FARM OWNERSHIP AND TENANCY IN TEXAS. 



11 



number of farm operators in the 19 black-land counties increased 

 during this decade scarcely one-half of 1 per cent. On the other 

 hand, land in farms increased 5.4 per cent. 



That the rapid increase in the value of land in this area was closely 

 related to the trend of the value of the products that were produced 

 on the land is indicated by Figure 2, which shows the movement of 

 land values, and the movement of the values of the corn, small grain, 

 and cotton produced on the land. 8 In general, the movement of the 

 curves are quite close together after 1890, when the present system 

 of agriculture became fairly well established. Were data on annual 

 land values available the curves would probably move more closely 

 together. 



300 



250 



200 



150 



100 



50 



MOVEMENT OF THE PRICES OF C0HK, OATS, 

 7TXEAT AND C0TT01I (WEIGHTED BY TOTAL 

 ACREAGE GROWN IN BLACK LAND.) 



1S69 1S7>+ 1279 188U 1S89 IS9H 1S99 190U 1909 1S14 1919 



Fig. 2. — Movement of the average value of land per acre and of the prices of the 

 principal products raised on farms, for the black land of Texas. 



The rapid increase in land values during the past two decades is, 

 therefore, primarily the results of an increase in the productive 

 power of the land (measured in terms of dollars), which has re- 

 flated itself in higher prices for land. However, war-time prices of 



■The index figure* of the value of the principal crops raised on the land were calculated 

 as follows: The average annual farm prices of corn, oats, wheat, and cotton, as given by 

 Yearbooks of the United States Department of Agriculture, were expressed in price per 

 pound. These prices were weighted by the respective acreage of these crops grown In the 

 black land at reported by each decennial United States Census, the acreages given by each 

 census being used to weight price* for I he f"ur years preceding the census year, for the 

 na year, and for the five years following the eenstis year. These weighted figures for 

 the price of each of the four crops were added together for each year, and their sum wan 

 the figure from which the bides figure, on the value of products raised in the black land 

 for each year, was calculated. The census year 1908 was taken as the base. 



