GeO we Re Gy le aA F Ov FRO EE Sia 
Social and Economic Situation 
RSS Oye on RAG ores ee 
As) NG EEN: Sepa Oiisisn aa 
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Population 
CCORDING to the census of 1940, Georgia had a 
total population of 3,124,000 people of whom 44 per 
cent were classed as“‘rural farm,” 22 percent as 
“rural nonfarm,” and 34 percent as‘‘ urban” (i.e., residing in 
cities.or other incorporated places having 2,500 inhabitants 
or more). Approximately 65 percent of the population is 
white and 35 percent colored. From 1920 to 1940 the 
Nation’s population increased 25 percent, while Georgia’s 
increased only 8 percent. Approximately three-fifths of 
the counties lost population during these two decades, 
with the agricultural counties in central Georgia the 
heaviest losers. 
In 1940, of an estimated 1,170,000 employed workers 
over 14 years of age in the State, nearly two-fifths were 
in agriculture. The 1937 Census of Manufactures lists 
70,000 workers in cotton-goods industries and 37,000 in 
forest-products industries, many of the latter being part- 
time farmers. The Census of Agriculture reports that in 
1939 farmers worked for pay away from their own 
farms 6 million man-days, many of them in forest 
industries. 
To preserve Georgia’s greatest resource—its people— 
opportunities for gainful employment must be found. 
According to the Special Census of Unemployment, taken 
in the fall of 1937, 255,000 employable Georgians, or nearly 
a quarter of all gainful workers, were totally or partially 
unemployed and wanting work. 
Land Use 
Although no more than an average of 39 of every 100 acres 
in the State are farm lands (table 2), from the standpoint 
of number of workers employed and value of the product, 
farming is by far the most important land use. 
According to the Census of Agriculture, in 1934 the 
cropland area harvested was 8,650,000 acres. For the 
most important crops the acreage was: 
Acres 
Corn (forgrain) ote disirercatte pee teen Goal nis ar pees 4,360,000 — 
Cottons s.) 5 S22 hye chee sels See Se a aMRe eee ee eae 2,160,000 al 
Allvhay and)sorshum| (foutorape)i soon dnitee oe ena 
Tobacco. 
The 38 million bushels of corn harvested had a farm | 
value of $32,000,000. Yields per acre of corn are very | 
light—about 9 bushels—as compared with 19 for the | 
United States as a whole. Cotton, the principal cash — 
crop, had a value of $61,000,000 (not including the seed); — 
the production, amounting to 971,000 bales, was at the — 
rate of 0.45 bale per acre, as compared with 0.35 for the 
United States. 
Marked and significant changes, however, are taking 
place in farming. The area of agricultural lands (i. e., the | 
area in farms less farm woodlands) slowly but steadily — 
Tasie 2.—Land area classified according to land use,’ 1934-36 
Proportion of 
Land use Area totallaren 
Nonforest: 
Cropland: 
In cultivation: Acres Percent 
10) (o Paka tenes yp ns a Pe Sa raha 11, 758, 900 31. 2 
INC se ee be ee ee a et ee 107, 800 
Out of cultivation: 
1 Kol (ers Sore ee sed fa as a ane 1, 205, 000 
Abandoned see 52-22 974, 300 
Improved pasture_______-.-_..____ 697, 500 
Total: farmlands = eae 14, 743, 500 
Other nonforesti2s- ee ee ae 1, 408, 000 
Total nonforest-<< 2-3 -s" ie ee ee 16, 151, 500 
orest i220 = ee a ee Oe ee lee PS AS SOR 
Total:all wses2). Asst = 2s ee eee 4 37, 584, 000 
1 See definitions of terms, p. 39. For detailed areas by survey units, see 
table 29, appendix. 
2 Includes roads, railroads, towns, villages, marshes, etc., and 409,000 acres 
in the unsurveyed areas. 
3 Includes 387,300 acres of forest not covered by the field survey and 9,700 
acres of nonproductive forest land. f 
4 The total land area of Georgia was recomputed and reported in the census | 
of 1940 as being 37,451,520 acres, or 132,480 acres less than the older census 
area used as a basis for calculation in this report. It is impractical to adjust 
the many tables and calculations based on area to the new figures. ¢ 
