6 
BULLETIN 1404, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
470.5 acres in 1860 to 83.3 acres in 1920. This great change was 
caused in the main by the disappearance of farms of 100 acres or 
more. Farms of 1,000 acres or more decreased during this period 
from 2.5 per cent of the total number of farms to 0.3 per cent in 1920. 
Farms of 500 to 999 acres decreased from 6.7 per cent of the total 
number of farms to 1.3 per cent during this period ; and farms of from 
100 to 499 acres decreased from 55.6 per cent of the total number of 
farms to 24.4 in 1920. The percentage of the total number of farms 
of 100 acres or more in the county between these two dates decreased 
from 64.8 per cent to 26 per cent. 
Farms of from 20 to 49 acres increased from 1.11 per cent of all 
farms in 1860 to 39.3 per cent in 1920. The total increase of farms 
of 99 acres or less was from 35.2 per cent of the total number of farms 
in 1860 to 74 per cent in 1920. 
CHANGES IN VALUE OF FARM REAL ESTATE 
Until recent years the per acre value of farm real estate in South- 
ampton County was comparatively low (Table 2), a condition that 
probably was favorable to the considerable progress of negroes in farm 
ownership shown in a later part of this bulletin. As late as 1900 the 
average value of farm real estate was only $7.07 per acre, having 
increased from $4.16 per acre in 1870. During the decade 1900-1910 
the value per acre more than doubled, and it increased nearly 250 per 
cent in the following decade. The large decrease in the average size 
of farms considerably influenced the average valuation of farms, 
which declined from S3, 235 in 1860 to $1,046 in 1900. From that 
date a striking increase in the average valuation of farms has occurred, 
although there has been some decrease in the average size of farms. 
In 1920 the average valuation per farm was $5,377, including machin- 
ery and livestock, or an increase of 152 per cent during the decade. 
Tabi.e 2. — Total value of the average farm in Southampton County, Va., proportion 
of this value represented by different classes of farm capital, and average value per 
acre of each class, 1860-1920 
Average 
acreage 
per 
farm 
Average 
total 
farm 
value 
Percentage of farm value in— Average value per acre 
Year 
Land 
and 
build- 
ings 
Equip- 
ment 
Imple- 
ments 
and ma- 
chinery 
I Land Imple- 
Live- | and ments 
stock build- and ma- 
ings chinery 
Live- 
stock 
1860 
1870 
1880. 
1890 
1900 
191(i 
1920 _. 
Acres 
470. 5 
545. 9 
196.1 
204.8 
123.6 
15.8 
83.3 
Dollars 
3,235 
2,278 
1,200 
1,558 
1,046 
2, 136 
5,377 
Per cent 
78.1 
83.1 
85.1 
86.6 
83.6 
86.6 
84.9 
Per cent 
21.9 
16.9 
14.9 
13.4 
16.4 
13.4 
15.1 
Per cent 
3.8 
I:? 
2.8 
4.1 
3.4 
4.5 
Per cent 
18.1 
14.2 
12.2 
10.6 
12.3 
10.0 
10.6 
$5.37 $0.26 
4. 16 ! . 14 
5.21 '• .16 
6.59 ' .21 
7.07 | .35 
15.98 .63 
54.80 | 2.90 
$1.24 
.71 
.75 
.81 
1.04 
1.84 
6.84 
CHANGES IN VALUE OF OTHER KINDS OF FARM PROPERTY 
The average value of machinery and implements per acre of im- 
proved land is slightly higher than for the United States as a whole. 
The same is true of livestock. The proportion of the total value of 
farm property invested in machinery and implements has increased 
somewhat since 1860, because of the large relative increase from 1910 
to 1920. but the relative investment in livestock has largely decreased 
since 1860. 
