FARM MANAGEMENT IN SUMTER COUNTY, GA. 



19 



as already pointed out, they had lower yields of cotton. However, 

 when the farms are classified in groups upon the basis of fertilizer 

 application a definite relation between the amount of fertilizer ap- 

 plied and yields returned each year is apparent. The quantity of 

 fertilizer used per acre was reduced 37 per cent. (See Table 6.) 



Table 5. — Amount of fertiliser applied per crop acre and yield of cotton and 

 corn, Sumter County, Oa. 



Fertilizer applied. 





Fertilizer 



Yield per acre. 







Number 



applied 







Tilled 



Labor 



of 



per 







acres 



farms. 



crop acre. 



Lint 

 cotton. 



Corn. 



per farm. 







Pounds. 



Pounds. 



Bushels. 







37 



171 



228 



12 



157 



$20 



78 



257 



258 



13 



186 



250 



69 



350 



285 



14 



192 



428 



43 



443 



314 



17 



337 



739 



41 



620 



339 



18 



315 



1,108 



47 



64 



211 



12 



133 



914 



119 



153 



232 



13 



185 



841 



62 



243 



260 



14 



257 



2,270 



28 



357 



267 



15 



383 



3,777 



24 



525 



305 



20 



318 



4,921 



47 



155 



172 



8 



61 



214 



86 



250 



203 



8 



54 



331 



53 



350 



250 



11 



67 



443 



29 



79 



154 



8 



77 



798 



90 



151 



181 



11 



73 



1,066 



47 



249 



230 



12 



71 



1,428 



Per cent 

 return 



on 

 capital. 



By white o^^mers, 1913: 



200 pounds and less. 



201-300 pounds 



301-400 pounds 



401-500 pounds 



Over 500 poimds 



By white owners, 1918: 



100 pounds and less. 



101-200 pounds 



201-300 pounds 



301-400 pounds 



Over 400 pounds 



By colored tenants, 1913 



200 pounds and less. 



201-300 poimds 



Over 300 pounds 



By colored tenants, 1918 



100 pounds and less. 



101-200 pounds 



Over 200 pounds 



4.4 



5.8 

 6.5 

 6.3 

 7.7 



8.5 

 9.3 

 9.6 

 13.1 

 15.4 



One of the reasons for the lighter applications of fertilizer in 

 1918 was the higher cost per ton, but even with the advance in price 

 the heavier applications seem to have brought profitable gains, as 

 indicated by the higher average labor incomes and higher per cent 

 returned on capital of the farms making the heavier applications of 

 fertilizer. 



In case of the owners shown in this table, however, it should not 

 be inferred that this entire increase in labor income is due to in- 

 creased application of fertilizer, for it will be observed that those 

 farms applying the larger amount of fertilizer are the larger farms, 

 and for this reason alone would naturally be expected to return the 

 larger labor incomes. It undoubtedly is true that a number of fac- 

 tors aided in returning the higher labor incomes, but the fact that 

 the better farmers do use the larger applications of fertilizer would 

 seem to justify the practice. 



For comparison of the yields of the more important crops grown 

 in Sumter County with those for the entire State, and to aid in 

 determining the relation of the yields in 1913 and 1918 to those of 

 other years, crop yields for the State of Georgia, as reported by the 

 Bureau of Crop Estimates, are shown for the 10-year period 1911 



