FARM MANAGEMENT IN SUMTER COUNTY, GA. 43 



Practically the same amount of labor was used per crop acre under 

 each tenure but the white farmers, and especially the white owners, 

 got higher yields than did the colored farmers. 



The white farmers hired 84 per cent of their labor each year ; the 

 white tenants, 61 per cent ; colored owners about 50 per cent, and the 

 colored renters only 20 per cent. 



The cost of hired labor, family labor, and the farmer's own labor 

 increased in about the same proportions, being about 40 to 50 per 

 cent higher in 1918 than in 1913. Cropper labor in 1918, owing to 

 the increased price of cotton, was double the cost in 1913. 



The share-croppers working under the supervision of white opera- 

 tors received higher returns than those working under the super- 

 vision of colored operators, owing mainly to the difference in yields. 



CHOICE OF ENTERPRISES. 



When conditions affecting the agriculture of a region remain stable 

 for a long period, local agricultural practice in the long run tends to 

 become approximately what it should be to insure the best results, 

 though the practice which gives the best immediate returns sometimes 

 unfavorably affects soil fertility. Wlien conditions change so that 

 change in farm organization is warranted, farmers ultimately adapt 

 their farm business to the new conditions. 



In a study of the analysis of the farming business in Sumter 

 County for the two periods 1913 and 1918 we have seen that farmers 

 have been confronted with conditions that have made necessary some 

 change in farm organization and farm practice, though not in type 

 of farming, since cotton is still the leading enterprise of the area, 

 and from all indications undoubtedly will continue to be. While the 

 other enterprises which the farmers were stressing more in 1918 than 

 1913 may be distinctly profitable when occupying a minor position 

 in the business, there is likelihood of their becoming distinctly un- 

 profitable if made major enterprises on many farms. In this connec- 

 tion it is of interest to consider data regarding production per farm, 

 prices, and diversity. 



PRODUCTION PER FARM. 



While it is important that a farm business be so organized as to 

 contribute directly to the farmer's living, a farm can not be consid- 

 ered profitable until it is yielding enough products for sale to main- 

 tain itself adequately as a business organization. By this is meant 

 that farm receipts must be sufficient not only to cover the yearly cash 

 outlay, but to pay for the labor and supervision of the farmer and 

 members of his family, as well as interest on capital. 



Table 22 shows wide differences existing among the different 

 classes of farmers in Sumter County in production per farm, owing 



