2 BULLETIN 1104, U. S. DEPARTMENT OE AGRICULTURE 
part, the result of the general nationwide movement from country 
to city. Unquestionably, however, there are other potent influences 
responsible for this migration. 
Calculations of the increase of negroes in the cities having a negro 
population of 25,000 or more show that there was an increase of 28.5 
per cent between 1900 and 1910, and an increase of 42.2 per cent for 
the following decade. 2 Between 1910 and 1920. rural negro popula- 
tion decreased for the country as a whole by 3.4 per cent, whereas 
negro urban population increased 32.6 per cent during the same time. 
The relatively larger rate of n^gro increase in cities as compared with 
rural districts is largely an expression of migration from the rural 
districts, for the natural rate of increase of negroes in rural districts 
exceads greatly the corresponding rate in cities. Available vital 
statistics show that in cities negro birth rates are lower and negro 
death rates much higher than in rural districts. 3 
These tendencies, so significant for the future of the negro race, 
raise the question as to the economic condition of negro farmers. 
The present study was undertaken to reveal the conditions prevailing 
among negro farmers in a selected district of southern Virginia, a region 
where plantation organization has largely disappeared and where 
negro farmers, whether owners or tenants, enjoy a comparatively 
large measure of independence. The essential aim was to determine 
the extent or lack of progress with particular reference to attendant 
circumstances, especially conditions of land tenure. 4 
The section selected for this study is situated in the western part 
of Southampton County, Va., between the towns of Drewryvilie and 
Adams Grove. This county is in the southeastern part of Virginia 
adjoining the State of North Carolina (fig. 1). It is in the Tidewater 
section of the State, which is characterized in general by level to 
gently undulating topography. Three rivers border or traverse the 
county, the Blackwater, the Meherrin, and the Nottoway. The 
bottom lands of these streams are often swampy and covered with a 
heavy growth of timber, much of which is not of a commercial nature. 
A description of the soil in the Census of Agriculture for 1880 is as 
follows : 5 
The chief soil is mostly of a light gray sandy character, with yellow or red 
subsoil, which occupies about one-half of the lands in this region, and is timbered 
with pine, oak, hickory, dogwood, maple, and poplar. The light, fine sandy 
surfaoe soil is from 4 to 6 inches thick, and is easily tilled. The chief crops pro- 
duce i here are corn, cotton, peanuts, and potatoes, but the soil is apparently 
best adapted to corn * * *. Very little damage is done by washing or 
gulleys on tha slopes. 
A second quality of land, designated as " White Oak Land," comprises about 
one-fourth of the lands of the region, and has a timber growth of oak, gum, pine, 
etc. The soil is a clay, 4 inches in thickness, over a blue clay subsoil. 
This soil is adapted to the raising of cotton, grain, and clover, 
especially clover. 
In the section studied probably 75 per cent of the farmers are 
colored. This is a section where the negro is independent of super- 
vision of the white farmers and has made progress largely through his 
* Rossiter, W. S. Increase of Population in the United States, 1910-1920. Washington, Govt. Print. 
Off., 1922. U. S. Bureau of the Census. Census Monograph I, p. 128. 
3 Rossiter, W. S. Increase of Population in the United States, 1910-1920. Washington, Govt. Print. 
Off., 1922. U. S. Bureau of the Census. Census Monograph I, p. 130. 
< It should be noted that the data on which this study is based were obtained in the spring of 1921. For 
this reason, data on value of property should be considered as of the date of the survey and it should 
be recognized that considerable changes in values have occurred since that time. 
6 U. S. Census Office. Tenth Census, 1880. Report on Cotton Production in the United States. 
Washington, Govt. Print. Off., 1884, pt. II, p. 636. Census Report, vol. VI. 
