cabin, a garden plot, 

 all the tools, the work animals and their feed, the seed, one-half of 

 the fertilizers used, and the tenant's fuel wood, which the tenants cut 

 from the nearest available woodland, using the landlord's mules for 

 hauling. Each party under this system receives half the crop and 

 each pays for his half of the ginning, bagging, and ties; If, as happens 

 occasionally, another crop besides corn and cotton is grown, it is also 

 divided equally between landlord and tenant. Cowpeas are fre- 

 quently planted in the corn at the last cultivation with the seed 

 usually furnished by the landlord. In this case all the hay, if cured, 

 goes to the landlord. The tenant is often allowed to pasture it if he 

 has a cow or other stock. The landlords exercise careful supervision 

 over the share croppers, who are locally not considered as tenants at 

 all, but as laborers hired to do the work in return for half the crop and 

 the use of a cabin. 



Sometimes under this system the tenant pays cash for the use of 

 the land not planted in cotton and for the use of the planter's equip- 

 ment in working it. In such cases the tenant receives all the crops 

 raised in this manner. 



Share renting system. Under this system the tenant furnishes his 

 own work stock and feeds it, and also supplies tools, seeds, and all 

 labor, while the owner provides the land, the buildings, and the fuel. 



1 From Bulletin 337, United States Department of A gricullure, p. 6. 



1 E. A. Goldenweiser, joint author. 



