FARM OWNERSHIP AND TENANCY IN TEXAS. 3 
because it was desired to get a true cross-sectional view of tenure 
in the area. 
The Black Land Prairie is high, gently rolling, and well drained, 
with numerous streams crossing it from west to east. Along the 
larger streams are wide, flat bottom lands, many of which are not yet 
cleared of their heavy growths of timber, and which are subject to 
disastrous overflows when in crops and not protected by levees. The 
outstanding topographical feature of the area is the "White Rock 
Escarpment," extending near the western edge from Sherman to 
Austin. This bluff is more or less pronounced, rising 300 feet above 
the plain at its highest point in Dallas County, and much of the 
untillable land of the black land is adjacent to it. 5 
An authority on the soils of this region has described them as 
follows : 6 
The prairies are characterized by black or dark-colored soils derived from a 
substructure of calcareous marl or chalky limestones, and are the most fertile 
of the whole Trans-Mississippi region. This fact, together with the compara- 
tive scarcity of untillable land, enables it to support the densest agricultural 
population of Texas. 
The black land soils are very sticky when plowed wet and very 
hard and cloddy when plowed too dry, but the clods readily break up 
when rains fall upon them. During droughts the soil is apt to 
crack if not frequently cultivated, but when cultivated enough to 
keep cracks from forming, it ranks among the most drought-resistant 
soils in the State. 
The climate of the black land is almost ideally suited to cotton 
growing, and, on account of the relative importance of this crop, 
which is highly susceptible to cold, to wet weather, and to drought, 
unusual weather conditions radically affect the income of the aver- 
age black-land farmer. 
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS. 
Tenancy increased most rapidly in this area when the character of 
farming was changing from stock raising to crop growing. 
The greatest increase in land values occurred in the past two 
decades, during which time there was relatively no increase in the 
number of operators in the black land. This rapid increase in land 
values was primarily the result of an increase in the productive 
capacity of the land, measured in terms of dollars. 
No evidence was found of increasing concentration of ownership 
of land in the area. 
5 See Part VII, 21st Annual Report of the U. S. Geological Survey, p. 68 ; also Univer- 
sity of Texas Bulletin No. 1818, The Geology of Dallas County, pp. 9-10. 
6 R. T. Hill, 21st Annual Report of the U. S. Geological Survey, Part VII, p. 60. 
