TENANCY AND OWNERSHIP AMONG NEGRO FARMERS 
15 
Increase in land valuation was a very important source of wealth 
for owner operators. Of the 149 owners, 146 reported net increase 
in the valuation of land which they owned or had owned. These 
net increases averaged $2,870 per man receiving wealth from this 
source, representing 34 per cent of the average net worth of all owners. 
It is interesting to compare the influence of net increase in land 
value with a similar figure obtained for five other local surveys among 
farmers, most of whom were whites, in Kentucky, Tennessee, and 
Texas. Of the total net worth of the owners interviewed in these five 
surveys, 48.2 per cent was from net increases in land values. 
It is not surprising that net increases in the valuation of farm 
property amounted to so much of the total wealth of owners, for the 
average value of farm real estate in the county, as shown by the 
census, increased from $7.07 per acre in 1900 to $54.80 per acre in 
1920, or a gross increase of 675 per cent in the two decades. 
It should be borne in mind that the statistics on land valuation 
were estimates, and in reality represented only "book" values, which 
probably have considerably decreased because of general agricultural 
depression since the time the survey was made. 
RATES OF ACCUMULATION 
Some of the farmers have taken a longer time than others to achieve 
their present net worth. It is of interest to determine at what annual 
rate these negro farmers have been able to accumulate wealth, leaving 
out of account that acquired directly through increases in land values 
or inheritance, gift, or marriage. (Table 13.) 
Merely excluding the amount of increase in wealth due to change 
in land valuation or received gratuitously does not leave a figure 
which measures accurately the progress that is to be expected of the 
same class of farmers not enjoying these special advantages, for the 
receipt of wealth gratuitously increases the earning power of the 
farmer and may alter to that extent his ability to accumulate. 
Table 13. — Two hundred sixty-one colored farm operators classified by tenure 
and by average amount accumulated annually from earnings, Southampton 
County, Va. 1 
Tenants 
Owners 
All operators 
Range of annual 
earnings 
Total 
in 
group 
Percent- 
age of 
total 
Percent- 
age of 
total 
accumu- 
lations 
Total 
in 
group 
Percent- 
age of 
total 
Percent- 
age of 
total 
accumu- 
lations 
Total 
in 
group 
Percent- 
age of 
total 
Per- 
centage 
of total 
accumu- 
lations 
Less than $50 
$50 to $99 
Nu ruber 
69 
28 
11 
3 
111 
1 
Per cent 
61.6 
25.0 
9.8 
2.7 
99.1 
.9 
Per cent 
35.1 
35.4 
20.0 
7.9 
98.4 
1.6 
Number 
22 
30 
27 
20 
99 
29 
11 
4 
2 
4 
Per cent 
14.8 
20.1 
18.1 
13.4 
66.4 
19.5 
7.4 
2.7 
1.3 
2.7 
Percent 
2.8 
7.5 
11.3 
8.6 
30.2 
20.8 
17.4 
9.2 
6.2 
16.2 
Number 
91 
58 
38 
23 
210 
30 
11 
4 
2 
4 
Percent 
34.9 
22.2 
14.6 
8.8 
80.5 
11.5 
4.2 
1.5 
.8 
1.5 
Per cent 
6.1 
10.3 
$100 to $149 
x2. 1 
$150 to $199 
8.5 
Less than $200 
$200 to $399 
37.0 
18.9 
$400 to $599 . 
15.7 
$600 to $799 
8.2 
$800 to $999 
5.6 
$1,000 or more 
14.6 
Total '..... 
112 
100.0 
100.0 
$90, 329 
149 
100.0 
100.0 
$806, 483 
261 
100.0 
100.0 
$896, 812 
1 Since the total period of accumulation varied for different individuals, the average annual accumula- 
Tion of each farmer was modified by the average index numbers of wholesale prices of all commodities for 
the period of accumulation. The index numbers employed were those published by the United States 
Department of Labor. 
