FARM-MANAGEMENT STUDY IN ANDERSON CO., S. 0. 



9Q 



yields or by organizing the farm so the unit of organization can work 

 at its optimum capacity. On the farms visited in this survey the 

 combination of enterprises in increasing the per cent return on the 

 investment is now only one-fourth as important as yields and only 

 three-fourths as important as the crop area per work animal. How- 

 ever, because of the importance of the combination of enterprises in 

 the past, and the continual efforts that will be made to find a more 

 profitable type, this factor will be discussed at some length. Fur- 

 thermore, the introduction of a new crop or a sudden change in 

 economic conditions may make the combination of enterprises the 

 most important factor in determining success. 1 



CHANGES IN THE TYPE OF AGRICULTURE IN ANDERSON COUNTY. 



Within the last three-quarters of a century Anderson County has 

 changed from grain and live-stock farming to cotton farming. In 

 1840 grain and live stock predominated even to a greater degree than 

 cotton does to-day. In Table XVIII the census data showing 

 changes in the agriculture from 1840 to 1910 are given, and in Tables 

 XIX and XX the relative importance of the principal crops and the 

 various kinds of livestock are shown. More of the land is now in 

 cultivation than in 1840, primarily because of the increase in popu- 

 lation. Of the land devoted to cotton, corn, oats, and wheat in 1840, 

 cotton was planted on 12.8 per cent, corn on 69.9, oats on 7, and 

 wheat on 10.3 per cent. In 1910 cotton occupied 63.3 per cent, corn 

 25.9, oats 8.4, and wheat 2.4 per cent of the total land devoted to 

 these four crops. The positions of cotton and corn have been 

 reversed, while oats on the average occupies about the same position 

 and wheat a much lower place than it did in 1840. The greatest 

 change in the type of agriculture took place from 1870 to 1880, 

 when the percentage of land planted in cotton more than doubled, 

 increasing from 21.7 to 43.5 per cent, while corn decreased from 

 61.8 per cent to 35.5 per cent. 



-Census data showing changes in the agriculture of Anderson County, 

 S. C, 1840 to 1910. 



Table XVIII. 



1850 



1870 



1880 



1990 



1900 



192, 820 



220, 406 



246,933 



43.0 



50.3 



57.0 



61, 060 



100, 960 



123, 992 



21, 897 



41, 530 



41, 679 



49, 953 



58, 055 



58, 507 



492, 646 



547, 217 



596, 140 



12, 776 



19, 288 



8,862 



94,613 



163, 231 



76, 990 



16, 754 



14, 558 



17, 164 



101, 950 



81, 818 



IIS, 010 



5,585 



6,761 



8,515 



11,816 



13, 139 



14, 876 



3,698 



1,730 



602 



10, 695 



12, 178 



12, 360 



1910 



Improved acres in farms 



Per cent of land in farms im- 

 proved 



Cott - =:: 



c - =:: 



<>■*■ {SS5:: 



^at {££;; 



Horses and mules 



Cattle 



Sheep 



Swine 



8,519 



178,455 



38.7 



'"5," 003' 



'820*549 



133,249 96,228 



31.1 



23.9 



69, 9S8 



209,067 



3,758 5,274 

 579,682 j 409,' 688 

 "2S,'76i'|"34,"2i3 



106, 105 



5,626 



18, 499 



10, 387 



36,381 



120, 3S2 

 5,796 

 19, 215 

 13, 135 

 43, 242 



95,065 I 

 4, 817 

 17,398 1 

 11,951 

 26,058 1 



77, 169 

 3,946 

 11,337 

 10, 534 

 16, 167 



260, 546 



58.6 



133,343 



55, SSI 



54,489 



663, 264 



17, 804 



277, 702 



4,891 



3S,947 



10, 742 



18,530 



245 



11,163 



1 An illustration of the latter is the indigo industry in South Carolina. When a substitute for indigo 

 was discovered indigo farming immediately became unprofitable. Increasing the yield would have been 

 of no avail. The big problem of the farmers was to find a,new combination of enterprises suitable for the 

 conditions, and until this was done the farms remained unprofitable. 



