48 BULLETIN 1034, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
In all comparisons of farms with low and high percentages of the 
crop area in cotton higher earnings are indicated in favor of the 
farms with the higher percentages in cotton. This would seem to 
indicate that while other enterprises are undoubtedly profitable when 
occupying a minor place in the organization of these farms, in all 
probability they would not be as profitable as cotton if made the 
major sources of income. Generally speaking,.the data for both 1913 
and 1918 indicate that the larger proportion of crop area that can 
be devoted to cotton, after growing most of the feed, rations, and 
products for family use, the greater the farm earnings. 
Diversity is sometimes indicated by the percentage of receipts 
derived from the various enterprises. When the farms are grouped 
in this respect, the indications are the same as when they are classi- 
fied according to percentage of crop area in cotton. Fewer of the 
farms with low percentage of receipts from cotton had relatively 
high earnings than of the farms with high percentage of receipts 
from cotton. However, there seems to be a place in the agriculture 
of Sumter County for a few fairly highly diversified farms. Some 
such farms were included in this study each year, and some of these 
were as successful as the better cotton farms. 
The character of the diversity may be indicated by the alates 
other than cotton, which returned 10 per cent or more of the farm 
receipts. Of the enterprises so reporting in 1913 hogs (on 8 per cent 
of the farms) and corn (on 5 per cent) were the leading enterprises. 
These were followed by oats, poultry, and outside labor, each return- 
ing over 10 per cent on 2 per cent of the farms; hay, cattle, woodlot 
products, and machine work on 1.5 per cent, and sweet potatoes and 
cane sirup each on one farm. 
In 1918 hogs returned 10 per cent or more of the farm receipts 
on 33 per cent of the farms; peanuts on 17 per cent, corn, on 8 per 
cent; outside labor, cattle, and tobacco on 2 per cent; and hay, sweet 
potatoes, cane sirup, truck, wheat, woodland products, and machine 
work each on one farm. 
It is of interest in connection with a study of the changes in Sum- 
ter County toward a greater diversity of income to study also some 
of the changes in crop acreage and amount of live stock in the whole of 
Georgia for the past ten years. (See Table 26 and Plate III.) Over 
this 10-year period the lowest acreages in cotton were for the years 
1915 and 1920. For the other eight years the cotton area shows only a 
slight variation from year to year. The acreage of corn shows a 
marked increase over the 10-year period. Oats increased to 1915, 
and since that time the acreage has been considerably reduced. The 
hay acreage has been greatly increased. Peanuts occupy about the 
same area as wheat, and sweet potatoes show a marked increase in 
acreage. 
