MET&ODS OF RENTING LAND 325 



landlord gets a larger share of hay sold than he does of 

 potatoes or other laborious crop. 1 



All sorts of variations occur as a result of bargaining. 

 The landlord may get half the eggs. The tenant may get 

 all the eggs and furnish feed for hens, or he may get per- 

 mission to keep a certain number of hens on undivided 

 feed. On 109 farms in one county in New York, there 

 were only a very few leases that were exactly alike, yet the 

 general principle was that labor of men, horses, and ma- 

 chinery offset land, everything else being divided equally. 



In sections where little stock is kept, the tenant some- 

 times gets permission to keep a little stock on undivided 

 feed. 



As live-stock increases in the newer regions, the tendency 

 is for the landlord to share in stock or rent for cash. 



207. Everything furnished by landlord. The com- 

 mon system of rental to negroes and Mexicans in the 

 Southern States is for the landlord to furnish everything 

 and get one-third or half the cotton. The exact share 

 varies according to the soil in different regions. A man 

 who rents in this way is sometimes called a " share hand." 

 The tenant merely does the work with the landlord's 

 mule and machinery. Often the landlord runs a store 

 from which the tenant buys his food and clothing on time. 

 The limit that he is allowed to buy is determined by what 

 the landlord thinks the tenant's share of the crop is likely 

 to be worth. By this system, the tenant is always in debt 

 and rarely saves anything. Of course, there are excep- 

 tions. An increasing number of negroes are furnishing 

 their mule and machinery and getting a larger share of 

 the crop, but the majority are " share hands." 



208. Systems too rigid. Too little attention is given 



i New York, Cornell Bulletin 295, p. 540. 



