16 



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



by owners with cropper labor, and 87.9 per cenl is raised on share- 

 rented land by wage labor. 



Table IV. Icreagi and, yield of cotton under different tenures (114 farms, 

 Ellis County, Tex., in 1014 ,. 



Acreage .' 



i er cenl of total 



Yield per acre (pound:; lini ) 



wage 

 col ton. 



3,922 



■I(U 



257 



Share- 



ICIll 



cotton. 



3,707 



37.9 



229 



Cropper 

 cotton. 



2, 152 

 22.0 



231 



All 

 coil on. 



'.<. 7^7 



100.(1 



211 



The owner-wage cotton gave the highest yield per acre — 257 pounds 

 of lint. Cropper cotton yielded 231 pounds and the share-rented 

 cotton produced 229 pounds of lint per acre. The fact that cotton 

 raised by owners with wage labor yielded best is accounted for partly 

 by the fact that the crop received closer oversight than that produced 

 by cropper labor. Further, the owned land is slightly better in 

 quality than share-rented land, the estimated rent of owner-operated 

 land being $5.19 per acre, while that of rented land is $4.92 per acre. 



Table V shows the cost of producing cotton under different tenures 

 and under different labor systems. On 69 farms where owners pro- 

 duce cotton with wage labor, the cost is 8.2 cants per pound. The cost 

 of the owner's half of the crop produced by cropper labor on 24 farms 

 is 9.4 cents per pound, while the cropper's half costs the cropper only 

 6.8 cents per pound. On 49 farms where cotton land is rented on 

 shares the cost to the landlord for his share of the crop is 8.1 cents 

 and the cost to the tenant for his share is 8..") cents per pound. On 

 these 49 farms four landlords received one-third of the cotton pro- 

 duced bv the tenants, while 45 landlords received one-fourth. 



Table V. — Average <-<>xi of cotton per pound under different tenures and labor 

 systems (114 farms, Ellis County, Tex.). 





Owner- 

 wage. 



Share-renl wage. 



Cropper. 



A ver- 





Land- 

 lord. 



Tenanl 





( iv, ner- 

 oper- 

 ator. 



('nip- 

 per. 



21 



\\ er- 

 age. 



age of 



all 

 col ton. 





69 



8.2 



49 



s. 1 



49 

 8.5 



19 



8. 1 



21 

 9. 1 



24 



8. l 



1 12 





8.3 











From the standpoint of cost of production it is seen that the cus- 

 tomary rental of one-fourth of the cotton is reasonable and fair. In 

 the half-and-half division of the cotton produced by cropper labor 

 the heavier cost fulls on the owner or operator, the difference being 

 2.6 cents per pound. . The margin of profit of the owner's share of 



