STUDY OF FARMING IN SUMTER COUNTY, OKORGIA. 



55 



of cotton returned their operators an average labor income of but 

 $430. Where the cotton yields were over two-thirds of a bale per 

 acre, these large farms brought their operators an average labor in- 

 come of over $4,000. The possibility for a larger volume of busi- 

 ness on these larger farms gives greater opportunity to increase 

 profits by increasing yields than does the limited business of the 

 small farm. 



Table XXV is strikingly interesting in that it brings out the fact 

 that even though the larger farms do make much higher incomes 

 on the average, many of them yield little or no income. Size of busi- 

 ness is undoubtedly a big factor in successful farming, but it is 

 just as big a factor in failure. The large business conducted without 

 attention to yield of crops and management of labor may result in 

 loss proportionate to the size of the business. 



In Table XXVI the relation of size of farm and yield of cotton 

 per acre to labor income is shown for the colored tenants. 



Table XXVI. — Relation of size of farm and yield, of cotton per acre to laoor 

 income on 186 farms operated by colored tenants, Sumter County, Ga. 





Number of farms and average labor income in each specified yield of cotton per 

 acre group. 



rilled acres per farm. 



One-third bale and 

 less. 



One-third to one- 

 half bale. 



Over one-half bale. 



Total. 





Number 

 of farms. 



Average 



labor 

 income. 



Number 

 of farms. 



Average 



labor 

 income. 



Number 

 of farms. 



Average 



labor 

 income. 



Number 

 of farms. 



Average 



labor 

 income. 



50 acres and less 



34 

 20 



100 

 124 



44 

 48 



191 

 462 



18 

 22 



389 

 662 



96 

 90 



196 

 435 







All farms 



54 



109 



92 



332 



40 



539 



186 



312 



The farms are arranged into two size groups, that of 50 or less 

 tilled acres and that of over 50 tilled acres. Each of these two 

 groups is further divided into three groups, those with cotton yield- 

 ing one-third bale or less per acre, those with one-third to one-half 

 bale per acre, and those with over one-half bale per acre. 



In the case of the tenants with 50 or less tilled acres per farm, one- 

 third had cotton yielding one-third bale or less per acre, and made an 

 average labor income of only $100. The tenants in this same size 

 group with cotton yielding over one-half bale per acre made labor 

 incomes of $389 each. 



Out of the 90 tenants with over 50 tilled acres per farm, 20 with 

 cotton yielding one-third bale or less per acre, made a labor income 

 of only $124, while those whose cotton jaelds were over one-half bale 

 per acre had an average labor income of $662. 



Only about one-fifth of these tenants raised cotton yielding over 

 one-half bale per acre. The average labor income of these men was 

 $539. One out of every four had yields of one-third bale or less per 

 acre, and these made an average labor income of only $109. 



