14 
BULLETIN 648, II. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
lint cotton. However, 13 of the farm owners rented land in addition 
to the land owned, and 19 rented out parts of their farms, leaving 67 
straight owner-operators. For these areas rented out a stated cotton 
rent or "standing" rent was the usual form of payment. No in- 
stances were found of entire farms rented for a share of the crop, 
though it is a common practice for single fields to be rented for a 
share of the crop grown, that crop usually being watermelons. 
On 33' farms that were rented in whole or in part, and for which 
the rent paid, was cash or " standing " rent, it was possible to calculate 
ITEMS 
Z w a. 
UJ z < 
C U n- 
dX.ui 
O llJ £L 
0. O OuJ 
CURRE.NT EXPENSES PER FARM 
$3 00 6 00 9 00 *I200 
TOTAL CURRENT EXPENSES 
(1416 
807 
26A 
t oo.o 
5TO 
1 B.6 
LABOR (EXCEPT OPERATOR) 
COMMERJCAL FERTILIZER 
*-JOO *306 *lOI 
'^m^mm^^^^^A ] 
FEED PURCHASED 
€9 
4.9 
REPAIRS 
eo 
4.2 
GINNING, BAGGING &TIES 
54- 
3.8 | 
TAXES 
48 
3.4 ■ 
MISCELLANEOUS 
1 14- 
8.1 
^CROPPER LABOR ^ WAGE LABOR H FAM! LY LABOR 
Fi 
G. 10.- 
-Items of current expenses. 
the landlord's net return. After deducting taxes, depreciation on 
buildings and all other expenses, the landlord's net profit was found 
to be 8.25 per cent of the market price of the land. 
Since so few tenant farms were found and it was desired to have 
all the farms on a common basis for comparison, all the farms 
rented in whole or in part were reduced to an owner-operator basis. 
This was done by adding the landlord's investment, receipts, and 
expenses to those of the operator, thus treating the operator as an 
owner. The parts of the farms that were rented out were eliminated 
from the farm business by deducting the investment, receipts, and 
expenses involved. 
LABOR SYSTEMS. 
WAGE SYSTEM. 
Two distinct systems of hiring labor are found here, as through- 
out the cotton belt. One is the wage system and the other is the 
share cropper, or cropper, system. Usually the laborers hired by 
the month are contracted for in January for a period extending to 
the beginning of cotton picking. The usual monthly wage varies 
from $10 to $15 per month, with or without rations; besides which 
