LAND TENURE AND PLANTATION ORGANIZATION 65 
tenant, therefore, owing to the credit conditions under which the 
landlord must obtain his money in the first place, has to pay practi- 
cally a double rate on that which is advanced to him, considered 
strictly from the standpoint of the length of time he actually has the 
use of the advance. 
MARKETING 
The marketing of staple crops in connection with the plantation 
system, like plantation credit, is considered here from the standpoint 
of the operator and from that of croppers and tenants. 
Cotton marketing. — The methods of marketing employed by cotton 
planters are essentially two. The planter may buy the cotton pro- 
duced by his croppers and tenants or he may sell it for them. Which 
plan he uses depends upon the prevailing custom in the locality or 
the individual policy of the planter. The plan as a whole corresponds 
to that generally used by supply merchants. On the closely super- 
vised plantation, the planter usually buys the product, except in 
Texas and restricted areas elsewhere. In the outlying districts, 
especially on plantations worked by more or less responsible white 
tenants, the tenants may sell under the general supervision of their 
creditors. 
On 201 cotton plantations studied, 49 per cent of the operators 
bought the cotton both of croppers and of tenants, 39 per cent sold 
for the croppers and tenants, 10 per cent sold jointly, and 2 per cent 
allowed the croppers and tenants to market their own products. 
The practice is usually provided for in the renting agreement. The 
cropper's cotton, as compared with that of the tenant, is usually 
handled arbitrarily by the landlord, because in most States products 
raised by the cropper belong to the landlord until sold or divided. 
When the landlord buys the cotton, he pays the market price at 
the time of sale. In certain sections of the Mississippi and Red 
River Valleys, where cotton is almost universally bought by the land- 
lord, from a half to 2 cents a pound is charged to cover insurance, 
transportation, weighing, and other expenses of market handling. 
The planters sometimes lose by this transaction. One planter gave 
an instance of losing $7.50 per bale on 3,000 bales of cotton. He 
had already collected $5 per bale from his tenants to pay for the 
costs of marketing. He sustained a net loss of $2.50 per bale, or a 
total of $7,500. If the tenant urges a sale which the landlord con- 
siders inopportune, he may have to take about a cent less than the 
cotton factor's price of that date. 
Tenants are permitted to submit their samples to local buyers for 
bids, which may be used for comparison with prices paid by the land- 
lord, or, in some cases, such bids are used as the basis of the price 
the landlord pays. On the less closely supervised plantation, which 
usually means one with a higher order of tenancy, the landlord may 
compete with local buyers in the purchase of his tenant's cotton. 
This probably does not apply generally in the case of croppers, 
because in most States the cropper does not own any part of the 
crop. In case of partial crop failure or low prices the landlord may 
allow the tenant a higher price for his cotton than it will bring on the 
market merely to hold his labor by balancing the tenant's account. 
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