BULLETIN 1404, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
own efforts. It is important to hold this fact in mind in placing inter- 
pretation on the data presented in the following pages. 
The survey method was used in making this study. Schedules 
were formulated with regard to the points on which information was 
desired, and these were used in the field in personal interviews with 
the farmers. One hundred and twelve tenants and 149 owners, a 
total of 261 farmers, were thus interviewed. 
CHANGES IN AGRICULTURE AND AGRICULTURAL ORGANIZATION 
OF SOUTHAMPTON COUNTY SINCE 1860 
CHANGES IN UTILIZATION OF FARM LAND 
Marked changes in the utilization of farm land in Southampton 
County have occurred since 1860, as shown by Table 1. One noticeable 
change is the increase of more than 133 per cent in the number of 
farms in the county since 1890 although there was comparatively 
little change in the total acreage. In 1870 there were 636 farms in 
the county, a decrease of 3 since 1860. The number increased slightly 
less than 160 per cent during the next decade, but there was a de- 
crease from 1880 to 1890. There was a steady increase in the acreage 
in farms from 1890 to 1910, but in the next decade there was a 
notable decrease, a tendency manifested in all the South Atlantic 
States except West Virginia and Florida. 
Table 1. — Utilization of land for farming purposes, in Southampton County, 
census years, 1860-1920 
Year 
Farms 
Total 
acreage 
in 
farms 
Percent- 
age of 
area in 
county 
in 
farms 
Percent- 
age of 
farm 
land 
im- 
proved 
Percent- 
age of 
farm 
land in 
crops 
Percentage of crop 
land in — 
Percent- 
age of 
farm 
land 
in 
woodland 
Live- 
stock 
Cotton 
Peanuts 
on 
farms 
I860.. 
Number 
639 
636 
1,648 
1,523 
2,683 
2,882 
3,550 
Acres 
300, 671 
289, 316 
323, 127 
311, 933 
331, 728 
333, 705 
295, 787 
Per cent i Per cent 
77.8 1 43.9 
74. 8 ! 42. 5 
Per cent 
Per cent 
Per cent 
Per cent 
Units i 
17, 266 
1870 
57.3 
46.3 
5,619 
1880 
1890.. 
83.6 
80.7 
85.8 
86.3 
76.5 
33.5 
39.9 
... 
15.5 s 23.0 ; ( 2 ) 
18.8 ' 13. 1 27.9 
15, 210 
13, 622 
1900 
39.1 23.8 i 4.7 40.3 
38.3 24.8 i 7.4 1 43.8 
40.4 ! 34.7 : 14.7 \ 36.4 
14, 591 
1910 
1920.. 
60.5 
57.9 
16,219 
20, 713 
1 A livestock unit consists of either 1 cow, 1 horse or mule, 5 sheep, or 5 hogs. Goats and burrcs not 
included in these ligures. 
2 Total crop acres reported but acres of peanuts not reported. 
Ill 1920 the percentage of farm land improved had risen to nearly 
the same point as in 1860. The most significant change with regard 1 
to the use of farm lands probably is in percentage of farm land in crops 
since 1880. when the first complete data on crop acreage were made 
available for the area. Since that date the percentage of farm land 
in crops has increased from 15.5 per cent to 34.7 per cent. The 
increase in the proportion of land in crops since 1890 is largely a 
reflection of the large increase in the area planted in cotton and 
peanuts, which are the two main money crops of the section. The 
change in relative importance of livestock on the farms is shown by 
the fact that in 1860 there was 0.057 of a livestock unit for each acre 
in farms, while in 1920 this figure had changed to 0.070 of a livestock 
unit for each acre in farms, or an increase of 22.8 per cent. 
