10 



BULLETIX 1034, V. S. DEPAETMEXT OF AGEICULTUEE. 



season as clay laborers for chopping, hoeing, etc., and during the 

 cotton-picking season as contract laborers. 



The share croj)j)ers also live on the farms, but they assmne responsi- 

 bility for all the labor on the crops they grow. As pay for the labor 

 the}^ usually receive one-half of the crops, less one-half the expense 

 for fertilizer and ginning, while the operator furnishes all capital, 

 pays all expenses other than those paid by the cropper, and has full 

 supervision of the business. Because the share cropper furnishes 

 little but labor he bears a close relation to the wage hand, the only 

 difference being that he receives a share of the crops for his services 

 instead of cash wages. In this study the value of the croppers' share 

 of crops, less the expense paid by the croppers, has been counted as a 

 labor expense to the farm operator. This was found the more feasible 

 method because the farm operator's own labor, his buildings, equip- 

 ment, mules, and cash outlay are for the production of both wage 

 and cropper crops. Included in this study were 17 plantations in 1913 

 and 14 in 1918 which were operated bj^ managers hired to assume 

 entire management and direction of the farm operations, instead of 

 the owners. These farms were larger than the average ; 12 of them 

 in 1913 and 10 in 1918 had over 450 acres of tilled land. The man- 

 agers of these farms were considered in place of the owners, thereby 

 making the farms comparable with others of similar size. 



SIZE OF FARMS. 



The white farmers, as a rule, operated the large farms. (See Table 

 1.) One out of every five had over 250 acres of tilled land, as against 

 one in 50 of the colored farmers. More than one-half of the white 

 farmers, but less than one- fourth of the colored farmers, had over 

 100 acres of crops. More than one-half of the owners, but less than 

 one-fourth of the tenants, had over 100 acres of crops. 



Table 1. 



-Size of farms operated bi/ icliite and colored aimers and tenants, 

 Sumter County, Ga., 1913-1918?- 





Year. 



Number of fanns under each size-group. 







50 tiUed 

 acres 



or 

 under. 



51 to 



100 



tiUed 



acres. 



101 to 



150 

 tiEed 

 acres. 



151 to 



250 

 tiUed 

 acres. 



251 to 



450 

 tiUed 

 acres. 



Over 



450 

 tilled 

 acres. 



Total 

 farms. 





1913 

 191S 

 1913 

 1918 

 1913 

 1918 

 1913 

 1918 



36 

 37 

 17 

 10 

 3 

 9 

 96 

 62 



64 

 83 

 17 

 23 

 13 

 20 

 68 

 69 



56 



10 

 12 

 6 

 7 



IS 

 26 



47 

 50 

 3 

 6 

 5 

 9 

 4 

 8 



30 

 32 

 2 

 5 

 3 

 2 



35 

 35 



i' 



1 



26S 



White tenants 



280 

 49 





56 

 31 





48 

 186 





1 





166 



1 Since the farms in this area show a wide range in size and a wide variation in the proportion of the total 

 area in woodland and crop land, the number of acres of tilled land was found a better measure of the size 

 of business than that of the total farm area. In all tables in this bulletm where the farms are grouped by 

 size the acres of tilled land are used as the basis. 



