54 
BULLETIN 1269, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
Table 16. — Cropping systems on 207 plantations selected for special study, 
1920 — Continued 
II. Sugar Cane (20 Plantations) 
Culti- 
vated 
acres 
Cane 
Corn 
Other 
crops 
32, 663 
Per cent 
47.7 
Per cent 
38.8 
Per cent 
13.5 
III. Rice (21 Plantations) 
Culti- 
vated 
acres 
Rice 
Corn 
Other 
crops - 
44, 915 
Per cent 
93.3 
Per cent 
3.9 
Per cent 
2 8 
IV. Shade Tobacco (5 Plantation Organizations) • 
Culti- 
vated 
acres 
Tobacco 
Corn 
Other 
crops 
Florida 2 .-- . . ._.__.._ _.__. 
5,993 
Per cent 
18.9 
Per cent 
43.0 
Per cent 
38.1 
1 These are equivalent to about 30 plantations of one manager each. 
2 These plantations were found in Gadsden County, Fla., and the adjacent counties 
Georgia. 
southwestern 
On the sugar cane plantations studied, 47.7 per cent of the culti- 
vated land was planted to sugar-cane, 38.8 per cent to corn, and 13.5 
per cent to other crops. But on rice plantations, for obvious reasons, 
a larger percentage (93.3) of the land was cultivated in rice, with very 
little corn or other crop. On the other hand, only 18.9 per cent of 
the cultivated land of " shade" tobacco plantations was in tobacco, 
while 43 per cent and 38.1 per cent, respectively, was planted to corn 
and other crops. This difference in acreage of tobacco and other 
crops on the tobacco plantation is due to the high intensity of culti- 
vation for "shade" tobacco as compared with other crops. 
The cropping system of wage-operated sugar-cane plantation land 
is practically the same as that described for all cultivated land, the 
percentages being 45. 5, 39.4, and 15.1, respectively, for cane, corn, 
and other crops. The reason for this difference, as compared with 
the cropping system on cotton plantations, is that all or a part of the 
sugar cane plantation may be operated more or less independently 
of the tenants so far as the crop enterprises are concerned. These 
facts, in general, also hold for rice and tobacco plantations. 
Land worked by tenants and croppers usually has a high percent- 
age in cotton acreage, and land operated wholly by wage Tabor a low 
percentage, as shown in Figure 16. The choice of this arrangement 
LS oil en mutual between landlord and tenant, in that the tenant 
prefers cotton and is more efficient in its production than anything 
else, and other enterprises lend themselves better to the use of wage 
labor, which the landlord alone is able to employ. 
