BULLETIN 648, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Brooks County has long been noted for the amount and quality 

 of pork produced, much of which has brought a substantial premium 

 in the larger markets of this and adjoining States. Until recently, 

 practically all the pork was killed and cured on the farms; but a 

 packing plant is now in operation in an adjoining county, thus 

 providing a ready market for live stock on the hoof. 



Brooks County was organized in 1858. The pioneer settlers came 

 to this section largely from the older parts of the State early in the 

 last century, but it was not until the first railroad, the present 

 Atlantic Coast Line, was built, just prior to 1860, that settlement 

 was given an impetus. The older settlers came largely from northern 

 Georgia, the Carolinas, and Virginia. 



The direction and rate of the development of the agriculture of 

 the county are shown by the census data presented in Table 1. In 

 1860, 15.3 per cent of the land area was classed as improved farm 

 land, a percentage that increased through each succeeding decade to 

 36.9 per cent at the time of the last census. A large part of the county 

 is still covered by longleaf pine and other timber. 



Table I. — Census data. Brooks County, Ga. 





1860 



1870 



1880 



1890 



1900 



1910 









300 



394 



930 



1,176 



1,823 



2,646 









81.1 



18.8 



65.8 

 28.0 



83.9 

 27.4 



74.6 

 33.7 



87.6 

 37.4 



85.8 





43.0 







Per cent of land area in improved farm land . 



15.3 



18.4 



23.2 



25.2 



32.7 



36.9 





890 

 168 



550 

 152 



297 

 82 



209 

 70 



158 

 59 



106.6 





45.9 









SI. 05 

 4,954.00 



SI. 12 

 3,097.00 



S3. 79 

 1, 465. 00 



SI. 76 

 1,296.00 



S4. 65 

 1,219.00 



S14. 60 





2,377.00 





Per cent of farms operated by owners and 







66.2 

 14.4 



19.4 



62 9. 



15.7 



21.4 



50.3 

 35.9 



13.8 



41.5 









26.6 



Per cent of farms operated "by share ten- 







31.9 











657 



856 



14,797 



3,113 



491 



777 



8,196 



4,921 



823 



958 



13,032 



4,596 



956 



1,225 



11,319 



1,946 



1,192 



1,776 



11,170 



961 



1,205 



2,875 







14, 178 





610 









18, 629 

 62.1 



37.0 



11,087 

 28.3 



18.3 



17,243 

 18.5 



22.6 



22,766 

 19.4 



27.5 



29, 885 

 16.4 



27.8 



47,210 





17.8 



Number of swine per 100 acres improved • 

 land 



38.9 













21, 255 



6,288 



23,027 



173, 530 



14, 087 



163,862 



161 



879 



22,161 



9,194 



26, 157 



270, 978 



13. 225 



122, 775 



111 



565 



6,884 



91,685 



16,096 



7, 151 



38,428 



384,220 



11, 299 



104, 530 



116 



500 



10, 307 



196, 724 



34,065 



Cotton ■ jbaiesv::: 



4,406 



3,466 



13, 977 

 40, 121 



Vbushels. . 



223,3.53 



171,190 



546,760 

 9,512 



\bushels__ 



6,911 



45, 716 



143,120 

 279 



(.bushels.. 



1,914 



1,738 



1,900 

 14, 775 









365,395 











o It should be borne in. mind that in the census returns croppers are treated as farm operators, though in 

 reality they are wage hands receiving their wage in the form "of a share of the crop. The numbers of actual 

 farms are, therefore, considerably smaller than given in the table, and the average si£es of farms are cor- 

 respondingly larger. Most of the farmers classed as "share tenants "are in reality croppers. There are 

 but few share tenants, properly speaking, in Brooks County. 



