26 



CIRCULAR 100, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



ers that are colored in the three States by counties for 1925. Table 

 3 gives in detail the percentages of white and colored farmers, the 

 percentages of tenants, croppers, etc., who are white and colored. 

 From one-fourth of the farmers in Virginia to over a half in South 

 Carolina are colored. For the tobacco section alone the relative num- 

 ber of colored farmers is larger. Tenancy among colored farmers 

 is more frequent than among the whites, the percentage running as 

 high as 80 in South Carolina. In Virginia 65.4 per cent of the ten- 

 ants are whites and 34.6 per cent colored; in South Carolina these 

 percentages are reversed, being 35.8 per cent white tenants and 64.2 

 per cent colored. 



Table 3. — Race and tenure status of the farmers of Virginia, North Carolina, 

 and South Carolina, January 1, 1925 





All farmers who are- 



White 

 farm- 

 ers 

 who 

 are 

 ten- 

 ants 



Col- 

 ored 

 farm- 

 ers 

 who 

 are 

 ten- 

 ants 



Tenants by 



Croppers by 





State 



White 



Col- 

 ored 



Tenants 



race 



race 



ants 

 who 

 are 





Total 



White 



Col- 

 ored 



White 



Col- 

 ored 



White 



Col- 

 ored 



crop- 

 pers 



Virginia 



Per 

 cent 

 74.1 

 71.4 

 47.6 



Per 

 cent 

 25.9 

 28.6 

 52.4 



Per 

 cent 

 25.2 

 45.2 

 65.1 



Per 

 cent 

 16.5 

 24.5 

 23.3 



Per 



cent 



8.7 



20.7 



41.8 



Per 

 cent 

 22.3 

 34.3 

 49.0 



Per 

 cent 

 33.8 



72.7 

 79.7 



Per 

 cent} 

 65.4 

 54.1 

 35.8 



Per 

 cent 

 34.6 

 45.9 

 64.2 



Per 

 cent 

 55.4 

 41.9 

 30.2 



Per 



cent 

 44.6 

 58.1 

 69.8 



Per 



cent 

 32.0 



North Carolina. 



South Carolina 



40.9 

 41.2 



Census of Agriculture, 1925 (10, pt. 2, County Tables I). 



The percentages of the croppers who are colored in the different 

 States are Virginia, 44.6; North Carolina, 58.1; South Carolina, 

 69.8. The croppers are the more impecunious class of tenants 

 and are almost wholly cotton and tobacco growers. They tend 

 to change their residence more frequently than do owners or other 

 tenants, and they own very little property. Tenants and croppers 

 usually have very low standards of living. 



As compared with that in some other sections of the United States 

 the value of land in these three States is low. The soil requires 

 large quantities of expensive commercial fertilizer to be profitably 

 productive. Table 4 gives the average value of farm property per 

 farm according to the 1925 census of agriculture. 



Tobacco farms do not require a high capitalization of land and 

 equipment. The land is of fairly low valuation, and the buildings 

 are not expensive. The tobacco barns are usually made chiefly of 

 native timber of low local value. Little livestock or machinery is 

 needed, as tobacco requires much man labor and but little horse 

 labor. 



Despite the comparatively low capitalization of land and build- 

 ings, it seems difficult for the cropper or tenant to climb the agri- 

 cultural ladder to ownership of his farm. The son of a landless 

 farmer usually remains landless. This is more true among the 

 negroes than among the whites (7, p. 36). 



