2 BULLETIN 659, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



crops which the fanner was compelled to buy at high prices. Be- 

 sides, a system of one-crop farming as herein described exhausts 

 soil fertility, and in the ease of cotton it provides no means for 

 employment of the fanner's time during a considerable part of the 

 year. Incidentally, dependence upon cotton as a sole source of in- 

 come with which to purchase the ordinary family and farm needs 

 often results in denying the family a sufficient variety of wholesome 

 food. During a considerable period of good prices for cotton this 

 system is profitable if one considers profit to consist only of the 

 returns from the year's operations; but during another period, with 

 low prices prevailing, such a system would be disastrous. This 

 survey, therefore, is to be taken as an analysis of the kind of farm 

 described and as pointing the way to the, best results under that 

 system. It is not to be taken as an indorsement of the system, which 

 has many evils, as appears incidentally throughout the bulletin, and 

 as will be more apparent if the system is extended through a long 

 period. 



DEFINITIONS AND EXPLANATION OF TERMS 



Owner operator. — This system of tenure is one in which the farm 

 property is owned \>} T the operator or manager of the farm. lie 

 lives on the farm, and in Ellis County generally does a considerable 

 amount of manual labor. 



Owner with cropper. — This system is similar to the owner opera- 

 tor, except that croppers, who receive half the crop which they pro- 

 duce, are utilized in place of hired or wage labor. 



Owner additional. — This system is one in which the owner oper- 

 ator rents some additional land, either for cash or share rent, and 

 operates this additional land with the owned land as a unit. 



Owner additional with cropper. — A few farms of the owner addi- 

 tional system were found on which cropper labor was utilized on a 

 part or all the owned land. These farms are limited in number. 



Share rent. — This system is one under which all the land is share- 

 rented by the operator, who pays the landlord a stipulated propor- 

 tion of all crops produced. The landlord's customary share is one- 

 fourth of the cotton and one-third of all other crops. 



Share-cash rent. — This system is similar to the share rent, except 

 that a part or all the land on which crops other than cotton are 

 raised is paid for in cash rent. All land rented for cotton is on 

 shares. 



Independent cropper. — This system is either a system of labor or 

 tenure, according to the viewpoint. In all systems where croppers 

 are utilized the owners furnish the land, a tenant house, and generally 

 a garden patch for the use of the cropper and his family. The land- 



