FARM-MANAGEMENT STUDY IN ANDERSON CO., S. C. 
23 
yields or by organizing the farm so the unit of organization can work 
at its optimum capacity. On the farms visited in this survey the 
combination of enterprises in increasing the per cent return on the 
investment is now only one-fourth as important as yields and only 
three-fourths as important as the crop area per work animal. How- 
ever, because of the importance of the combination of enterprises in 
the past, and the continual efforts that will be made to find a more 
profitable type, this factor will be discussed at some length. Fur- 
thermore, the introduction of a new crop or a sudden change in 
economic conditions may make the combination of enterprises the 
most important factor in determining success. 1 
CHANGES IN THE TYPE OF AGRICULTURE IN ANDERSON COUNTY. 
Within the last three-quarters of a century Anderson County has 
changed from grain and live-stock farming to cotton farming. In 
1840 grain and live stock predominated even to a greater degree than 
cotton does to-day. In Table XVIII the census data showing 
changes in the agriculture from 1840 to 1910 are given, and in Tables 
XIX and XX the relative importance of the principal crops and the 
various kinds of livestock are shown. More of the land is now in 
cultivation than in 1840, primarily because of the increase in popu- 
lation. Of the land devoted to cotton, corn, oats, and wheat in 1840^ 
cotton was planted on 12.8 per cent, corn on 69.9, oats on 7, and 
wheat on 10.3 per cent. In 1910 cotton occupied 63.3 per cent, corn 
25.9, oats 8.4, and wheat 2.4 per cent of the total land devoted to 
these four crops. The positions of cotton and corn have been 
reversed, while oats on the average occupies about the same position 
and wheat a much lower place than it did in 1840. The greatest 
change in the type of agriculture took place from 1870 to 1880, 
when the percentage of land planted in cotton more than doubled, 
increasing from 21.7 to 43.5 per cent, while corn decreased from 
61.8 per cent to 35.5 per cent. 
Table XVIII. - 
■Census data showii 
S. 
changes in the agriculture of Anderson County, 
, 1840 to 1910. 
1840 
1850 
1860 
1870 
1880 
1990 
1900 
192, 820 
220, 406 
246,933 
43.0 
50.3 
57.0 
61, 060 
100, 960 
123, 992 
21, 897 
41, 530 
41, 679 
49, 953 
58, 055 
58, 507 
492, 646 
547, 217 
596, 140 
12, 776 
19,288 
8,862 
94,613 
163, 231 
76, 990 
16, 754 
14, 558 
17, 164 
101, 950 
81,818 
118,010 
5, 585 
6,761 
8,515 
11,816 
13, 139 
14, 876 
3,698 
1,730 
602 
10, 695 
12, 178 
12,360 
1910 
Improved acres in farms 
Per cent of land in farms im- 
proved 
c °«»n {S|;; 
/acres 
Corn. 
Wheat 
Horses and mules. 
Cattle 
Sheep 
Swine 
178, 455 
38.7 
133,249 
31.1 
,698 
'\bush . . 
Oats /acres. 
Uats tbush. 
3,519 
5,003 
820 '549 
3,758 
579," 682' 
69, 988 
209,067 
/acres . 
"Ibush. 
106, 105 
5,626 
18, 499 
10, 387 
36,381 
120, 382 
5,796 
19, 215 
13, 135 
43,242 
95, 065 
4,817 
17, 398 
11,951 
26, 058 
96, 228 
23.9 
""5*274 
28,761 I 34,213 
77, 169 
3,946 
11,337 
10, 534 
16, 167 
260, 546 
58.6 
133,343 
55, 881 
54, 489 
663, 264 
17, 804 
277, 702 
4,891 
38, 947 
10, 742 
18, 530 
245 
11,163 
1 An illustration of the latter is the indigo industry in South Carolina. When a substitute for ? ndigo 
was discovered indigo farming immediately became unprofitable, increasing the yield would have been 
of no avail. The big problem of the farmers was to find a new combination of enterprises suitable for the 
conditions, and until this was done the farms remained unprofitable. 
