FARMING IN YAZOO-MISSISSIPPI DELTA. 



different from those prevailing in other sections of the United States. 

 Broadly speaking, it may be said that the different methods of tenure 

 in this region represent the various attempts on the part of planters 

 to secure a satisfactory supply of labor to grow their cotton, and on 

 the part of tenants to secure the best return for their ability to 

 produce that crop. 



This region, which comprises about 6,400 square miles, is bounded 

 on the west by the Mississippi River and on the east by a line of 

 bluffs, and extends from just below Memphis on the north to Vicks- 

 burg on the south. Prior to the erection of the levees the Delta was 

 frequently subject to inundations. The soil of the region is as fertile 

 as is to be found anywhere on the continent. The value of farm 

 land per acre is between $25 and $50 in these counties, according to 

 the census of 1910, as compared with an average of $14 for the entire 

 State. This fertile soil, together with a suitable climate, makes the 

 Delta an excellent cotton region, and, in 1909, 76 per cent of the crop 

 land in the nine counties was devoted to this crop, 21.2 per cent being 

 in corn and only 2.8 per cent in all other crops. 



The problem of tenancy is especially important in the Yazoo- 

 Mississippi Delta, as will be seen from Table I. 



Table I. 



[From the Reports of the Thirteenth Census.] 



Yazoo- 

 Missis- 

 sippi 

 Delta. 



Per cent tenants form of all farmers 



Average acres per farm operated by — 

 Owners — 



Total 151.6 127.3 123.4 



Improved 78.5 45.8 54.8 



Tenants — 



Total 96.2 34.5 23.1 



Improved 66.4 25.5 21.6 



Per cent negroes form of rural population « 14.5 57.5 88.3 



Per cent negro tenants form of all tenants 23. 7 59. 1 95. 4 



Per cent of negro farmers that are — 



Owners (including part owners and managers) 24.7 15.2 5.5 



Tenants 75.3 84.8 94.5 



« Population outside of places having at least 2,500 inhabitants. 



Ninety-two per cent of the farms in the Delta were operated by 

 tenants. The average size of farms operated by owners was 123 

 acres, of which about two-fifths was improved land while the average 

 size of the tenant farms was only 23 acres, nearly all improved. The 

 average investment in land and buildings on farms operated by owners 

 was $5,326 and on farms operated by tenants $1,230. Seven-eighths 

 of the rural population is negro, and negroes form 95.4 per cent of all 

 the farm tenants. 



United 



Missis- 



States 



sippi. 



37.0 



66.1 



151.6 



127.3 



78.5 



45.8 



96.2 



34.5 



66.4 



25.5 



14.5 



57.5 



23.7 



59.1 



24.7 



15.2 



75.3 



84.8 



