FAKM OWNERSHIP AND TENANCY IN TEXAS. 3 



because it was desired to get a true cross-sectional view of tenure 

 in the area. 



• The Black Land Prairie is high, gently rolling, and well drained, 

 with numerous streams crossing it from west to east. Along the 

 larger streams are wide, flat bottom lands, many of which are not yet 

 cleared of their heavy growths of timber, and which are subject to 

 disastrous overflows when in crops and not protected by levees. The 

 outstanding topographical feature of the area is the "White Rock 

 Escarpment," extending near the western edge from Sherman to 

 Austin. This bluff is more or less pronounced, rising 300 feet above 

 the plain at its highest point in Dallas County, and much of the 

 untillable land of the black land is adjacent to it. 5 



An authority on the soils of this region has described them as 

 follows : 6 



The prairies are characterized by black or dark-colored soils derived from a 

 substructure of calcareous marl or chalky limestones, and are the most fertile 

 of the whole Trans-Mississippi region. This fact, together with the compara- 

 tive scarcity of untillable land, enables it to support the densest agricultural 

 population of Texas. 



The black land soils are very sticky when plowed wet and very 

 hard and cloddy when plowed too dry, but the clods readily break up 

 when rains fall upon them. During droughts the soil is apt to 

 crack if not frequently cultivated, but when cultivated enough to 

 keep cracks from forming, it ranks among the most drought-resistant 

 soils in the State. 



The climate of the black land is almost ideally suited to cotton 

 growing, and, on account of the relative importance of this crop, 

 which is highly susceptible to cold, to wet weather, and to drought, 

 unusual weather conditions radically affect the income of the aver- 

 age black-land farmer. 



SUMMARY OF FINDINGS. 



Tenancy increased most rapidly in this area when the character of 

 farming was changing from stock raising to crop growing. 



The greatest increase in land values occurred in the past two 

 decades, during which time there was relatively no increase in the 

 number of operators in the black land. This rapid increase in land 

 values was primarily the result of an increase in the productive 

 capacity of the land, measured in terms of dollars. 



No evidence was found of increa ing concentration of ownership 

 of land in I he area. 



11 S'f; Part vii, 21at Annual Report <.r th< r. S. Geological Survey, p. 68; also Quiver 

 Bity of Texas Bulletin No. 1818, The Geology of Dallaa County, pp, 9 LO, 

 •B. T. inn. •_'! i Annual Report of the I eal Survey, Part VII, p, 80, 



