2 BULLETIN 337, U. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 



He is assured of a return of between 6 and 7 per cent on his invest- 

 ment where the land is operated by cash renters, no matter what the 

 yield or the tenant's labor income may be. 



Where the land is worked by share croppers or share renters the 

 landlord's rate of interest often falls below 6 per cent, but when the 

 yield is good and the tenant makes a good return, the rate of interest 

 sometimes rises to more than three times that amount. 



It appears that the landlord can make better money, on the aver- 

 age, when he rents his land on some system of shares. The average 

 rate of interest received by the landlord from share croppers was 

 13.6 per cent; from share renters, 11.8 per cent; and from cash 

 renters, 6.6 per cent. 



The holdings of share croppers are considerably smaller, on the 

 average, than those of share renters or of cash renters, and there are 

 few share croppers having as much as 25 acres in cotton, while about 

 one-third of the share renters and of the cash renters have at least 

 that acreage. The labor income of tenants increases directly with 

 the increase in cotton acreage, but the rate of interest on the land- 

 lord's investment appears to be but little affected by the size of the 

 holdings. 



The principal factor in determining the amount of the tenant's 

 labor income and the rate of the landlord's profits in this region is 

 the yield of cotton per acre. The relationship between yield of 

 cotton and labor income, however, is much closer on cash renters' 

 farms than on those of share croppers, while the effect of yield on 

 the landlord's profits is more apparent under the share cropping 

 than under the share renting or the cash renting system. The 

 tenant's incentive for securing a good crop is consequently greater 

 among those who rent for cash, but, on the other hand, the landlord 

 is more directly interested in the magnitude of the yield per acre on 

 the land of his share croppers. 



TERRITORY STUDIED. 



The agriculture of the Yazoo-Mississippi Delta 1 is conducted largely 

 on the plantation system. Under this system white owners let their 

 holdings in small tracts among negro tenants, and are very largely 

 guided in determining the number of acres assigned to each tenant, 

 and in deciding on the terms of the contract, by the known character 

 of the tenant, his reliability and his industry, and the size of his 

 family. • 



The problems of farm tenure in the Delta are not unl^te those 

 prevailing in other portions of the cotton belt, but are decidedly 



i The Yazoo-Mississippi Delta includes the following nine counties in Mississippi: Bolivar, Coahoma, 

 Issaquena, Leflore, Quitman, Sharkey, Sunflower, Tunica, and Washington, and adjoining parts of Holmes, 

 Tallahatchie, Warren, and Yazoo Counties. 



