THE NEGRO FARMER

 By CARL KELSEY

 A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF PH. D. 

 Printed and on sale by

 JENNINGS & PYE

 CHICAGO

 1903

 PRICE FIFTY CENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 CHAPTER PAGE

 I. Introduction 5

 II. Geographic Location 9

 III. Economic Heritage 22

 IV. Present Situation 29

 Virginia 32

 Sea Coast 38

 Central District 43

 Alluvial Region 52

 V. Social Environment 61

 VI. The Outlook 67

 VII. Agricultural Training 71

 Population Maps 80

=OLD-TIME NEGROES. =

CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION. 

In the last three hundred years there have been many questions ofgeneral interest before the American people. It is doubtful, however, ifthere is another problem, which is as warmly debated to-day as ever andwhose solution is yet so uncertain, as that of the Negro. In the seconddecade of the seventeenth century protests were being filed againstblack slavery, but the system was continued for nearly 250 years. Thediscussion grew more and more bitter, and to participation in itignorance, then as now, was no bar. The North had less and less directcontact with the Negro. The religious hostility to human bondage wasstrengthened by the steadily increasing difference in economicdevelopment which resulted in the creation of sectional prejudices andjealousies. The North held the negro to be greatly wronged, and accountsof his pitiable condition and of the many individual cases of illtreatment fanned the flames of wrath. The reports of travelers, however, had little influence compared with the religious sentiments which feltoutraged by the existence of bond servitude in the land. Through all theyears there was little attempt to scientifically study the character ofthe problem or the nature of the subject. A mistaken economic sentimentin the South and a strong moral sentiment at the North rendered suchstudies unnecessary, if not impossible. The South, perceiving thebenefits of slavery, was blind to its fundamental weaknesses, and theNorth, unacquainted with Negro character, held to the natural equalityof all men. Thus slavery itself became a barrier to the getting of anadequate knowledge of the needs of the slave. The feeling grew that ifthe shackles of slavery were broken, the Negro would at once be as othermen. The economic differences finally led to the war. It is not to beforgotten that slavery itself was not the cause of the war, nor wasthere any thought on the part of the Union leaders to make the blackscitizens. That this was done later was a glowing tribute to theirignorance of the real demands of the situation. The Republican party ofto-day shows no indication of repeating this mistake in the newlyacquired islands. I would not be understood as opposing suffrage of theblacks, but any thoughtful observer must agree that as a race they werenot prepared for popular government at the time of their liberation. Thefolly of the measures adopted none can fail to see who will read thehistory of South Carolina or Mississippi during what is called"Reconstruction. "

Immediately after the war, new sources of information regarding theNegro were afforded the North. The leaders of the carpet-bag regime, playing political games, circulated glowing reports of the progress ofthe ex-slaves. A second class of persons, the teachers, went South, andback came rose-colored accounts. It might seem that the teacher couldbest judge of the capacity of a people. The trouble is that in theschools they saw the best specimens of the race, at the impressionableperiod of their lives, and under abnormal conditions. There is in theschool an atmosphere about the child which stimulates his desire toadvance, but a relapse often comes when ordinary home conditions arerenewed. Moreover, it is well known that the children of all primitiveraces are very quick and apt up to a certain period in their lives, excelling often children of civilized peoples, but that this disappearswhen maturity is reached. Hence, the average teacher, not coming inclose contact with the mass of the people under normal surroundings, gives, although sincerely, a very misleading picture of actualconditions. A third class of informants were the tourists, and theirability to get at the heart of the situation is obvious. There remain tobe mentioned the Negro teachers and school entrepreneurs. Naturallythese have presented such facts as they thought would serve to open thepurses of their hearers. Some have been honest, many moreunintentionally dishonest, and others deliberately deceitful. Therelative size of these classes it is unnecessary to attempt toascertain. They have talked and sung their way into the hearts of thehearers as does the pitiful beggar on the street. The donor sees thatevidently something is needed, and gives with little, if any, carefulinvestigation as to the real needs of the case. The result of it all hasbeen that the testimony of those who knew far more than was possible forany outsider, the southern whites, has gone unheeded, not to say that ithas been spurned as hostile and valueless. The blame, of course, is notalways on one side, and as will be shown later, there are many southernwhites who have as little to do with the Negro, and consequently know aslittle about him, as the average New Yorker. This situation has beenmost unfortunate for all concerned. It should not be forgotten that thequestion of the progress of the Negro has far more direct meaning forthe southerner, and that he is far more deeply interested in it than ishis northern brother, the popular impression to the contrarynotwithstanding. It is unnecessary to seek explanations, but it is apleasure to recognize that there are many indications that a better dayis coming, and indications now point to a hearty co-operation ineducational efforts. There are many reasons for the change, and perhapsthe greatest of these is summed up in "Industrial Training. "

The North is slowly learning that the Negro is not a dark-skinnedYankee, and that thousands of generations in Africa have produced abeing very different from him whose ancestors lived an equal time inEurope. In a word, we now see that slavery does not account for all thedifferences between the blacks and whites, and that their origins liefarther back. Our acquaintance with the ancestors of the Negro ismeager. We do not even know how many of the numerous African tribes arerepresented in our midst. A good deal of Semitic blood had already beeninfused into the more northern tribes. What influence did this have andhow many descendants of these tribes are there in America? Tribaldistinctions have been hopelessly lost in this country, and the blendinghas gone on so continuously that perhaps there would be little practicalbenefit if the stocks could be determined to-day. It is, however, acurious commentary on the turn discussions of the question have taken, that not until 1902 did any one find it advisable to publish acomprehensive study of the African environment and to trace itsinfluence on subsequent development. Yet this is one of the fundamentalpreliminaries to any real knowledge of the subject. 

In close connection with the preceding is the question of the mulatto. Besides the blending of African stocks there has been a good deal ofintermixture of white blood. We do not even know how many full bloodedAfricans there are in America, nor does the last census seek toascertain. Mulattoes have almost entirely been the offspring of whitefathers and black mothers, and probably most of the fathers have beenboys and young men. Without attempting a discussion of this subject, whose results ethnologists cannot yet tell, it is certain that a halfbreed is not a full blood, a mulatto is not a Negro, in spite of thesocial classification to the contrary. The general belief is that themulatto is superior, either for good or bad, to the pure Negro. Thevisitor to the South cannot fail to be struck with the fact that withrare exceptions the colored men in places of responsibility, ineducation or in business, are evidently not pure negroes. Even inslavery times, the mulattoes were preferred for certain positions, suchas overseers, the blacks as field hands. Attention is called to thismerely to show our ignorance of an important point. Some may claim thatit is a matter of no consequence. This I cannot admit. To me it seems ofsome significance to know whether mulattoes (and other crosses) formmore than their relative percentage of the graduates of the higherschools; whether they are succeeding in business better than the blacks;whether town life is proving particularly attractive to them; whetherthey have greater or less moral and physical stamina, than the blacks. The lack of definite knowledge should at least stop the prevalentpractice of taking the progress of a band of mulattoes and attempting toestimate that of the Negroes thereby. It may be that some day themulatto will entirely supplant the black, but there is no immediateprobability of this. Until we know the facts, our prophecies are butwild guesses. It should be remembered that a crossing of white and blackmay show itself in the yellow negro or the changed head and features, either, or both, as the case may be. A dark skin is, therefore, no sureindication of purity and blood. [1]

It is often taken for granted that the Negro has practically equalopportunities in the various parts of the South, and that a fairlyuniform rate of progress may be expected. This assumption rests on anignorance of the geographical location of the mass of blacks. It will beshown that they are living in several distinct agricultural zones inwhich success must be sought according to local possibilities. Development always depends upon the environment, and we should expect, therefore, unequal progress for the Negroes. Even the highest fruits ofcivilization fail if the bases of life are suddenly changed. TheCongregational Church has not flourished among the Negroes as have someother denominations, in spite of its great activity in educational work. The American mode of government is being greatly modified to make it fitconditions in Porto Rico. The manufacturers of Pennsylvania and thefarmers of Iowa do not agree as to the articles on which duties shouldbe levied, and it is a question if the two have the same interpretationof the principle of protection. Different environments produce differenttypes. So it will be in the case of the Negro. If we are to understandthe conditions on which his progress depends, we must pay some attentionto economic geography. That this will result in a recognition of theneed for shaping plans and methods according to local needs is obvious. The present thesis does not pretend to be a completed study, much lessan attempt to solve the Negro problem. It is written in the hope ofcalling attention to some of the results of this geographic location asillustrated in the situation of the Negro farmer in various parts of theSouth. 

The attempt is made to describe the situation of the average man. It isfully recognized that there are numbers of exceptions among the Negroesas well as among the white school teachers, referred to above. Thatthere is much in the present situation, both of encouragement anddiscouragement, is patent. Unfortunately, most of us shut our eyes toone or the other set of facts and are wildly optimistic or pessimistic, accordingly. That there may be no misunderstanding of my position, letme say that I agree with the late Dr. J. L. M. Curry in stating that: "Ihave very little respect for the intelligence or the patriotism of theman who doubts the capacity of the negro for improvement or usefulness. "

CHAPTER II. GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION. 

The great Appalachian system, running parallel to the Atlantic coast, and ending in northern Alabama, forms the geological axis of thesouthern states. Bordering the mountains proper is a broad belt of hillsknown as the Piedmont or Metamorphic region, marked by granite and othercrystalline rocks, and having an elevation decreasing from 1, 000 to 500feet. The soil varies according to the underlying rocks, but is thin andwashes badly, if carelessly tilled. The oaks, hickories and otherhardwoods, form the forests. In Virginia this section meets the lowerand flatter country known as Tide-Water Virginia. In the southern partof this state we come to the Pine Hills, which follow the Piedmont andstretch, interrupted only by the alluvial lands of the Mississippi, tocentral Texas. The Pine Hills seldom touch the Piedmont directly, butare separated by a narrow belt of Sand Hills, which run from NorthCarolina to Alabama, then swing northward around the coal measures andspread out in Tennessee and Kentucky. This region, in general of poorsoils, marks the falls of the rivers and the head of navigation. Howimportant this is may easily be seen by noticing the location of thecities in Georgia, for instance, and remembering that the country wassettled before the day of railroads. In Alabama the Black Prairie isinterposed between the Pine Hills and the Sand Hills, and this prairieswings northward into Mississippi. The Pine Hills give way to the morelevel Pine Flats, which slope with a gradient of a few feet a mile tothe ocean or the gulf, which usually has a narrow alluvial border. Goingwest from Alabama we cross the oak and hickory lands of CentralMississippi, which are separated from the alluvial district by the canehills and yellow loam table lands. Beyond the bottom lands of theMississippi (and Red river) we come to the oak lands of Missouri, Arkansas and Texas which stretch to the black prairies of Texas, which, bordering the red lands of Arkansas, run southwest finally, merging inthe coast prairies near Austin. In the northern part of Arkansas we cometo the foothills of the Ozarks. These different regions are shown by thedotted lines on the population maps. 

The soils of these various regions having never been subjected to aglacial epoch, are very diverse, and it would be a thankless task toattempt any detailed classification on the basis of fertility. The soilsof the Atlantic side being largely from the crystalline rocks andcontaining therefore much silica, are reputed less fertile than thegulf soils. The alluvial lands of the Mississippi and other rivers arebeyond question the richest of all. Shaler says: "The delta districts ofthe Mississippi and its tributaries and similar alluvial lands whichoccupy broad fields near the lower portion of other streams flowing intothe gulf have proved the most enduringly fertile areas of the country. "Next to these probably stand the black prairies. In all states there ismore or less alluvial land along the streams, and this soil is alwaysthe best. It is the first land brought into cultivation when the countryis settled, and remains most constantly in use. Each district has itsown advantages and its own difficulties. In the metamorphic regions, thetrouble comes in the attempt to keep the soil on the hills, while in theflat lands the problem is to get proper drainage. In the presentsituation of the Negro farmer the adaptability of the soil to cotton isthe chief consideration. 

The first slaves were landed at Jamestown, Virginia, in 1619. Theimportation was continued in spite of many protests, and the practicesoon came into favor. Almost without interruption, in spite of variousprohibitions, the slave traffic lasted right up to the very outbreak ofthe war, most of the later cargoes being landed along the gulf coast. Slavery proved profitable at the South; not so at the North, where itwas soon abandoned. It was by no means, however, equally profitable inall parts of the South, and as time went on this fact became morenoticeable. Thus at the outbreak of the war, Kentucky and Virginia werelargely employed in selling slaves to the large plantations furthersouth. Few new slaves had been imported into Virginia in the last onehundred years. The center of slavery thus moved southwest because ofchanging economic conditions, not because of any inherent opposition tothe system. This gradual weeding out of the slaves in Virginia may verypossibly account for the general esteem in which Virginia negroes havebeen held. To indicate the character of those sold South, Bracket[2]gives a quotation from a Baltimore paper of 1851 which advertised somegood Negroes to be "exchanged for servants suitable for the South withbad characters. "

To trace the development of the slave-holding districts is not germainto the present study, interesting as it is in itself. It may be worthwhile to trace the progress in one state. In Georgia, in 1800, theblacks outnumbered the whites in the seacoast counties, exceptingCamden, and were also in the majority in Richmond. In 1830 they alsooutnumbered the whites along the Savannah river and were reachingwestward as far as Jones county. In 1850, besides the coast and theriver, they were in a majority in a narrow belt crossing the state fromLincoln to Harris counties. By 1860 they had swung southward in thewestern part of the state and were in possession of most of thecounties south of Troup, while the map of 1900 shows that they haveadded to this territory. In other parts of the state they have neverbeen greatly in evidence. The influence of the rivers is again evidentwhen we notice that they moved up to the head of navigation, then swungwestward. 

As slavery developed, it was accompanied by a great extension of cottongrowing, or, perhaps, it were truer to say that the gradual rise ofcotton planting made possible the increased use of slaves. The center ofthe cotton industry had reached the middle of Alabama by 1850, was nearJackson, Mississippi, in 1860, and has since moved slowly westward. Themost prosperous district of the South in 1860 was probably the alluviallands of the Mississippi. This gives us the key to the westward trend ofslavery. Let it be remembered, too, that the system of slavery demandsan abundance of new lands to take the place of those worn out by theshort-sighted cultivation adopted. Thus in the South little attentionwas paid to rotation of crops or to fertilizers. As long as the new landwas abundant, it was not considered, and probably was not profitable tokeep up the old. The result was that "the wild and reckless system ofextensive cultivation practiced prior to the war had impoverished theland of every cotton-producing state east of the Mississippi river. " Ascotton became less and less profitable in the east the opening up of thenewer and richer lands in the west put the eastern planter in a more andmore precarious situation. Had cotton fallen to anything like itspresent price in the years immediately preceding the war, his lot wouldhave been far worse. 

Another influence should be noted. Slavery tended to drive out of acommunity those who opposed the system, and also the poor whites, non-slave holders. The planters sought to buy out or expel this latterclass, because of the temptation they were under to incite the slaves tosteal corn and cotton and sell it to them at a low price. There was alsotrouble in many other ways. There was thus a tendency to separate themass of the blacks from the majority of the whites. That thissegregation actually arose a map of the proportionate populations forAlabama in 1860 shows. It may be claimed that there were other reasonsfor this separation, such as climatic conditions, etc. This may bepartially true, but it evidently cannot be the principal reason, for wefind the whites in the majority in many of the lowest and theoreticallymost unhealthful regions, as in the pine flats. This is the situationto-day also. 

The influence of the rivers in determining the settlement of the countryhas been mentioned. Nowhere was this more the case than in the alluviallands of the Mississippi, the so-called "Delta. " This country was lowand flat, subject to overflows of the river. The early settlements weredirectly on the banks of the navigable streams, because this only wasaccessible, and because the land immediately bordering the streams ishigher than the back land. Levees were at once started to control therivers, but not until the railroads penetrated the country in 1884 wasthere any development of the back land. Even to-day most of this isstill wild. 

The war brought numerous changes, but it is only in place here toconsider those affecting the location of the people. The mobility oflabor is one of the great changes. Instead of a fixed labor force we nowhave to deal with a body relatively free to go and come. The immediateresult is that a stream of emigration sets in from the border states tothe cities of the North, where there was great opportunity for servantsand all sorts of casual labor. The following table shows the number ofnegroes in various northern cities in 1860 and also in 1900:

 1860. 1900. Washington 10, 983 86, 702 Baltimore 27, 898 79, 258 Philadelphia 22, 185 62, 613 New York 16, 785 60, 666 St. Louis 3, 297 35, 516 Chicago 955 30, 150

Coincident with the movement to the more distant towns came adevelopment of southern cities. City life has been very attractive toNegroes here also, as the following table indicates:

 1860. 1900. New Orleans 24, 074 77, 714 Atlanta 1, 939 35, 727 Richmond 14, 275 32, 230 Charleston 17, 146 31, 522 Savannah 8, 417 28, 090 Montgomery 4, 502 17, 229 Birmingham . .. 16, 575

Other cities show the same gains. As a rule, the negro has been thecommon laborer in the cities and in the trades does not seem to hold thesame relative position he had in 1860. In recent years there has beenquite a development of small tradesmen among them. 

A comparison of the two tables shows that Washington and Baltimore havemore Negroes than New Orleans; that St. Louis has more than Atlanta andRichmond, while New York and Philadelphia contain double the number ofSavannah and Charleston. This emigration to the North has had greateffect upon many districts of the South. It seems also to be certainthat the Negroes have not maintained themselves in the northern cities, and that the population has been kept up by constant immigration. Whatthis has meant we may see when we find that in 1860 the Negroes were inthe majority in five counties in Maryland, in two in 1900; in 43 inVirginia in 1860, in 35 in 1900; in North Carolina in 19 in 1860, in 15in 1900. 

The map on page 13 shows the movement of the Negro population inVirginia between 1890 and 1900. The shaded counties, 60 in number, have lost in actual population (Negro). The total actual decrease inthese counties was over 27, 000. Even in the towns there has been a loss, for in 1890 the twelve towns of over 2, 500 population contained 32, 692Negroes. In 1900 only 29, 575. The only section in which there has been aheavy increase is the seacoast from Norfolk and Newport News to thenorth and including Richmond. A city like Roanoke also makes itspresence felt. When we remember that the Negroes in Virginia number over600, 000, and that the total increase in the decade was only 25, 000, aheavy emigration becomes clear. 

=VIRGINIA, 1890-1900. MOVEMENT OF NEGRO POPULATION. 

Shaded Counties show decrease. White Counties indicate increase. Figuresshow extent of change. =

As a common laborer also the negro has borne his part in the developmentof the economical resources of the South. He has built the railroads andlevees; has hewn lumber in the forests; has dug phosphate rock on thecoast and coal in the interior. Wherever there has been a development oflabor industry calling for unskilled labor he has found a place. Allthese have combined to turn him from the farm, his original Americanhome. The changing agricultural conditions which have had a similarinfluence will be discussed later. 

Having thus briefly reviewed the influences which have had part indetermining his general habitat we are ready to examine more closely hispresent location. The maps of the Negro population will show this forthe different states. A word regarding these maps. They are drawn on thesame scale, and the shading represents the same things for the differentstates. The density map should always be compared with the proportionatemap to get a correct view of the actual situation. If this is not done, confused ideas will result. On the density maps if a county has a muchheavier shading than surrounding ones, a city is probably theexplanation. The reverse may be true on the proportionate maps where thelighter shading may indicate the presence of numbers of whites in somecity, as in Montgomery County, Alabama, or Charleston County, SouthCarolina. 

Beginning with Virginia, we find almost no Negroes in the westernmountain districts, but their numbers increase as we approach the coastand their center is in the southeast. The heavy district in NorthCarolina adjoins that in Virginia, diminishing in the southern part ofthe state. Entering South Carolina we discover a much heavierpopulation, both actually and relatively. Geographical foundationsunfortunately (for our purpose) do not follow county lines. It is verylikely, however, that could we get at the actual location of the people, we should find that they had their influence. Evidently the Sand 'Hillshave some significance, for the density map shows a lighter negropopulation. So does the Pine Flats district, although in this state theNegroes are in the majority in the region, having been long settled inthe race districts. In no other state do the blacks outnumber the whitesin the Pine Flats. In Georgia the northern part is in possession of thewhites, as are the Pine Flats. The Negroes hold the center and thecoast. In Florida the Negroes are in the Pine Hills. In Alabama theycenter in the Pine Hills and Black Prairie. In Mississippi, Arkansas andLouisiana they are in the alluvial regions, and in Texas they find theirheaviest seat near Houston. Outside of the city counties we do not finda population of over 30 negroes to the square mile until South Carolinais reached, and the heaviest settlement is in the black prairie ofAlabama and the alluvial region of Mississippi, and part of Louisiana. In Tennessee they are found along the river and in the red lands of thecenter, while in Kentucky they are chiefly located in the Limestonedistrict. Summarizing their location, we may say that they start in theeast-central portion of Virginia and follow the line of the Pine Hillsto Alabama, only slightly encroaching upon the Metamorphic district, andexcept in South Carolina, on the pine flats. They occupy the blackprairie of Alabama and Mississippi, and the lands of the river stateswith a smaller population in the Oak Hills of Texas, the red lands ofTennessee and some of the limestone district of Kentucky. It is worthwhile to examine one state more in detail and Alabama has been selectedas being typical. The Negro proportion in the state in 1860 was 45. 4 percent, and in 1900 was 45. 2 per cent. 

An examination of a proportionate map for 1860 would show that the slaveowners found two parts of the state favorable to them. The first isalong the Tennessee river in the North, and the second, the blackprairie of the center. Of these the latter was by far the seat of theheavier population. It has already been suggested that this was probablythe best land in the slave states, save the alluvial bottoms. Bothdistricts were accessible by water. The Tombigbee and Alabama riversreached all parts of the prairie, the Tennessee forming the naturaloutlet of the North. By referring now to the map of 1900, it is evidentthat some changes have taken place. The prairie country, the "BlackBelt, " is still in the possession of the Negroes, and their percentageis larger, having increased from 71 to 80. The population per squaremile is also heavier. Dallas, Sumter and Lowndes counties had a Negropopulation of 23. 6 per square mile in 1860, and 39. 2 in 1900. In thenorthern district an opposite condition exists. In 1860 the regionembracing the counties of Lauderdale, Limestone, Franklin, Colbert, Lawrence and Morgan had a colored population forming 44. 5 per cent ofthe total. In 1900 the Negroes were but 33 per cent of the total. Thedistrict contains some 4, 609 square miles, and had in 1860 a Negropopulation of 11 to the square mile; in 1900, 13. 5. Of this increase of2. 5 per mile, about one-half is found to be in the four towns of thedistrict whose population is over 2, 500 each. The smaller villages wouldprobably account for most of the balance, so it seems safe to say thatthe farming population has scarcely increased in the last forty years. Meantime the whites in the district have increased from 12 per squaremile to 25. 4. The census shows that between 1890 and 1900 six countiesof North Alabama lost in the actual Negro population, and two otherswere stationary, while in the black belt the whites decreased in fourcounties and were stationary in two. It will be seen that the Negroeshave gained in Jefferson (Birmingham) and Talladega counties. Theopportunities for unskilled labor account largely for this, andTalladega is also a good cotton county. In Winston and Cullman countiesthere are practically no Negroes, the census showing but 28 in the two. In 1860 they formed 3 per cent of the total in Winston and 6 percent inBlount, which at that time included Cullman. The explanation of theirdisappearance is found in the fact that since the war these countieshave been settled by Germans from about Cincinnati, and the Negroes havefound it convenient to move. Roughly speaking, the poor land of the SandHills separates the white farmers from the colored. From 1890 to 1900the Negroes lost relatively in the Metamorphic and Sand Hills, wereabout stationary in the Prairie, from which they have overflowed andgained in the Oak Hills, and more heavily in the Pine Hills. Thisstatement is based on an examination of five or six counties, lyingalmost wholly within each of the districts, and which, so far as known, were not affected by the development of any special industry. The periodis too short to do more than indicate that the separation of the tworaces seems to be still going on. A similar separation exists inMississippi, where the Negroes hold the Black Prairie and the Delta, thewhites the hill country of the center. 

It is evident that there is a segregation of the whites and blacks, andthat there are forces which tend to perpetuate and increase this. It isinteresting to note that whereas in slavery the cabins were grouped inthe "quarters, " in close proximity to the "big house" of the master, they are now scattered about the plantation so that even here there isless contact. In the cities this separation is evident the blacks occupydefinite districts, while the social separation is complete. It seemsthat in all matters outside of business relations the whites have lessand less to do with the blacks. If this division is to continue, we maywell ask what is its significance for the future. 

This geographical segregation evidently had causes which were largelyeconomic. Probably the most potent factor to-day in perpetuating it issocial, i. E. , race antagonism. The whites do not like to settle in aregion where they are to compete with the Negro on the farms as ordinaryfield hands. Moreover, the Negroes retain their old-time scorn of suchwhites and despise them. The result is friction. Mr. A. H. Stone cites acase in point. He is speaking of a Negro serving a sentence forattempted rape: "I was anxious to know how, if at all, he accounted forhis crime, but he was reluctant to discuss it. Finally he said to me:'You don't understand--things over here are so different. I hired to anold man over there by the year. He had only about forty acres of land, and he and his old folks did all their own work--cooking, washing andeverything. I was the only outside hand he had. His daughter workedright alongside of me in the field every day for three or four months. Finally, one day, when no one else was round, hell got into me, and Itried to rape her. But you folks over there can't understand--things areso different. Over here a nigger is a nigger, and a white man is a whiteman, and it's the same with the women. ' . .. Her only crime was a povertywhich compelled her to do work which, in the estimation of the Negro, was reserved as the natural portion of his own race, and the doing ofwhich destroyed the relation which otherwise constituted a barrier tohis brutality. "[3]

Mr. Stone has touched upon one of the most delicate questions in therelationship of the races. It would be out of place to discuss it here, but attention must be called to the fact that there is the least of suchtrouble in the districts where the Negro forms the largest percentage ofthe population. I would not be so foolish as to say that assaults uponwhite women _may_ not take place anywhere, but as a matter of fact theyseem to occur chiefly in those regions where white and black meet ascompetitors for ordinary labor. Beaufort County, South Carolina, has ablack population forming about 90 per cent of the total, yet I was toldlast summer that but one case of rape had been known in the county, andthat took place on the back edge of the county where there are fewestNegroes, and was committed by a non-resident black upon a non-residentwhite. Certain it is that in this county, which includes many islands, almost wholly inhabited by blacks, the white women have no fear of suchassaults. This is also the case in the Mississippi Delta. Mr. Stonesays: "Yet here we hear nothing about an ignorant mass of Negroesdragging the white man down; we hear of no black incubus; we have fewmidnight assassinations and fewer lynchings. The violation by a Negro ofthe person of a white woman is with us an unknown crime; nowhere is theline marking the social separation of the races more rigidly drawn, nowhere are the relations between the races more kindly. With us raceriots are unknown, and we have but one Negro problem--though thatconstantly confronts us--how to secure more Negroes. " Evidently when wehear reports of states of siege and rumors of race war, we are not tounderstand that this is the normal, typical condition of the entireSouth. If this is the real situation, it seems clear that thegeographical segregation plays no mean part in determining the relationof the two races. It is safe to say that there is a different feelingbetween the races in the districts where the white is known only as theleader and those in which he comes into competition with the black. Whatis the significance of this for the future?

The same condition exists in the cities, and of this Professor Duboishas taken note: "Savannah is an old city where the class of mastersamong the whites and of trained and confidential slaves among theNegroes formed an exceptionally large part of the population. The resulthas been unusual good feeling between the races, and the entrance ofNegroes into all walks of industrial life, with little or noopposition. " "Atlanta, on the other hand, is quite opposite incharacter. Here the poor whites from North Georgia who neither ownedslaves nor had any acquaintance with Negro character, have come intocontact and severe competition with the blacks. The result has beenintense race feeling. "[4] In one of the large towns of the Delta lastsummer, a prosperous Negro merchant said to me, in discussing thecomparative opportunities of different sections: "I would not be allowedto have a store on the main street in such a good location in manyplaces. " Yet, his store is patronized by whites; and this would be truein many towns in the black belt. Other evidences of the difference infeeling towards the Negroes is afforded by the epithets of"hill-billies" and "red-necks" applied to the whites of the hill countryby the lowland planters, and the retaliatory compliments"yellow-bellies" and "nigger-lovers. " Does this geographical segregationhelp to explain the strikingly diverse reports coming from various partsof the South regarding the Negro? Why does Dr. Paul Barringer, ofVirginia, find that race antagonism is rapidly growing, while Mr. Stoneof Mississippi, says that their problem is to get more Negroes?

The influence that this segregation has upon school facilities for bothraces should not be overlooked. The separation of the two races in theschools is to be viewed as the settled policy of the South. Here, then, is a farming community in which there are only a few Negroes. What sortof a separate school will be maintained for their children? Probablythey are unable to support a good school, even should they so desire. The opportunities of their children must necessarily be limited. Willthey make greater progress than children in the districts where theblacks are in large numbers and command good schools? If the situationbe reversed and there are a few whites in a black community, the whiteswill be able to command excellent private schools for their children, ifnecessary. At present among the males over 21, the greatest illiteracyis found in the black counties. This may be accounted for by thepresence of the older generation, which had little chance in theschools, and by the fact that perhaps those moving away have been themore progressive. It is a matter of regret that the census does notpermit us to ascertain the illiteracy among the children from 10 to 21years of age, to see if any difference was manifest. It would seem, however, that this segregation, coupled with race antagonism, is boundto affect the educational opportunities for the blacks. A problem whichbecomes more serious as the states waken to the needs of the case andattempt to educate their children. 

Yet again, this fact of habitat should lead us to be very chary ofmaking local facts extend over the entire South and of making deductionsfor the entire country based on observations in a few places. Neglect ofthis precaution often leads to very erroneous and misleading conceptionsof actual conditions. For instance, on page 419, Vol. VI, Census of1900, in discussing the fact that Negro receives nearly as much per acrefor his cotton as does the white, it is stated: "Considering the factthat he emerged from slavery only one-third of a century ago, andconsidering also his comparative lack of means for procuring the bestland or for getting the best results from what he has, this nearapproach to the standard attained by the white man's experience for morethan a century denotes remarkable progress. " This may or may not betrue, but the reason and proof are open to question. It assumes that theland cultivated by the Negroes is of the same quality as that farmed bythe whites. This certainly is not true of Arkansas, of which it isstated that "Arkansas shows a greater production per acre by coloredfarmers for all three tenures. " The three tenures are owners, cash-tenants, share-tenants. Mississippi agrees with Arkansas in showinghigher production for both classes of tenants. Are we to infer that theNegroes in Arkansas and Mississippi are better farmers than the whites, and that, therefore, their progress has infinitely surpassed his? By nomeans. The explanation is that in the two states mentioned the Negroescultivate the rich bottom land while the white farmers are found in thehills. The alluvial land easily raises twice the cotton, and that of abetter quality, commanding about a cent a pound more in the market. There may possibly be similar conditions in other states; certainly inAlabama the black prairie tilled by the Negroes is esteemed better thanthe other land. Since this was first written I have chanced upon thereport of the Geological Survey of Alabama for 1881 and 1882, in whichMr. E. A. Smith sums up this same problem as follows:

 "(1) That where the blacks are in excess of the whites, there are the originally most fertile lands of the state. The natural advantages of the soils are, however, more than counterbalanced by the bad system prevailing in such sections, viz. ; large farms rented out in patches to laborers who are too poor and too much in debt to merchants to have any interest in keeping up the fertility of the soil, or rather the ability to keep it up, with the natural consequence of its rapid exhaustion, and a product per acre on these, the best lands of the state, lower than that which is realized from the very poorest. 

 "(2) Where the two races are in nearly equal proportions, or where the whites are in only a slight excess over the blacks, as is the case in all sections where the soils are of average fertility, there is found the system of small farms, worked generally by the owners, a consequently better cultivation, a more general use of commercial fertilizers, a correspondingly high product per acre and a partial maintenance of the fertility of the soils. 

 "(3) Where the whites are greatly in excess of the blacks (three to one and above) the soils are almost certain to be far below the average in fertility, and the product per acre is low from this cause, notwithstanding the redeeming influences of a comparatively rational system of cultivation. 

 "(4) The exceptions to these general rules are nearly always due to local causes which are not far to seek and which afford generally a satisfactory explanation of the discrepancies. "

If we are to base our reasoning on the table cited we might argue thatland ownership is a bad thing for Negroes, for tenants of both classesamong them produced more than did the owners. The white cash tenantsalso produced more than white owners. In explaining this it is said:"The fact that cash tenants pay a fixed money rental per acre causesthem to rent only such area as they can cultivate thoroughly, while manyowners who are unable to rent their excess acreage to tenants attempt tocultivate it themselves, thus decreasing the efficiency of cultivationfor the entire farm. " This may be true of the whites, but it is a lameexplanation for the blacks. Negro farmers who own more land than theycan cultivate appear to be better known at Washington than they arelocally. The trouble with the entire argument is that it assumes thatthe Negro is an independent cultivator of cotton. This is not quite thecase. In all parts of the South the Negro, tenant or owner, usuallyreceives advances from white factors, and these spend a good part oftheir time riding about to see that the land is cultivated in order toinsure repayment of their loans. If their advice and suggestions are notfollowed, or if the crop is not cultivated, the supplies are shut off. On many plantations even the portion of the land to be put in cotton isstipulated. The great bulk of the cotton crop is thus raised under theimmediate oversight of the white man. There is little call for any greatskill on the part of the laborer. No wonder the crop of the Negroapproximates that of the white man. It is to be further remembered thatcotton raising has been the chief occupation of the Negro in America. The Census gives another illustration of the unhappy effects ofattempting to cover very diverse conditions in one statement in the mapVol. VI, plate 3. From this one would be justified in believing that theaverage farm under one management in the alluvial lands of Mississippiand Louisiana was small. As a matter of fact they are among the largestin the country. The map gives a very misleading conception and itresults wholly from attempting to combine divergent conditions. 

The quotation from Mr. Smith touched upon another result of thissegregation. Where the whites are the farmers the farms are smaller andbetter cared for, more fertilizers are used, and better results areobtained. The big plantation system has caused the deterioration ofnaturally fertile soils. Of course, there must come a day of reckoningwherever careless husbandry prevails. 

City conditions are more or less uniform in all sections. Thegeographical location of the farmer, however, is a matter ofconsiderable importance not only as determining in large measure thecrop he must raise, but as limiting the advance he may be able to makeunder given conditions. It is estimated that about 85 per cent of themen (Negroes) and 44 per cent of the women in productive pursuits arefarmers. Their general location has been shown. For convenience we maydivide the territory into five districts: (1) Virginia and Kentucky, above the limit of profitable cotton culture. (2) The Atlantic SeaCoast. (3) The Central belt running from Virginia to CentralMississippi. This includes several different soils, but generalconditions are fairly uniform. (4) The Alluvial Lands, which may besubdivided into the cotton and cane districts. (5) Texas. Thesedifferent districts will be treated separately, except Texas, which isnot included. 

In summing up this chapter it may be said that the location of the massof the Negro farmers has been indicated, and also the fact that there isa separation between the whites and the blacks which promises to haveimportant bearing on future progress, while the various agriculturaldistricts offer opportunities by no means uniform. 

CHAPTER III. ECONOMIC HERITAGE. 

=IN PLOWING TIME. =

Previous to the appearance of the European, West Central Africa foruntold hundreds of years had been almost completely separated from theoutside world. The climate is hot, humid, enervating. The Negro tribesliving in the great forests found little need for exertion to obtain thenecessities of savage life. The woods abounded in game, the rivers infish. By cutting down a few trees and loosening the ground withsharpened sticks the plantains, a species of coarse banana, could bemade to yield many hundred fold. The greater part of the littleagricultural work done fell on the women, for it was considereddegrading by the men. Handicrafts were almost unknown among many tribesand where they existed were of the simplest. Clothing was of littleservice. Food preparations were naturally crude. Sanitary restrictions, seemingly so necessary in hot climates, were unheard of. The dead wereoften buried in the floors of the huts. Miss Kingsley says: "Alltravelers in West Africa find it necessary very soon to accustomthemselves to most noisome odors of many kinds and to all sorts ofrevolting uncleanliness. " Morality, as we use the term, did not exist. Chastity was esteemed in the women only as a marketable commodity. Marriage was easily consummated and with even greater ease dissolved. Slavery, inter-tribal, was widespread, and the ravages of the slavehunter were known long before the arrival of the whites. Religion was amass of grossest superstitions, with belief in the magical power ofwitches and sorcerers who had power of life and death over theirfellows. Might was right and the chiefs enforced obedience. It is notnecessary to go more into detail. In the words of a recent writer:

 "It is clear that any civilization which is based on the fertility of the soil, and not on the energy of man, contains within itself the seed of its own destruction. Where food is easily obtained, where there is little need for clothing or houses, where, in brief, unaided nature furnishes all man's necessities, those elements which produce strength of character and vigor of mind are wanting, and man becomes the slave of his surroundings. He acquires no energy of disposition, he yields himself to superstition and fatalism; the very conditions of life which produced his civilization set the limit of its existence. "

It is evident from the foregoing that there had been almost nothing inthe conditions of Africa to further habits of thrift and industry. Thewarm climate made great provision for the future unnecessary, not to sayimpossible, while social conditions did not favor accumulation ofproperty. It is necessary to emphasize these African conditions, forthey have an important influence on future development. Under theseconditions Negro character was formed, and that character was not likethat of the long-headed blonds of the North. 

The transfer to America marked a sharp break with the past. One needsbut to stop to enumerate the changes to realize how great this breakwas. A simple dialect is exchanged for a complex language. A religionwhose basic principle is love gradually supplants the fears andsuperstitions of heathenhood. The black passes from an enervating, humidclimate to one in which activity is pleasurable. From the isolation andself-satisfaction of savagery he emerges into close contact with one ofthe most ambitious and progressive of peoples. Life at once becomes farmore secure and wrongs are revenged by the self-interest of the whitesas well as by the feeble means of self-defense in possession of theblacks. That there were cruelties and mistreatment under slavery goeswithout saying, but the woes and sufferings under it were as nothingcompared to those of the life in the African forests. This fact issometimes overlooked. With greater security of life came an emphasis, from without, to be sure, on better marital relations. In this respectslavery left much to be desired, but conditions on the whole wereprobably in advance of those in Africa. Marriage began to be somethingmore than a purchase. Sanitation, not the word, but the underlying idea, was taught by precept and example. There came also a dim notion of a newsphere for women. Faint perceptions ofttimes, but ideas never dreamed ofin Africa. I would not defend slavery, but in this country its evilresults are the inheritance of the whites, not of the blacks, and theburden today of American slavery is upon white shoulders. 

Many of the changes have been mentioned, but the greatest is reservedfor the last. This is embraced in one word--WORK. For the first time theNegro was made to work, not casual work, but steady, constant labor. From the Negro's standpoint this is the redeeming feature of his slaveryas perhaps it was for the Israelites in Egypt of old. Booker Washingtonhas written:[5] "American slavery was a great curse to both races, and Iwould be the last to apologize for it, but, in the providence of God, Ibelieve that slavery laid the foundation for the solution of the problemthat is now before us in the South. During slavery the Negro was taughtevery trade, every industry, that constitutes the foundation for makinga living. "

Dr. H. B. Frissell has borne the same testimony:

 "The southern plantation was really a great trade school where thousands received instruction in mechanic arts, in agriculture, in cooking, sewing and other domestic occupations. Although it may be said that all this instruction was given from selfish motives, yet the fact remains that the slaves on many plantations had good industrial training, and all honor is due to the conscientious men and still more to the noble women of the South who in slavery times helped to prepare the way for the better days that were to come. "

Work is the essential condition of human progress. Contrast the trainingof the Negro under enforced slavery with that of the Indian, although itshould not be thought that the characters were the same, for the life inAmerica had made the Indian one who would not submit to the yoke, andall attempts to enslave him came to naught. Dr. Frissell out of a longexperience says:

 "When the children of these two races are placed side by side, as they are in the school rooms and workshops and on the farms at Hampton, it is not difficult to perceive that the training which the blacks had under slavery was far more valuable as a preparation for civilized life than the freedom from training and service enjoyed by the Indian on the Western reservations. For while slavery taught the colored man to work, the reservation pauperized the Indian with free rations; while slavery brought the black into the closest relations with the white race and its ways of life, the reservation shut the Indian away from his white brothers and gave him little knowledge of their civilization, language or religion. "

The coddled Indian, with all the vices of the white man open to him, hasmade little, if any, progress, while the Negro, made to work, has heldhis own in large measure at least. 

Under slavery three general fields of service were open to the blacks. The first comprised the domestic and body servants, with theseamstresses, etc. , whose labors were in the house or in close personalcontact with masters and mistresses. This class was made up of thebrightest and quickest, mulattoes being preferred because of theirgreater aptitude. These servants had almost as much to do with thewhites as did the other blacks and absorbed no small amount of learning. Yet the results were not always satisfactory. A southern lady aftervisiting for a time in New York said on leaving:[6]

 "I cannot tell you how much, after being in your house so long, I dread to go home, and have to take care of our servants again. We have a much smaller family of whites than you, but we have twelve servants, and your two accomplish a great deal more and do their work a great deal better than our twelve. You think your girls are very stupid and that they give much trouble, but it is as nothing. There is hardly one of our servants that can be trusted to do the simplest work without being stood over. If I order a room to be cleaned, or a fire to be made in a distant chamber, I can never be sure I am obeyed unless I go there and see for myself. .. . And when I reprimand them they only say that they don't mean to do anything wrong, or they won't do it again, all the time laughing as though it were a joke. They don't mind it at all. They are just as playful and careless as any wilful child; and they never will do any work if you don't compel them. "

The second class comprised the mechanics, carpenters, blacksmiths, masons and the like. These were also a picked lot. They were welltrained ofttimes and had a practical monopoly of their trades in manylocalities. In technical knowledge they naturally soon outstripped theirmasters and became conscious of their superiority, as the followinginstance related by President G. T. Winston shows:

 "I remember one day my father, who was a lawyer, offered some suggestions to one of his slaves, a fairly good carpenter, who was building us a barn. The old Negro heard him with ill-concealed disgust, and replied: 'Look here, master, you'se a first-rate lawyer, no doubt, but you don't know nothin' 'tall 'bout carpentering. You better go back to your law books. '"

The training received by these artisans stood them in good stead afterthe war, when, left to themselves, they were able to hold their groundby virtue of their ability to work alone. 

The third class was made up of all that were left, and their work was inthe fields. The dullest, as well as those not needed elsewhere, wereincluded. Some few became overseers, but the majority worked on thefarms. As a rule little work was required of children under 12, and whenthey began their tasks were about of the adult's. Thence they passed to"half, " "three-quarter" and "full" hands. Olmsted said:[7]

 "Until the Negro is big enough for his labor to be plainly profitable to his master he has no training to application or method, but only to idleness and carelessness. Before children arrive at a working age they hardly come under the notice of their owner. .. . The only whipping of slaves I have seen in Virginia has been of these wild, lazy children, as they are being broke in to work. They cannot be depended upon a minute out of sight. You will see how difficult it would be if it were attempted to eradicate the indolent, careless, incogitant habits so formed in youth. But it is not systematically attempted, and the influences that continue to act upon a slave in the same direction, cultivating every quality at variance with industry, precision, forethought and providence, are innumerable. "

In many places the field hands were given set tasks to do each day, andthey were then allowed to take their own time and stop when the task wascompleted. In Georgia and South Carolina the following is cited byOlmsted as tasks for a day:[7]

 "In making drains in light clean meadow land each man or woman of the full hands is required to dig one thousand cubic feet; in swamp land that is being prepared for rice culture, where there are not many stumps, the task for a ditcher is five hundred feet; while in a very strong cypress swamp, only two hundred feet is required; in hoeing rice, a certain number of rows equal to one-half or two-thirds of an acre, according to the condition of the land; in sowing rice (strewing in drills), two acres; in reaping rice (if it stands well), three-quarters of an acre, or, sometimes a gang will be required to reap, tie in sheaves, and carry to the stack yard the produce of a certain area commonly equal to one-fourth the number of acres that there are hands working together; hoeing cotton, corn or potatoes, one-half to one acre; threshing, five to six hundred sheaves. In plowing rice land (light, clean, mellow soil), with a yoke of oxen, one acre a day, including the ground lost in and near the drains, the oxen being changed at noon. A cooper also, for instance, is required to make barrels at the rate of eighteen a week; drawing staves, 500 a day; hoop-poles, 120; squaring timber, 100 feet; laying worm fence, 50 panels per day; post and rail fence, posts set two and a half to three feet deep, nine feet apart, nine or ten panels per hand. In getting fuel from the woods (pine to be cut and split), one cord is the task for a day. In 'mauling rails, ' the taskman selecting the trees (pine) that he judges will split easiest, 100 a day, ends not sharpened. 

 "In allotting the tasks the drivers are expected to put the weaker hands where, if there is any choice in the appearance of the ground, as where certain rows in hoeing corn would be less weedy than others, they will be favored. 

 "These tasks would certainly not be considered excessively hard by a northern laborer, and, in point of fact, the more industrious and active hands finish them often by two o'clock. I saw one or two leaving the field soon after one o'clock, several about two, and between three and four I met a dozen women and several men coming to their cabins, having finished their day's work. .. . If, after a hard day's labor he (the driver) sees that the gang has been overtasked, owing to a miscalculation of the difficulty of the work, he may excuse the completion of the tasks, but he is not allowed to extend them. "

In other places the work was not laid out in tasks, but it is safe tosay that, judging from all reports and all probabilities, the amount ofwork done did not equal that of the free labor of the North, then ornow. If it had the commercial supremacy of the South would have beenlonger maintained. 

Some things regarding the agricultural work at once become prominent. All work was done under the immediate eye of the task master. Thus therewas little occasion for the development of any sense of individualresponsibility for the work. As a rule the methods adopted were crude. Little machinery was used, and that of the simplest. Hoes, heavy andclumsy, were the common tools. Within a year I have seen grass beingmowed with hoes preparatory to putting the ground in cultivation. Eventoday the Negro has to be trained to use the light, sharp hoe of theNorth. Corn, cotton and, in a few districts, rice or tobacco were thestaple crops, although each plantation raised its own fruit andvegetables, and about the cabins in the quarters were little plots forgardens. The land was cultivated for a time, then abandoned for new, while in most places little attention was paid to rotation of crops orto fertilizers. The result was that large sections of the South had beenseriously injured before the war. As some one has said:

 "The destruction of the soils by the methods of cultivation prior to the war was worse than the ravages of the war. The _post bellum_ farmer received as an inheritance large areas of wornout and generally unproductive soils. "

Yet all things were the master's. A failure of the crop meant littlehunger to the black. Refusal to work could but bring bodily punishment, for the master was seldom of the kind who would take life--a live Negrowas worth a good deal more than a dead one. Clothing and shelter wereprovided, and care in sickness. The master must always furnish tools, land and seed, and see to it that the ground was cultivated. There wasthus little necessity for the Negro to care for the morrow, and hisAfrican training had not taught him to borrow trouble. Thus neitherAfrica nor America had trained the Negro to independent, continuouslabor apart from the eye of the overseer. The requirements as to skillwere low. The average man learned little of the mysteries of fruitgrowing, truck farming and all the economies which make diversifiedagriculture profitable. 

Freedom came, a second sharp break with the past. There is now no onewho is responsible for food and clothing. For a time all is inconfusion. The war had wiped out the capital of the country. The whiteswere land poor, the Negroes landless. It so happened that at this timethe price of cotton was high. The Negro knew more about cotton than anyother crop. _Raise cotton_ became the order of the day. The moneylenders would lend money on cotton, even in advance, for it had acertain and sure ready sale. Thus developed the crop-lien system whichin essence consists in taking a mortgage on crops yet to be raised. Thesystem existed among the white planters for many years before the war. 

A certain amount of food and clothing was advanced to the Negro familyuntil the crop could be harvested, when the money value of the goodsreceived was returned with interest. Perhaps nothing which concerns theNegro has been the subject of more hostile criticism than this crop-liensystem. That it is easily abused when the man on one side is a shrewdand cunning sharpster and the borrower an illiterate and trusting Negrois beyond doubt. That in thousands of cases advantage has been taken ofthis fact to wrest from the Negro at the end of the year all that he hadis not to be questioned. Certainly a system which makes it possible isopen to criticism. It should not be forgotten, however, that the systemgrew out of the needs of the time and served a useful purpose whenhonestly administered, even as it does today. No money could be gottenwith land as security, and even today the land owner often sees hismerchant with far less capital get money from the bank which has refusedhis security. The system has enabled a poor man without tools and workanimals without food to get a start and be provided with a modicum ofnecessities until the crops were harvested. Thousands have become moreor less independent who started in this way. The evil influences of thesystem, for none would consider it ideal, have probably been that it hasmade unnecessary any saving on the part of the Negro, who feels surethat he can receive his advances and who cares little for the fact thatsome day he must pay a big interest on what he receives. Secondly, thissystem has hindered the development of diversified farming, which todayis one of the greatest needs of the South. The advances have beenconditioned upon the planting and cultivating a given amount of cotton. During recent years no other staple has so fallen in price, and theresult has been hard on the farmers. All else has faded intoinsignificance before the necessity of raising cotton. The result on thefertility of the soil is also evident. Luckily cotton makes lightdemands on the land, but the thin soil of many districts has been unableto stand even the light demands. Guano came just in time and the latercommercial fertilizers have postponed the evil day. The development ofthe cotton mills has also served to give a local market, which hasstimulated the production of cotton. It seems rather evident, however, that the increasing development of western lands will put a heavierburden upon the Atlantic slope. This, of course, will not affect theculture of sea-island cotton, which is grown in only a limited area. Tomeet this handicap a more diversified agriculture must graduallysupplant in some way the present over-attention to cotton. In early daysVirginia raised much cotton, now it stands towards the bottom of thecotton states. Perhaps it is safe to say that Virginia land has been asmuch injured by the more exhaustive crop, tobacco, as the other statesby cotton. Large areas have been allowed to go back to the woods andlocal conditions have greatly changed. How this diversification is to bebrought about for the Negro is one of the most important questions. Recent years have witnessed an enormous development of truck farming, but in this the Negro has borne little part. This intensive farmingrequires a knowledge of soil and of plant life, coupled with muchability in marketing wares, which the average Negro does not possess. Nor has he taken any great part in the fruit industry, which is steadilygrowing. The question to which all this leads may be stated as follows. To what extent is the Negro taking advantage of the opportunities he nowhas on the farm? What is his present situation?

CHAPTER IV. THE PRESENT SITUATION. 

The southern states are not densely populated. Alabama has an average of35 per square mile; Georgia, 37; South Carolina, 44. These may becompared with Iowa, 40; Indiana, 70, taking two of the typical northernfarming states, while Connecticut has 187. In the prairie section ofAlabama the Negro population ranges from 30 to 50 per square mile, andthis is about the densest outside of the city counties. There is thus anabundance of land. As a matter of fact there is not the least difficultyfor the Negro farmer to get plenty of land, and he has but to showhimself a good tenant to have the whites offering him inducements. 

=A CABIN INTERIOR. =

Negroes on the farms may be divided into four classes: Owners, cashtenants, share tenants, laborers. Share tenants differ from the sameclass in the North in that work animals and tools are usually providedby the landlord. Among the laborers must also be included the familiesliving on the rice and cane plantations, who work for cash wages butreceive houses and such perquisites as do other tenants and whosepermanence is more assured than an ordinary day hand. They are paid incash, usually through a plantation store, that debts for provisions, etc. , may be deducted. Both owners and tenants find it generallynecessary to arrange for advances of food and clothing until harvest. The advances begin in the early Spring and continue until August orsometimes until the cotton is picked. In the regions east of thealluvial lands advances usually stop by the first of August, and in theinterim until the cotton is sold odd jobs or some extra labor, pickingblackberries and the like, must furnish the support for the family. Thelandlord may do the advancing or some merchant. Money is seldomfurnished directly, although in recent years banks are beginning to loanon crop-liens. The food supplied is often based on the number of workinghands, irrespective of the number of children in the family. This isoccasionally a hardship. The customary ration is a peck of corn meal andthree pounds of pork per week. Usually a crop-lien together with a billof sale of any personal property is given as security, but in somestates landlords have a first lien upon all crops for rent and advances. In all districts the tenant is allowed to cut wood for his fire, andfrequently has free pasture for his stock. There is much complaint thatwhen there are fences about the house they are sometimes burned, beingmore accessible than the timber, which may be at a distance and whichhas to be cut. The landlords and the advancers have found it necessaryto spend a large part of their time personally, or through agents called"riders, " going about the plantations to see that the crops arecultivated. The Negro knows how to raise cotton, but he may forget toplow, chop, or some other such trifle, unless reminded of the necessity. Thus a considerable part of the excessive interest charged the Negroshould really be charged as wages of superintendence. If theinstructions of the riders are not followed, rations are cut off, andthus the recalcitrant brought to terms. 

For a long time rations have been dealt out on Saturday. So Saturday hascome to be considered a holiday, or half-holiday at least. Early in themorning the roads are covered with blacks on foot, horse back, mule backand in various vehicles, on their way to the store or village, there tospend the day loafing about in friendly discussion with neighbors. Thecondition of the crops has little preventive influence, and the handicapto successful husbandry formed by the habit is easily perceived. Manyefforts are being made to break up the custom, but it is up-hill work. Another habit of the Negro which militates against his progress is hisprowling about in all sorts of revels by night, thereby unfittinghimself for labor the next day. This trait also shows forth the generalthoughtlessness of the Negro. His mule works by day, but is expected tocarry his owner any number of miles at night. Sunday is seldom a day ofrest for the work animals. It is a curious fact that wherever theNegroes are most numerous there mules usually outnumber horses. Thereare several reasons for this. It has often been supposed that mulesendure the heat better than horses. This is questionable. The mule, however, will do a certain amount and then quit, all inducements to thecontrary notwithstanding. The horse will go till he drops; moreover, will not stand the abuse which the mule endures. The Negro does not beara good reputation for care of his animals. He neglects to feed andprovide for them. Their looks justify the criticism. The mule, valuableas he is for many purposes, is necessarily more expensive in the longrun than a self-perpetuating animal. 

In all parts it is the custom for the Negroes to save a little gardenpatch about the house, which, if properly tended, would supply thefamily with vegetables throughout the year. This is seldom the case. Arecent Tuskegee catalog commenting on this says:

 "If they have any garden at all, it is apt to be choked with weeds and other noxious growths. With every advantage of soil and climate, and with a steady market if they live near any city or large town, few of the colored farmers get any benefit from this, one of the most profitable of all industries. "

As a matter of fact they care little for vegetables and seldom know howto prepare them for the table. The garden is regularly started in theSpring, but seldom amounts to much. I have ridden for a day with but aglimpse of a couple of attempts. As a result there will be a fewcollards, turnips, gourds, sweet potatoes and beans, but the mass of thepeople buy the little they need from the stores. A dealer in a littlecountry store told me last summer that he would make about $75 an acreon three acres of watermelons, although almost every purchaser couldraise them if he would. In many regions wild fruits are abundant, andblackberries during the season are quite a staple, but they are seldomcanned. Some cattle are kept, but little butter is made, and milk isseldom on the bill of fare, the stock being sold when fat (?). Manyfamilies keep chickens, usually of the variety known as "dunghillfowls, " which forage for themselves. But the market supplied withchickens by the small farmers, as it might easily be. Wheneveropportunity offers, hunting and fishing become more than diversions, andthe fondness for coon and 'possum is proverbial. 

In a study of dietaries of Negroes made under Tuskegee Institute andreported in Bulletin No. 38, Office of Experimental Stations, U. S. Dept. Of Agriculture, it is stated:

 "Comparing these negro dietaries with other dietaries and dietary standards, it will be seen that--

 "(1) The quantities of protein are small. Roughly speaking, the food of these negroes furnished one-third to three-fourths as much protein as are called for in the current physiological standards and as are actually found in the dietaries of well fed whites in the United States and well fed people in Europe. They were, indeed, no larger than have been found in the dietaries of the very poor factory operatives and laborers in Germany and the laborers and beggars in Italy. 

 "(2) In fuel value the Negro dietaries compare quite favorably with those of well-to-do people of the laboring classes in Europe and the United States. "

This indicates the ignorance of the Negro regarding the food he needs, so that in a region of plenty he is underfed as regards the muscle andbone forming elements and overfed so far as fuel value is concerned. Onecannot help asking what effect a normal diet would have upon the sexualpassions. It is worthy of notice that in the schools maintained by thewhites there is relatively little trouble on this account. Possibly thechanged life and food are in no small measure responsible for thedifference. 

Under diversified farming there would be steady employment most of theyear, with a corresponding increase of production. As it is there aretwo busy seasons. In the Spring, planting and cultivating cotton, sayfrom March to July, and in the Fall, cotton picking, September toDecember. The balance of the time the average farmer does little work. The present system entails a great loss of time. 

The absence of good pastures and of meadows is noticeable. This is alsotoo true of white farmers. Yet the grasses grow luxuriantly and nothingbut custom or something else accounts for their absence; the somethingelse is cotton. The adaptability of cotton to the Negro is almostprovidential. It has a long tap root and is able to stand neglect andyet produce a reasonable crop. The grains, corn and cane, with theirsurface roots, will not thrive under careless handling. 

The average farmer knows, or at least utilizes few of the littleeconomies which make agriculture so profitable elsewhere. The Negro isthus under a heavy handicap and does not get the most that he might frompresent opportunities. I am fully conscious that there are many farmerswho take advantage of these things and are correspondingly successful, but they are not the average man of whom I am speaking. With thisgeneral statement I pass to a consideration of the situation in thevarious districts before mentioned. 

TIDE WATER VIRGINIA. 

The Virginia sea shore consists of a number of peninsulas separated bynarrow rivers (salt water). The country along the shore and the riversis flat, with low hills in the interior. North of Old Point Comfort thedistrict is scarcely touched by railroads and is accessible only bysteamers. 

Gloucester County, lying between York River and Mob Jack Bay, is aninteresting region. The hilly soil of the central part sells at from $5to $10 per acre, while the flat coast land, which is richer althoughharder to drain, is worth from $25 to $50. The immediate water front hasrisen in price in recent years and brings fancy prices for residencepurposes. Curiously enough some of the best land of the county is thatbeneath the waters of the rivers--the oyster beds. Land for this use maybe worth from nothing to many hundreds of dollars an acre, according toits nature. The county contains 250 square miles, 6, 224 whites and 6, 608blacks, the latter forming 51 per cent of the population. 

This sea coast region offers peculiar facilities for gaining an easylivelihood. There are few negro families of which some member does notspend part of the year fishing or oystering. There has been a greatdevelopment of the oyster industry. The season lasts from September 1 toMay 1, and good workmen not infrequently make $2 a day or more when theycan work on the public beds. This last clause is significant. It isstated that the men expect to work most of September, October andNovember; one-half of December and January; one-third of February; anytime in March is clear gain and all of April. According to a carefulstudy[8] of the oyster industry it was found that the oystermen, _i. E. _, those who dig the oysters from the rocks, make about $8 a month, whilefamilies occupied in shucking oysters earn up to $400 a year, three-fourths of them gaining less than $250. The public beds yield lessthan formerly and the business is gradually going into the hands offirms maintaining their own beds, with a corresponding reduction inpossible earnings for the oystermen. 

The effect of this industry is twofold; a considerable sum of money isbrought into the county and much of this has been invested in homes andsmall farms. This is the bright side; but there is a dark side. The boysare drawn out of the schools by the age of 12 to work at shuckingoysters, and during the winter months near the rivers the boys willattend only on stormy days. The men are also taken away from the farmstoo early in the fall to gather crops, and return too late in the springto get the best results from the farm work. The irregular character ofthe employment reacts on the men and they tend to drift to the citiesduring the summer, although many find employment in berry picking aboutNorfolk. Another result has been to make farm labor very scarce. Thisnaturally causes some complaint. I do not say that the bad resultsoutweigh the good, but believe they must be considered. 

The population is scattered over the county, there being no towns of anysize, and is denser along the rivers than inland. The relations betweenthe two races are most friendly, although less satisfactory between theyounger generation. The Negroes make no complaints of ill treatment. Inthe last ten years there have been only four Negroes sentenced to thestate prison, while in the twelve months prior to May 1, 1903, I wastold that there was but one trial for misdemeanor. It may be that theabsence of many of the young men for several months a year accounts inpart for the small amount of crime. The jail stands empty most of thetime. The chief offenses are against the fish and oyster laws of thestate. Whites and blacks both claim that illegitimate children are muchrarer than formerly. I was told of a case in which a young white man wasfined for attempting to seduce a colored girl. The races have kept intouch. White ministers still preach in negro churches, addressSunday-schools, etc. 

In all save a few of the poorer districts the old one-roomed cabin hasgiven place to a comfortable house of several rooms. The houses areoften white-washed, although their completion may take a good manyyears. Stoves have supplanted fireplaces. The fences about the yards areoften neat and in good repair. So far as housing conditions areconcerned, I have seen no rural district of the South to compare withthis. The old cabin is decidedly out of fashion. 

Turning to the farm proper, there are other evidences of change. Thereare no women working in the fields, their time being spent about thehouse and the garden. The system of crop liens is unknown. Each farmerraises his own supplies, smokes his own meat or buys at the store forcash or on credit. Wheat and corn are ground in local mills. The heavyinterest charges of other districts are thus avoided. It is stated thata great number of the Negroes are buying little places, and this bearsout the census figures, which show that of the Negro farmers 90. 9 percent in this county are owners or managers; the average for the negroesas a whole is 27. 1 per cent. 

Although so many earn money in the oyster business, there are others whohave gotten ahead by sticking to the farm. T---- now owns part of theplace on which he was a slave, and his slave-time cabin is now used as ashed. He began buying land in 1873, paying from $10 to $11. 50 per acre, and by hard work and economy now owns sixty acres which are worth muchmore than their first cost. With the help of his boys, whom he hasmanaged to keep at home, he derives a comfortable income from his land. His daughter, now his housekeeper, teaches school near by during thewinter. What he has done others can do, he says. 

Y---- is another who has succeeded. His first payments were made fromthe sale of wood cut in clearing the land. In 1903 his acres wereplanted as follows:

 Orchard 2 acres. Woodland 8 acres. Pasture 10 acres. Corn 8 acres. Rye 3/4 acres. Potato patch Garden and yard. 

His children are being trained at Hampton, and he laughingly says thatone boy is already telling him how to get more produce from his land. 

B---- is an oysterman during the winter. He has purchased a small placeof four acres, for which he paid $18 per acre. This ground he cultivatesand has a few apple, plum and peach trees in his yard. His case istypical. 

Wages in the county are not high. House servants get from $3 to $8 permonth. Day laborers are paid from 50 to 75 cents a day. Farm hands getabout $10 a month and two meals daily (breakfast and dinner). I havealready mentioned that farm laborers were getting fewer, and those leftare naturally the less reliable. Many white farmers are havingconsiderable difficulty in carrying on their places. The result is thatmany are only partially cultivating the farms, and many of the youngermen are abandoning agriculture. What the final result will be is hard totell. 

In summarizing it may be said that agriculture is being somewhatneglected and that the opportunity to earn money in the oyster industryacts as a constant deterrent to agricultural progress, if it is notdirectly injurious. Here, as elsewhere, there is room for improvement inmethods of tilling the soil and in rotation of crops, use of animalmanures, etc. 

The general social and moral improvement has been noted. It is apleasure to find that one of the strongest factors in this improvementis due to the presence in the county of a number of graduates of Hamptonwho, in their homes, their schools and daily life, have stood for betterthings. 

CENTRAL VIRGINIA. 

The difficulty of making general statements true in all districts haselsewhere been mentioned. The reader will not be surprised, therefore, to find many things said in the immediately preceding pages inapplicableto conditions in the tobacco districts. The little town of Farmville, Va. , is the market for some 12, 000, 000 pounds of tobacco yearly. Thecounty Prince Edward contained in 1890 9, 924 Negroes and in 1900 but9, 769, a decrease of 155. The county does not give one the impression ofagricultural prosperity. The surface is very rolling, the soil sandy andthin in many places. Along the bottoms there is good land, of less valuethan formerly because of freshets. Practically all of the land has beenunder cultivation at some time, and in heavily wooded fields the cornrows may often be traced. On every side are worn-out fields on whichsassafras soon gets a hold, followed by pine and other trees. 

Labor conditions have been growing worse, according to common report. Itis harder to get farm hands than formerly, and this difficulty is mostfelt by those who exact the most. The day laborer gets from 40 to 50cents and his meals, while for special work, such as cutting wheat, thewage may rise to $1. 50. Women no longer work in the fields, and aboutthe house get 35 cents per day. Formerly women worked in the fields, andwages for both sexes were lower. Hands by the month get $7 to $8 andboard. In this county are many small white farmers who work in thefields with the men, and the white housewife not infrequently cooks thefood for the Negroes--quite a contrast to typical southern practice. 

The movement from the farm is not an unmixed evil in that it iscompelling the introduction of improved machinery, such as mowingmachines, binders. On many a farm only scythes and cradles are known. 

Another element in the problem is the fact that many negroes have beengetting little places of their own and therefore do less work forothers. There are many whites who think this development a step forwardand believe that the land owners are better citizens. There are otherswho claim that the net result is a loss, in that they are satisfiedmerely to eke out some sort of an existence and are not spurred on toincreased production. It is quite commonly reported that there were someorganizations among the Negroes whose members agreed not to work for thewhites, but I cannot vouch for their existence. 

Although agriculture here is much more diversified than in the cottonbelt, the Negro finds it necessary to get advances. These are usuallysupplied by commission merchants, who furnish the fertilizers andnecessary food, taking crop liens as security. Advances begin in thespring and last until the following December, when the tobacco ismarketed. The interest charged is 6 per cent, but the goods sold on thisplan are much enhanced in price; interest is usually charged for a year, and the merchant receives a commission of 2-1/2 per cent for selling thetobacco, so the business appears fairly profitable. 

It is difficult to estimate the average value of an acre of tobacco, asit varies so much in quality as well as quantity. It is probably safe tosay that the Negroes do not average over $20 per acre, ranging from $15to $25, and have perhaps three or four acres in tobacco. It is generallyexpected that the tobacco will about pay for the advances. This wouldindicate, and the commission men confirm it, that the average advance isbetween $50 and $75 per year. The rations given out are no longer merelypork and meal, with which it is stated that the Negroes are not nowcontent, but include a more varied diet. 

The customary rent is one-fourth of all that is produced, the landlordpaying one-fourth of the fertilizer (universally called guano in thisdistrict). Tobacco makes heavy demands on the soil and at least 400pounds, a value of about $4. 50 per acre, should be used. When thelandlord furnishes the horse or mule he pays also one-half of thefertilizer and gets one-half of the produce. The rent on tobacco land isthus large, but the average cash rental is between $2 and $3. 

The standard rotation of crops is tobacco, wheat, clover, tobacco. Theclover is not infrequently skipped, the field lying fallow oruncultivated until exhausted. The average farmer thus has about as manyacres in wheat as in tobacco and raises perhaps twelve bushels of wheatper acre. Some corn is also raised, and I have seen fields so exhaustedthat the stalk at the ground was scarcely larger than my middle finger. The corn crop may possibly average 10 to 15 bushels per acre, or, inVirginia terminology, 2 to 3 barrels. 

The average farmer under present conditions just about meets hisadvances with the tobacco raised. He has about enough wheat to supplyhim with flour; perhaps enough corn and hay for his ox or horse;possibly enough meat for the family. The individual family may fallshort on any of these. The hay crop is unsatisfactory, largely throughneglect. In May, 1903, on a Saturday, I saw wagon after wagon leavingFarmville carrying bales of western hay. This is scarcely an indicationof thrift. 

The impression one gets from traveling about is that the extensivecultivation of tobacco, in spite of the fact that it is the cash cropand perhaps also the most profitable, is really a drawback in that otherpossibilities are obscured. It may be that the line of progress will notbe to abandon tobacco, but to introduce more intensive cultivation, forthe average man, white or black, does not get a proper return from anacre. To-day there is always a likelihood that more tobacco will beplanted than can be properly cultivated, for it is a plant which demandsconstant and careful attention until it is marketed. 

B---- has a big family of children and lives in a large cabin, one roomwith a loft. He owns a pair of oxen and manages to raise enough to feedthem. He also raises about enough meat for his family. During the seasonof 1902 he raised $175 worth of tobacco; corn valued at $37. 50 and 16bushels of wheat, a total of about $221. Deducting one-fourth for rentand estimating his expenses for fertilizer at $25, he had about $140 outof which to pay all other expenses. B---- is considered a very good man, who tends carefully and faithfully to his work. It is evident, however, that his margin is small. 

The farmer has opportunities to supplement his earnings. Cordwood findsready sale in the towns at $2 per cord, and I have seen many loads ofnot over one-fourth of a cord hauled to market by a small steer. Butter, eggs and chickens yield some returns and the country producesblackberries in profusion. 

There are some Negroes who are making a comfortable living on the farmsand whose houses and yards are well kept. As has been said, this is notthe general impression made by the district. Considerable sums of moneyare sent in by children working in the northern cities. This is offset, however, by those who come back in the winter to live off their parents, having squandered all their own earnings elsewhere. 

The situation in a word is: A generation or more of reliance on onecrop, neglect of other crops and of stock, resulting in deterioratedland. The labor force attracted to the towns and the North by higherwages. Natural result: Decadence of agricultural conditions, affordingat the same time a chance for many Negroes to become land owners. Whenthe process will stop or the way out I know not. Perhaps the Germanimmigrants who are beginning to buy up some of the farms may lead theway to a better husbandry. 

For an interesting account of conditions in the town of Farmville see"The Negroes of Farmville, " by W. E. B. DuBois, Bulletin Department ofLabor, January, 1898. 

THE SEA COAST. 

=A SEA-ISLAND CABIN. =

The low-lying coast of South Carolina and Georgia, with its fringe ofislands, has long been the seat of a heavy Negro population. Of thecounties perhaps none is more interesting than Beaufort, thesouthernmost of South Carolina. The eastern half of the county is cut upby many salt rivers into numerous islands. Broad River separates thesefrom the mainland. The Plant System has a line on the western edge ofthe county, while the Georgia Railroad runs east to Port Royal. According to the census, the county contains 943 square miles of landand a population of 32, 137 blacks and 3, 349 whites, the Negroes thusforming 90 per cent of the total. There are 37 persons to the squaremile. With the exception of Beaufort and Port Royal, the whites arefound on the western side of the county. The islands are almost solidblack. Just after the war many of the plantations were sold for taxesand fell into the hands of the Negroes, the funds realized being setapart for the education of the blacks, the interest now amounting tosome $2, 000 a year. In the seventies there was a great development ofthe phosphate industry, which at its height employed hundreds ofNegroes, taken from the farms. Enormous fertilizer plants were erected. Most of this is now a thing of the past and the dredges lie rotting atthe wharves. It is the general opinion that the influence of thisindustry was not entirely beneficial, although it set much money incirculation. It drew the men from the farms, and now they tend to driftto the cities rather than return. 

A livelihood is easily gained. The creeks abound with fish, crabs andoysters. There is plenty of work on the farms for those who prefer moresteady labor. Land valued at about $10 per acre may be rented for $1. More than ten acres to the tenant is not usual, and I was told that itis very common for a family to rent all the land it wants for $10 peryear, the presumption being that not over ten acres would be utilized. The staple crop for the small farmer is the sea island cotton. Under thepresent culture land devoted to this lies fallow every other year. Theislands are low and flat, subject to severe storms, that of 1893 havingdestroyed many lives and much property. The county was originallyheavily wooded and there is still an abundance for local purposes, though the supply is low in places. On the islands the blacks have beenalmost alone for a generation and by many it is claimed that there hasbeen a decided retrogression. By common consent St. Helena Island, whichlies near Beaufort, is considered the most prosperous of the Negrodistricts. On this island are over 8, 000 blacks and some 200 whites. Thecabins usually have two rooms, many having been partitioned to make thesecond. They are of rough lumber, sometimes whitewashed, but seldompainted. There are few fences and some damage is done by stock. Outbuildings are few; privies are almost unknown--even at the schoolsthere are no closets of any kind. The wells are shallow, six feet or soin depth with a few driven to 12 or 17 feet. A few have pumps, the restare open. At present there is no dispensary on the island but there area number of "blind tigers. " The nearest physician is at Beaufort and thecost of a single visit is from five to ten dollars. The distance fromthe doctors is said not to be an unmixed evil as it saves much foolishexpenditure of money in fancied ills. 

In slavery times there were 61 plantations on the island and theirnames, as Fripps Corner, Oaks, still survive to designate localities. There was in olden times little contact with the whites as Negro driverswere common. Each plantation still has its "prayer house" at whichreligious services are held. Meetings occur on different nights on thevarious plantations to enable the people to get all the religion theyneed. These meetings are often what are known as "shouts, " when withmuch shouting and wild rhythmic dancing the participants keep on tillexhausted. The suggestion of Africa is not vague. The Virginia Negroviews these gatherings with as much astonishment as does any white. Manyof the blacks speak a strange dialect hard to understand. "Shum, " forinstance, being the equivalent for "see them. "

The land is sandy and should have skillful handling to get the bestresults. Yet the farming is very unscientific. The first plowing isshallow and subsequent cultivation is done almost entirely with hoes. When a Hampton graduate began some new methods last year the people camefor miles to see his big plow. It is said that there was more plowingthan usual as a result. The daily life of the farmer is about asfollows: Rising between four and five he goes directly to the field, eating nothing until eight or nine, when he has some "grits, " a sort offine hominy cooked like oat meal. Many eat nothing until they leave thefield at eleven for dinner, which also consists of grits with some crabsin summer and fish in winter. Some have only these two meals a day. Cornbread and molasses are almost unknown and when they have molasses it iseaten with a spoon. Knives and forks are seldom used. One girl ofeighteen did not know how to handle a knife. There are numbers of cowson the island, but milk is seldom served, the cattle being sold forbeef. The draft animals are usually small oxen or ponies, called "saltmarsh tackies, " as they are left to pick their living from the marshes. Some chickens and turkeys are raised, but no great dependence is placedon them. There are no geese and few ducks. Little commercial fertilizeris used, the marsh grass, which grows in great abundance, being anexcellent substitute of which the more progressive take advantage. Thefollowing statement will illustrate the situation of three typicalfamilies, an unusual, a good, and an average farmer. The figures are for1902:

 No. 1. No. 2. No. 3. Number in family 8 13 4 Number rooms 6 5 2 Number outbuildings 5 3 0 Number horses 4 1 0 Number cows 9 5 1 Number hogs 10 3 0 Number other animals 1 dog 2 goats 1 dog 1 dog Number fowls 90 30 10 Acres of land owned 55 21 0 Acres of land rented 0 0 10-5/8 Acres in cotton 10 3. 5 5 Acres in corn 8 5 5 Acres in sweet potatoes 3 3. 5 3/8 Acres in white potatoes 1/4 0 0 Acres in peas (cow) 5. 5 1. 5 1/4 Acres in rice 1. 5 0 0 Garden Very small Poor None

The rice is grown without flooding and known as "Providence Rice. "

With the great ease of getting a livelihood the advances necessarily aresmall. From January 1, 1902, to July 15 (which is near the close of theadvancing season) several average families had gotten advances averaging$15. 00. The firm which does most of the advancing on the island writes:"We have some that get more. A few get $50. 00 or about that amount, butwe make it a point not to let the colored people or our customers gettoo much in debt. We have to determine about what they need and we havealways given them what was necessary to help them make a crop accordingto their conditions and circumstances as they present themselves to us. "The firm reports that they collect each year about 90 per cent of theiroutstanding accounts. 

Below are given the customary forms of the Bill of Sale and the CropLien given to secure advances:

 THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA, COUNTY OF BEAUFORT. 

 Know all men by these presents, that . .. .. .. .. .. . Of the said County, in consideration of the sum of . .. .. .. .. .. . Dollars, to be advanced in merchandise by . .. .. .. .. .. . , of Beaufort County and State, have bargained and sold unto the said . .. .. .. .. .. . The following personal property, . .. .. .. .. .. . , now in my possession, and which I promise to deliver on demand of the said . .. .. .. .. .. . 

 (Signed) . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 

 $. .. .. .. .. .. . 

 On the . .. . Day of 19. . , I promise to pay to the order of . .. .. .. .. .. . . .. .. .. .. .. , at Beaufort, South Carolina, . .. .. .. .. .. . Dollars for money and supplies to be advanced and furnished me by the said . .. .. .. .. .. . , merchants, Beaufort, South Carolina, for use in the cultivation of crops on the plantation or farm cultivated by me in Beaufort County, South Carolina, known as the . .. .. .. .. .. . Plantation, and containing about . .. .. .. .. .. . Acres, during the year 190. .. 

 And in consideration of the said advance made me I hereby give, make and grant to the said . .. .. .. .. .. . A lien to the extent of said advance on all the crops which may be grown on the said plantation or farm during the year 190. . , wherever said crops or parts of them are found. 

 This lien hereby given is executed and to be enforced in accordance with the laws of the State of South Carolina. 

 I, the said . .. .. .. .. .. . , in consideration of the foregoing, do hereby agree to advance to the said . .. .. .. .. .. . .. .. Dollars, as above stated. 

 Witness the hands and seals of both parties. 

 In the presence of . .. .. .. .. .. . , L. S. . .. .. .. .. .. . . .. .. .. .. .. . , L. S. 

This is then recorded in the County Court as is an ordinary mortgage. 

On this island considerable money has been saved and is now depositedwith a firm of merchants in whom the people have confidence. In July, 1902, there were about 100 individual depositors having some $4, 000 totheir credit. The money can be withdrawn at any time, all debts to thefirm being first settled. Interest at five per cent. Is allowed. Some ofthis money comes from pensions. There are round about Beaufort aconsiderable number of U. S. Pensioners, as the city was headquartersfor Union soldiers for a long time. The effect of the pensions isclaimed both by whites and blacks to be bad. 

A great deal of the credit for the good conditions, relatively speaking, which prevail on St. Helena is given to the Penn School which for yearshas come into close touch with the lives of the people. The Negroes havealso been in touch with a good class of whites, who have encouraged allefforts at improvement. Wherever the credit lies, the visitor is struckby the difference between conditions here and on some other islands, forinstance, Lady's Island, which lies between St. Helena and Beaufort. Even here it is claimed that the older generation is more industrious. 

In the trucking industry, which is very profitable along the coast, theNegroes have only been engaged as ordinary laborers. On the main land, wherever fresh water can be obtained, is the seat of a considerable riceindustry. In recent years, owing to the cutting of the forests in thehills, the planters are troubled by freshets in the spring and droughtsin the summer. The work is done by Negroes under direction of whiteforemen. The men work harder on contract jobs, but work by the day isbetter done. Women are in better repute as laborers than the men and itis stated that more women support their husbands than formerly was thecase. Wages range from $. 35 to $. 50 per day, varying somewhat accordingto the work done. They are paid in cash and the planters have given upthe plantation store in many cases. All work must be constantlysupervised and it is said to be harder and harder to get work done. Aplanter found it almost impossible in the winter of 1901 to get fiftycords of wood cut, the work being considered too heavy. When I left thetrain at Beaufort and found twelve hacks waiting for about threepassengers it was evident where some of the labor force had gone. 

In this county there is a great development of burial and sick benefitsocieties. The "Morning Star", "Star of Hope", "Star of Bethlehem" aretypical names. The dues are from five to ten cents a week. Many of thesocieties have good sized halls, rivaling ofttimes the churches, on thevarious islands, which are used for lodge and social purposes. 

Beaufort and the other towns offer the country people an opportunity todispose of fish and any garden produce they may raise, while it is notuncommon to see a little ox dragging a two-wheeled cart and perhaps aquarter of a cord of wood to be hawked about town. During part of thesummer a good many gather a species of plant which is used inadulterating cigarettes and cigars. 

This little account indicates that, so far as the farmers are concerned, there are few evidences of any decided progress save in the districtwhich has been under the influence of one school. The ease of getting alivelihood acts as a deterrent to ambition. Yet the old families saythat they have the "best niggers of the South" and certain it is thatrace troubles are unknown. 

CENTRAL DISTRICT. 

=THE OLD CABIN. =

In the central district life is a little more strenuous than on the seacoast. The cabins are about the same. The average tenant has a "one mulefarm, " some thirty or thirty-five acres. Occasionally the tenant hasmore land, but only about this amount is cultivated and no rent is paidfor the balance. The area of the land is usually estimated and onlyrarely is it surveyed. This land ranges in value from $5. 00 to $15. 00per acre on the average. The customary rental for a "one mule farm" isabout two bales of cotton, whose value in recent years would be in theneighborhood of $75. 00, thus making the rental about $3. 00 per acre. Onthis farm from four to six bales of cotton are raised. The soil has beeninjured by improper tillage and requires an expenditure of $1. 75 to$2. 00 per acre for fertilizers if the best results are to be obtained. As yet the Negroes do not fully appreciate this. The farmer securesadvances based on 1 peck of meal and 3 pounds of "side meat, " fat saltpork, per week for each working hand. About six dollars a month is thelimit for advances and as these are continued for only seven months orso the average advance received is probably not far from $50. 00 peryear. An advance of $10. 00 per month is allowed for a two horse farm. The advancer obligates himself to furnish only necessities and anyincidentals must be supplied from sale of poultry, berries and the like. Clothing may often be reckoned as an incidental. The luxuries are boughtwith cash or on the installment plan and are seldom indicated by thebooks of the merchant. The cost of the average weekly advances for afamily in 1902 was:

 10 pounds meat (salt port sides) @ 13-1/2c $1. 35 1 bushel corn meal . 90 1 plug tobacco (reckoned a necessity) . 10 ------ $2. 35

=THE NEW HOUSE. =

Conditions throughout this district are believed to be fairly uniform, but the following information was gathered in Lowndes County, Alabama, so has closest connection with the prairie region of that state:

Lowndes County lies just southwest of Montgomery and there are 47persons to the square mile. The Negroes form 86 per cent. Of thepopulation. East and West throughout the county runs the ChennenuggaRidge, a narrow belt of hills which separate the prairie from the pinehills to the South. The ridge is quite broken and in places can not betilled profitably. The county is of average fertility, however. 

There are not an unusual number of one-room cabins. Out of 74 families, comprising 416 people, the average was 7 to the room, the greatestnumber living in one room was 11. The families were housed as follows:

 No. No. Largest No. Average No. Families. Rooms. Persons. Persons. 17 1 11 6 31 2 12 (3 fam. ) 6 16 3 9 5 7 4 14 6 3 5 9 5

The cabins are built of both boards and logs as indicated by cuts onpages 43 and 44 while the interior economy is well shown by thephotograph on page 29. 

Field work is from sun to sun with two hours or so rest at noon. The manusually eats breakfast in the field, the wife staying behind to prepareit. It consists of pork and corn bread. The family come from the fieldabout noon and have dinner consisting of pork and corn bread, withcollards, turnip greens, roasting ears, etc. At sundown work stops andsupper is eaten, the menu being as at breakfast. The pork eaten by theNegroes, it may be said, is almost solid fat, two or three inches thick, lean meat not being liked. The housewife has few dishes, the food beingcooked in pots or in small ovens set among the ashes. Stoves are ararity. Lamps are occasionally used, but if the chimney be broken it israrely replaced, the remainder being quite good enough for ordinarypurposes. The cabins seldom have glass windows, but instead woodenshutters, which swing outward on hinges. These are shut at night andeven during the hottest summer weather there is practically noventilation. How it is endured I know not, but the custom prevails evenin Porto Rico I am told. In winter the cabins are cold. To meet this thethrifty housewife makes bed quilts and as many as 25 or 30 of these arenot infrequently found in a small cabin. The floors are rough and notalways of matched lumber, while the cabins are poorly built. The usualmeans of heating, and cooking, is the big fireplace. Sometimes thechimney is built of sticks daubed over with mud, the top of the chimneyoften failing to reach the ridge of the roof. Fires sometimes result. Tables and chairs are rough and rude. Sheets are few, the mattresses areof cotton, corn shucks or pine straw, and the pillows of home grownfeathers. 

The following regarding the cooking of the Alabama Negro is taken from aletter published in Bulletin No. 38, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Office of the Experiment Stations:

 "The daily fare is prepared in very simple ways. Corn meal is mixed with water and baked on the flat surface of a hoe or griddle. The salt pork is sliced thin and fried until very brown and much of the grease tried out. Molasses from cane or sorghum is added to the fat, making what is known as 'sap, ' which is eaten with the corn bread. Hot water sweetened with molasses is used as a beverage. This is the hill of fare of most of the cabins on the plantations of the 'black belt' three times a day during the year. It is, however, varied at times; thus collards and turnips are boiled with the bacon, the latter being used with the vegetables to supply fat 'to make it rich. ' The corn meal bread is sometimes made into so-called 'cracklin bread, ' and is prepared as follows: A piece of fat bacon is fried until it is brittle; it is then crushed and mixed with corn meal, water, soda and salt, and baked in an oven over the fireplace. .. . One characteristic of the cooking is that all meats are fried or otherwise cooked until they are crisp. Observation among these people reveals the fact that very many of them suffer from indigestion in some form. "

As elsewhere the advances are supplied by the planter or some merchant. The legal rate of interest is 8 per cent, but no Negro ever borrowsmoney at this rate. Ten per cent. Per year is considered cheap, while onshort terms the rate is often 10 per cent. Per week. The average tenantpays from 12. 5 per cent. To 15 per cent. For his advances, which aresold at an average of 25 per cent. Higher than cash prices on theaverage. To avoid any possible trouble it is quite customary to reckonthe interest and then figure this into the face of the note so that nonecan tell either the principal or the rate. Below is an actual copy ofsuch a note, the names being changed:

 $22. 00. Calhoun, Alabama, June 2, 1900. 

 On the first day of October, 1900, I promise to pay to the order of A. B. See Twenty Two Dollars at . .. .. .. .. .. . 

 Value received. 

 And so far as this debt is concerned, and as part of the consideration thereof, I do hereby waive all right which I or either of us have under the Constitution and Laws of this or any other State to claim or hold any personal property exempt to me from levy and sale under execution. And should it become necessary to employ an attorney in the collection of this debt I promise to pay all reasonable attorney's fees charged therefor. 

 ATTEST: C. W. JAMES. His A. T. JONES. JOHN X. SMITH. Mark. 

The possibility of extortion which this method makes possible isevident. 

It is worth while also to reproduce a copy, actual with the exception ofthe names, of one of the blanket mortgages often given. The italics aremine. 

 THE STATE OF ALABAMA, LOWNDES COUNTY. 

 On or before the first day of October next I promise to pay Jones and Co. , or order, the sum of $77. 00 at their office in Fort Deposit, Alabama. And I hereby waive all right of exemption secured to me under and by the Laws and Constitution of the State of Alabama as to the collection of this debt. And I agree to pay all the costs of making, recording, probating or acknowledging this instrument, together with a reasonable attorney's fee, and all other expenses incident to the collection of this debt, whether by suit or otherwise. And to secure the payment of the above note, as well as all other indebtedness I may now owe the said Jones and Co. , and all future advances I may purchase from the said Jones and Co. During the year 1900, whether due and payable during the year 1900 or not, and for the further consideration of one Dollar to me in hand paid by Jones and Co. , the receipt whereof I do hereby acknowledge, I do hereby grant, bargain, sell and convey unto said Jones and Co. The _entire crops_ of corn, cotton, cotton seed, fodder, potatoes, sugar cane and its products and _all other crops of every kind and description_ which may be made and grown during the year 1900 on lands owned, leased, rented or farmed on shares for or by the undersigned in Lowndes County, Alabama, or elsewhere. Also any crops to or in which the undersigned has or may have any interest, right, claim or title in Lowndes County or elsewhere _during and for each succeeding year until the indebtedness secured by this instrument is fully paid_. Also all the corn, cotton, cotton seed, fodder, peas, and all other farm produce now in the possession of the undersigned. Also all the live stock, vehicles and farming implements now owned by or furnished to the undersigned by Jones and Co. During the year 1900. Also one red horse "Lee, " one red neck cow "Priest, " and her calf, one red bull yearling. Said property is situated in Lowndes County, Alabama. If, after maturity, any part of the unpaid indebtedness remains unpaid, Jones and Co. , or their agents or assigns, are authorized and empowered to seize and sell all or any of the above described property, at private sale or public auction, as they may elect, for cash. If at public auction, before their store door or elsewhere, in Fort Deposit, Alabama, after posting for five days written notice of said sale on post office door in said town, and to apply the proceeds of said sale to the payment, first of all costs and expenses provided for in the above note and expense of seizing and selling said property; second, to payment in full of debt or debts secured by said mortgage, and the surplus, if any, pay to the undersigned. And the said mortgagee or assigns is hereby authorized to purchase at his own sale under this mortgage. I agree that no member of my family, nor anyone living with me, nor any person under my control, shall have an extra patch on the above described lands, unless covered by this mortgage; and I also agree that this mortgage shall cover all such patches. It is further agreed and understood that any securities held by Jones and Co. As owner or assignee on any of the above described property executed by me prior to executing this mortgage shall be retained by them, and shall remain in full force and effect until the above note and future advances are paid in full, and shall be additional security for this debt. There is no lien or encumbrance upon any property conveyed by this instrument except that held by Jones and Co. And the above specified rents. If, before the demands hereby secured are payable, any of the property conveyed herein shall be in _danger of (or from) waste, destruction or removal, said demands shall be then payable and all the terms, rights and powers of this instrument operative and enforceable, as if and under a past due mortgage_. 

 Witness my hand and seal this 10th day of January, 1900. 

 ATTEST: B. C. COOK. SAM SMALL. L. S. R. J. BENNETT. 

It may be granted that experience has shown all this verbiage to benecessary. In the hands of an honest landlord it is as meaningless asthat in the ordinary contract we sign in renting a house. In the handsof a dishonest landlord or merchant it practically enables him to make aserf of the Negro. The mortgage is supposed to be filed at once, but itis sometimes held to see if there is any other security which might beincluded. The rascally creditor watches the crop and if the Negro mayhave a surplus he easily tempts him to buy more, or more simply still, he charges to his account imaginary purchases, so that at the end of theyear the Negro is still in debt. The Negro has no redress. He can notprove that he has not purchased the goods and his word will not standagainst the merchant's. Practically he is tied down to the land, for noone else will advance him under these conditions. Sometimes he escapesby getting another merchant to settle his account and by becoming thetenant of the new man. When it is remembered that land is abundant andgood labor rare, the temptation to hold a man on the land by fair meansor foul is apparent. Moreover, the merchant by specious reasoning oftenjustifies his own conduct. He says that the Negro will spend his moneyat the first opportunity and that he might just as well have it as someother merchant. I would not be understood as saying that this action isanything but the great exception but there are dishonest men everywherewho are ready to take advantage of their weaker fellows and the Negrosuffers as a result, just as the ignorant foreigner does in the citiesof the North. 

The interest may also be reckoned into the face of the mortgage. In anycase it begins the day the paper is signed, although the money or itsequivalent is only received at intervals and a full year's interest ispaid, often on the face of the mortgage, even if only two-thirds of ithas actually been advanced to the Negro, no matter when the account issettled. The helplessness of the Negro who finds himself in the hands ofa sharper is obvious when that sharper has practical control of thesituation. In many and curious ways the landlord seeks to hold histenants. He is expected to stand by them in time of trouble, to protectthem against the aggressions of other blacks and of whites as well. Thispaternalism is often carried to surprising lengths. 

The size of a man's family is known and the riders see to it that hekeeps all the working hands in the field. If the riders have any troublewith a Negro they are apt to take it out in physical punishment, to"wear him out, " as the phrase goes. Thus resentment is seldom harboredagainst a Negro and there are many who claim that this physicaldiscipline is far better than any prison regime in its effects upon theNegro. In spite of all that is done it is claimed that the Negroes aregetting less reliable and that the chief dependence is now in the oldermen, the women and the children. One remark, made by a planter's wife, which impressed me as having a good deal of significance, was, "theNegroes do not sing as much now as formerly. "

To get at anything like an accurate statement of the income and expensesof a Negro family is a difficult matter. The following account of threefamilies will give a fair idea of their budget for part of the year atleast. 

Family No. 1 consists of five adults (over 14) and one child. They livein a two-roomed cabin and own one mule, two horses two cows. Theiraccount with the landlord for the years 1900 and 1901 was:

 1900. To balance 1899 $ 32. 60 Cash ($25. 00) for mule 36. 00 Clothing 19. 68 Feed 15. 20 Provisions 23. 00 Tools 2. 03 Interest and Recording Fee 16. 87 ------- $145. 38

 1901. To balance 1900 $ 15. 21 Cash 26. 57 Clothing 9. 55 Feed and seed 44. 19 Provisions 26. 29 Tools . 55 Interest and Recording Fee 16. 34 ------- $138. 70

Their credit for 1901 was $10392, thus leaving a deficit for thebeginning of the next year. As the advances stop in August or September, and the balance of the purchases are for cash and may be at otherstores, there is no way of getting at them. In 1900 the family paid $201toward the 85 acres they are purchasing, part of this sum probablycoming from the crop of 1899, and in 1901 they made a further payment of$34. This family is doing much better than the average. It may beinteresting to see a copy of his account for the year 1901 taken fromthe ledger of the planter. 

 Jan. 1. Balance 1900 $ 15. 21

 Jan. 12. 10 bu. Corn, $5. 00; fodder, $1. 20; cash, $8. 00 14. 20

 Jan. 19. Cash for tax, $1. 43; recording fee, $1. 00; cash, $13. 25 15. 68

 Feb. 2. Plowshoes, $1. 40; gents' hose, 10c; 20 yds. Check, $1. 00; 2 straw hats, $1. 20 3. 70

 Feb. 2. 23. 5 bu. Corn, $14. 94; cash, 79c; shoes, $1. 50; plow lines, 20c 17. 43

 Mar. 15. 15 yds. Drilling, $1. 20; 15 yds. Check, 75c; 4. 5 lbs. Bacon, 48c 2. 43

 Apr. 6. 10 bu. Corn, $7. 00; 5 bu. Cotton seed, $1. 75; 4. 5 lbs. Bacon, 53c 9. 28

 Apr. 12. Bu. Meal, 65c; spool cotton, 5c; tobacco, 10c; 7 lbs. Bacon, 81c; 5 bu. Corn. $3. 50 5. 11

 May 1. Cash, $1. 00; 30 lbs. Bacon, $3. 45; work shoes, $1. 10; gents' shoes, $1. 25; half bu. Meal, 35c 7. 15

 May 1. 30 lbs. Bacon, $3. 45; (25) 30 lbs. Bacon, $3. 30; sack meal, $1. 35 8. 10

 June 8. 2-3 bu. Oats, 35c; 1-3 bu. Corn, 25c; bu. Meal, 70c; sack feed, $2. 50 3. 80

 June 14. Sack meal, $1. 35; 12 lbs. Bacon, $1. 32; cash, $1. 00; (22) 12 lbs. Bacon, $1. 38 5. 05

 June 22. Sack meal, $1. 35; sack feed, $2. 50; plow sweep, 35c 4. 20

 July 1. 6 lbs. Bacon, 69c; (5) sack feed, $2. 60; half bu. Meal, 35c; (9) bu. Meal, 75c; 10 lbs. Bacon, $1. 15 5. 54

 July 18. 8 lbs. Bacon, 92c; (19) sack feed, $2. 60; (25) bu. Meal, 90c 4. 42

 Aug. 6. Half bu. Meal, 50c; 4 lbs. Bacon, 46c; cash, 35c 1. 31

 Aug. 6. Interest 15. 34

 Oct. 6. Cash, 75c . 75 ------- $138. 70

The second family consists of three adults and three children. They havethree one-roomed cabins, own one mule and two cows, and are leasingfifty acres of land, the effort to buy it having proven too much. Theiraccount for 1900 and 1901 was as follows:

 1900. Balance Jan. 1 $ . 50 Cash 9. 00 Clothing 9. 79 Feed 11. 50 Provisions 13. 48 Tobacco . 80 Tools, etc. . 40 Interest and recording fee 5. 77 ------ $52. 24

 1901. Balance Jan. 1 $ 4. 15 Cash 2. 82 Clothing 7. 55 Feed 21. 22 Provisions 17. 69 Tobacco . 55 Tools, etc. . 70 Interest and fee 7. 90 ------ $62. 48

The debit for 1900 was all paid by November first and by November first, 1901, $58. 40 of the charge for that year had been paid. In 1900 the manpaid $94. 61 towards his land but has since been leasing. 

The third family consists of two adults and three children. They live ina board cabin of two rooms, have one mule, one cow and one horse. Theyare purchasing 50 acres of land. Their accounts for 1900 and 1901 standbetween the two already given. 

 1900. Balance 1899 $17. 24 Cash 23. 20 Clothing 4. 73 Provisions 19. 80 Tools 4. 40 Interest and fee 8. 04 ------ $77. 41

 1901. Balance 1900 $13. 93 Cash 21. 28 Clothing 6. 30 Feed 26. 50 Provisions 21. 36 Tools 3. 50 Interest and fee 12. 40 ------- $109. 28

By November 30, 1901, they had paid $79. 13 of their account. In 1900they paid $180 towards their land and $29. 60 in 1901. 

All of these families are a little above the average. The income issupplemented by the sale of chickens, eggs and occasionally butter. Inhard years when the crops are poor the men and older boys seek servicein the mines of North Alabama or on the railroads during the summerbefore cotton picking begins, and again during the winter. 

The outfit of the average farmer is very inexpensive and is somewhat asfollows:

 Harness, $1. 50; pony plow, $3. 00; extra point, 25c $4. 75

 Sweepstock (a), 75c; 3 sweeps, 90c; scooter (b), 10c 1. 75

 2 hoes, 80c; blacksmith (yearly average), 50c 1. 30 ----- Total $7. 80

(a) A sweep is a form of cultivator used in cleaning grass and weeds fromthe rows of cotton. 

(b) A scooter or "bull-tongue" is a strip of iron used in opening thefurrow for the cotton seed. 

A cow costs $25, pigs $2 to $2. 50, wagon (seldom owned) $45. A mule nowcosts from $100 to $150, but may be rented by the year for $20 or $25. Owners claim there is no profit in letting them at this price and theNegroes assert that if one dies the owner often claims that it had beensold and proceeds to collect the value thereof. From either point ofview the plan seems to meet with but little favor. 

The following table will give some idea of the condition and personalproperty of a number of families in Lowndes County:

 ----------+----+----+----+----+----+---+-----+---+---+----+---+----+ | A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | ----------+----+----+----+----+----+---+-----+---+---+----+---+----+ Family 1 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |[9]0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | " 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | " 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | " 4 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | " 5 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | " 6 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | " 7 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | " 8 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | " 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | " 10 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | ----------+----+----+----+----+----+---+-----+---+---+----+---+----+ 10 | 35 | 16 | 11 | 8 | 25 | 1 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 14 | 2 | 10 | ----------+----+----+----+----+----+---+-----+---+---+----+---+----+

 Key to columns:

 A Adults B Children under 14 C Log Cabins D B'd Cabins E No. Rooms F Sewing Machines G Mules H Horses I Oxen J Cows K Pigs L Dogs

It will be seen that the number of oxen is small. I should not besurprised if some of the hogs escaped observation. 

An account of this district would not be complete without reference tothe herb doctors who do a thriving business, charging from twenty-fivecents per visit up. They make all sorts of noxious compounds which areretailed as good for various ailments. The medicines are perhaps no moreharmful than the patent compounds of other places. There are also witchdoctors, of whom the Negroes stand in great awe and many a poor suffererhas died because it was believed that he or she was bewitched by someevil person, hence physicians could have no power. 

The budgets given indicate, and this is my own belief, that the farmersin this district are just about holding their own. They are not trainedto take advantage of their environment to the full so they do notprosper as they might, while occasional designing persons take greatadvantage of them, thereby rendering them discouraged. The introductionof a more diversified farming, the greater utilization of localresources in fruits and vegetables, thereby giving variety in the diet, the development of pastures and stock raising would enable them to breakaway from the mortgage system, which retards them in many ways. 

This view that the farmers here are about able to make a living issupported by the investigations of Professor Du Bois. [10] He gives thefollowing report of 271 families in Georgia:

 Year, 1898. Price of cotton low. Bankrupt and sold out 3 $100 or over in debt 61 $25 to $100 in debt 54 $1 to $25 in debt 47 Cleared nothing 53 Cleared $1 to $25 27 Cleared $25 to $100 21 Cleared $100 and over 5 ---- 271

Regarding the general situation he says: "A good season with good pricesregularly sent a number out of debt and made them peasant proprietors; abad season, either in weather or prices, still means the ruin of athousand black homes. " Under existing conditions the outlook does notseem to me especially hopeful. 

ALLUVIAL DISTRICT. 

=A DOUBLE CABIN IN THE DELTA. =

The Mississippi river, deflected westward by the hills of Tennessee, atMemphis sweeps in a long arc to the hills at Natchez. The oval betweenthe river and the hills to the East is known as the "Delta. " The land isvery flat, being higher on the border of the river so that when theriver overflows the entire bottom land is flooded. The waters are notrestrained by a good system of levees and the danger of floods isreduced. There are similar areas in Arkansas and Louisiana and along thelower courses of the Red and other rivers, but what is said here willhave special reference to Mississippi conditions. The land is extremelyfertile, probably there is none better in the world, and is covered witha dense growth of fine woods, oak, ash, gum and cypress. The earlysettlements, as already stated, were along the navigable streams, butthe great development of railroads is opening up the entire district. The country may still be called new and thousands of acres may bepurchased at a cost of less than $10 per acre, wild land, of course. Cultivated land brings from $25 up. 

Considering its possibilities the region is not yet densely populated, but a line of immigration is setting in and the indications are that theDelta will soon be the seat of the heaviest Negro population in thecountry. Already it rivals the black prairie of Alabama. There have beenmany influences to retard immigration, the fear of fevers, malaria andtyphoid, commonly associated with low countries, and the dread ofoverflows. Because of the lack of the labor force to develop the countryplanters have been led to offer higher wages, better houses, etc. Thereis about the farming district an air of prosperity which is notnoticeable to the East. The country is particularly adapted to cotton, the yield is heavier, about a bale to the acre if well cultivated, though the average is a little less, the staple is longer, and the priceis about a cent a pound higher, than in the hills. Fertilizers areseldom used and are not carried in the stores. Some of the lands whichhave been longest in use have been harmed by improper tillage, but theinjury may easily be repaired by intelligent management. 

In the Delta the average size of the plantations is large, but theamount of land under the care of the tenant is smaller than in othersections. About 20 acres is probably the average to one work animal. Thesoil is heavier, requiring longer and more constant cultivation. Forthis land a rental of from $6 to $8 per acre is paid, while plantationswill rent for a term of years at an acre. A good deal of new land isbrought in cultivation by offering it rent free to a Negro for threeyears, the tenant agreeing to clear off the timber and bring the soilunder cultivation. On some plantations no interest is charged on goodsadvanced by the Negro usually pays 25 per cent. For all money heborrows. The white planter has to pay at least 8 per cent and agree tosell his cotton through the factor of whom the money is obtained and payhim a commission of 2. 5 per cent. For handling the cotton. 

The plantation accounts of three families follow for the year 1901. Theylive in Washington County, Mississippi, in which the Negroes form 89 percent. Of the total population. 

The first family consists of three adults and one child under 14. Theyown two mules, two cows, ten pigs and some chickens. They also have awagon and the necessary farm implements. 

Their expenses were enlarged, as were those of the other families, by anepidemic of smallpox. 

 Debit. Credit. Doctor $39. 50 Cotton $826. 80 Blacksmith 1. 85 Cotton seed 147. 00 Implements 15. 05 ------- Clothes 102. 55 $973. 80 Provisions 42. 10 856. 95 Rent 175. 07 ------- Extra labor 53. 50 Balance $116. 85 Seed 31. 30 Ginning Cotton 61. 30 Cash drawn 334. 73 ------- $856. 95

Their account at the close of the year showed thus a balance of $116. 85. The family raised 2 bales of cotton and had besides 180 bushels of cornfrom six acres. 

The second family came to the plantation in 1900 with nothing, not evenwith decent clothing. Now they have two mules, keep some pigs, own awagon and farming tools. There are five adults in the family and twochildren. They live in a three-roomed cabin and till 30 acres of land, four acres being wood land taken for clearing, for which there is norent. 

 Debit. Credit. Doctor $ 35. 35 Cotton $1, 091. 28 Feed 5. 00 Cotton seed 196. 00 Mule (balance) 77. 00 --------- Rations and clothes 284. 10 $1, 287. 28 Rent 175. 50 1, 035. 82 Extra labor 67. 60 --------- Ginning 101. 25 Balance $ 251. 46 Cash drawn 290. 02 --------- $1, 035. 82

The third family is of different type. They are always behind, althoughthe wife is a good worker and the man is willing and seems to try. Theyare considered one of the poorest families on the plantation. There aretwo adults and one child. They own farming implements, one mule and somepigs. They have a two-roomed cabin and farm 18 acres for which they paya crop rent of 1, 800 pounds of cotton. 

 Debit. Credit. Doctor $ 24. 45 Cotton $498. 57 Mule 33. 00 Cotton seed 91. 00 Clothing 53. 40 ------- Rations 60. 00 $589. 57 Feed 11. 25 576. 55 Rent 130. 50 ------- Extra labor 179. 45 Balance $ 13. 02 Seed 11. 90 Ginning 43. 50 Cash down 53. 50 ------- $576. 55

An examination of the accounts reveals that there is a charge for extralabor, which for the third family was very heavy. This results from thefact that the average family _could_, but _does not_ pick all the cottonit makes, so when it is seen that enough is on hand to pay all the billsand leave a balance it is very careless about the remainder. Plantershave great difficulty in getting all the cotton picked and aconsiderable portion is often lost. Extra labor must be imported. Thisis hard to get and forms, when obtained, a serious burden on the incomeof the tenant. 

On the plantation from whose books the above records were taken thesystem of bookkeeping is more than usually careful and the gin accountthus forms a separate item so that although all planters charge for theginning the charge does not always appear on the books. 

These three families are believed to be average and indicate what it ispossible for the typical family to do under ordinary conditions. It isbut fair to state that the owners of this plantation make many effortsto get their tenants to improve their condition and will not long keepthose whose accounts do not show a credit balance at the end of theyear. A copy of the lease in use will be of interest and itsstipulations form quite a contrast to the one quoted from Alabama. Thecash and share leases are identical save for necessary changes in form. The names are fictitious. 

 "This Contract, made this date and terminating December 31, 1902, between Smith and Brown, and John Doe, hereinafter called tenant, Witnesses: That Smith and Brown have this day rented and set apart to John Doe for the year 1902 certain twenty acres of land on James Plantation, Washington County, Mississippi, at a rental price per acre of seven dollars and fifty cents. Smith and Brown hereby agree to furnish, with said land, a comfortable house and good pump, and to grant to the said tenant the free use of such wood as may be necessary for his domestic purposes and to advance such supplies, in such quantity and manner as may be mutually agreed upon as being necessary to maintain him in the cultivation of said land; it being now mutually understood that by the term "supplies" is meant meat, meal, molasses, tobacco, snuff, medicine and medical attention, good working shoes and clothes, farming implements and corn. It is also hereby mutually agreed and understood that anything other than the articles herein enumerated is to be advanced to the said tenant only as the condition of his crops and account and the manner of his work shall, in the judgment of Smith and Brown, be deemed to entitle him. They also agree to keep said house and pump in good repair and to keep said land well ditched and drained. 

 Being desirous of having said tenant raise sufficient corn to supply his needs during the ensuing year, in consideration of his planting such land in corn as they may designate, they hereby agree to purchase from said tenant all corn over and above such as may be necessary for his needs, and to pay therefor the market price; and to purchase all corn raised by him in the event be wishes to remove from James plantation at the termination of this contract. In consideration of the above undertaking on Smith and Brown's part, the said tenant hereby agrees to sell to them all surplus corn raised by him and in the event of his leaving James' plantation at the termination of this contract to sell to them all corn he may have on hand: in each case at the market price. 

 The said Smith and Brown hereby reserve to themselves all liens for rent and supplies on all cotton, cotton seed, corn and other agricultural products, grown upon said land during the year 1902, granted under Sections 2495 and 2496 of the Code of 1892. They hereby agree to handle and sell for the said tenant all cotton and other crops raised by him for sale, to the best of their ability, and to account to him for the proceeds of the same when sold. They also reserve to themselves the right to at all times exercise such supervision as they may deem necessary over the planting and cultivating of all crops to be raised by him during the year 1902. 

 The said John Doe hereby rents from Smith and Brown the above mentioned land for the year 1902 and promises to pay therefor seven dollars and a half per acre on or before November the first, 1902, and hereby agrees to all the terms and stipulations herein mentioned. 

 He furthermore represents to Smith and Brown that he has sufficient force to properly plant and cultivate same, and agrees that if at any time in their judgment his crops may be in need of cultivation, they may have the necessary work done and charge same to his account. 

 He furthermore agrees to at all times properly control his family and hands, both as to work and conduct, and obligates himself to prevent any one of them from causing any trouble whatsoever, either to his neighbors or to Smith and Brown. 

 He also agrees to plant and cultivate all land allotted to him, including the edges of the roads, turn rows, and ditch banks, and to keep the latter at all times clean and to plant no garden or truck patches in his field. 

 He also agrees to gather and deliver all agricultural products which he may raise for sale to said Smith and Brown, as they may designate to be handled and sold by them, for his account. 

 He also agrees not to abandon, neglect, turn back or leave his crops or any part of them, nor to allow his family or hands to do so, until entirely gathered and delivered. 

 In order that Smith and Brown may be advised of the number of tenants which they may have to secure for the ensuing year, in ample time to enable them to provide for the same, the said tenant hereby agrees to notify them positively by December 10, 1902, whether or not he desires to remain on James' Plantation for the ensuing year. Should he not desire to remain, then he agrees to deliver to Smith and Brown possession of the house now allotted to him by January 1st, 1903. In order that said tenant may have ample time in which to provide for himself a place for the ensuing year, Smith and Brown hereby agree to notify him by December 10, 1902, should they not want him as a tenant during the ensuing year. 

 Witness our signatures, this the 15th day of December, 1901. 

 SMITH AND BROWN. JOHN DOE. 

 Witness: J. W. JAMES. 

The owners have been unable to carry out their efforts in full, but theresult has been very creditable. The lease is much preferable to the onegiven on page 46. 

If, as I believe, the families above reported are average and are livingunder ordinary conditions, it seems evident that a considerable surplusresults from their labors each year. I wish I could add that the moneywere being either wisely spent or saved and invested. This does not seemto be the case and it is generally stated that the amount of moneywasted in the fall of the year by the blacks of the Delta is enormous. In the cabins the great catalogs of the mail order houses of MontgomeryWard & Co. , and Sears, Roebuck & Co. , of Chicago are often found, andthe express agents say that large shipments of goods are made to theNegroes. Patent medicines form no inconsiderable proportion of thesepurchases, while "Stutson" hats, as the Negro says, are required by theyoung bloods. The general improvidence of the people is well illustratedby the following story related by a friend of the writer. At the closeof one season an old Negro woman came to his wife for advice as to theuse to be made of her savings, some $125. She was advised to buy somehousehold necessities and to put the remainder in a bank, above all shewas cautioned to beware of any who sought to get her to squander themoney. The woman left but in about two weeks' time returned to borrowsome money. It developed that as she went down the street a Jewessinvited her to come in and have a cup of coffee. The invitation wasaccepted and during the conversation she was advised to spend the money. This she did, and when the transactions were over the woman had onebarrel of flour, one hundred pounds of meat, ten dollars or so worth ofcheap jewelry, some candy and other incidentals and no money. Foolishexpenditures alone, according to the belief of the planters, prevent theNegroes from owning the entire land in a generation. I would not givethe impression that there are no Negro land owners in this region. Thousands of acres have been purchased and are held by them, but we arespeaking of average families. 

Some curious customs prevail. The planters generally pay the Negroes incash for their cotton seed and this money the blacks consider assomething peculiarly theirs, not to be used for any debts they may have. Although the prices for goods advanced are higher than cash prices, theNegroes will often, when spring comes, insist that they be advanced, sohave the goods charged even at the higher prices, even though they havethe cash on hand. This great over-appreciation of present goods is adrawback to their progress. 

In this district I found little dissatisfaction among the Negro farmers. They felt that their opportunities were good. Those who come from thehills can scarce believe their eyes at the crops produced and constantlyask when the cotton plants are going to turn yellow and droop. Thatthere is little migration back to the hills is good evidence of therelative standing of the two districts in their eyes. 

Wages for day labor range from 60 to 75 cents, but the extra laborimported for cotton picking makes over double this. 

THE SUGAR REGION. 

South of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the alluvial district is largely givenover to the growing of sugar cane with occasional fields of rice. Thedistrict under cultivation stretches back from the river a couple ofmiles or so to the edge of the woods beyond which at present there is notillable ground, though drainage will gradually push back the line ofthe forest. These sugar lands are valued highly, $100 or so an acre, andthe capital invested in the great sugar houses is enormous. Probablynowhere in agricultural pursuits is there a more thorough system ofbookkeeping than on these plantations. This land is cultivated by hiredhands, who work immediately under the eye of overseers. Nowhere is theland let out in small lots to tenants. Conditions are radicallydifferent from those prevailing in the cotton regions. The work season, it is claimed, begins on the first day of January and ends on the 31stof December, and every day between when the weather permits work in thefields there is work to be done. 

=CABINS ON SUGAR PLANTATION. =

These plantations present an attractive appearance. The cabins are notscattered as in the cotton country, but are usually ranged on eitherside of a broad street, with rows of trees in front. The cabins areoften for two families and each has a plot of ground for a garden. Theplanters say the Negroes will not live in the houses unless the gardenplots are provided, even if they make no use of them. To each family isallotted a house so long as they are employed on the place. Wood is freeand teams are provided for hauling it from the forest. Free pasture forstock is often provided. 

From the fact that the men would seldom work more than five and a halfdays a week arose the custom of paying off every eleven days. Eachworkman has a time book and as soon as he has completed his eleven dayshis pay is due. This avoids a general pay day and the demoralizationthat would likely follow. Work is credited by quarters of a day: Sunriseto breakfast, breakfast to dinner, dinner to about 3:00 p. M. , 3:00 p. M. To sunset. Wages vary according to the season, being much larger duringautumn when the cane is being ground. For field work men get 70 centsper day, women 55 to 60 cents. During the grinding season the men earnfrom $1 to $1. 25, the women about 85 cents, children from 25 cents up. Wages are usually paid through a store which may or may not be under thedirect ownership of the plantation. All accounts against the store arededucted, but the balance must be paid in cash if it is so desired. Nominally the men are free to trade where they will, but it is easy tosee that pressure might be brought to bear to make it advantageous totrade at the local store. 

During the year 1901 two families were able to earn the followingamounts. The first family consists of three adults and two children, butthe wife did not work in the field. 

 $10. 50 7. 00 13. 80 12. 60 10. 85 12. 60 11. 55 10. 85 6. 65 13. 80 12. 95 15. 40 14. 50 11. 20 2. 62 1. 25 2. 25 4. 35

 ------------------------------------------ $23. 97 14. 90 27. 60 25. 55 26. 25 29. 35 27. 10

 11. 55 8. 40 9. 80 20. 60 25. 75 28. 75 Man 11. 20 7. 35 9. 80 7. 95 16. 00 10. 15 Son 4. 35 3. 05 1. 20 6. 40 18. 15 15. 75 Boy 1. 85 10. 12 6. 75 Boy -------------------------------------------- 27. 10 18. 80 20. 80 36. 80 70. 02 61. 40--$382. 54

During the grinding season the men's wages were increased to $1 a dayand the boys' to 40 cents and the father had chances to make extra timeas nightwatchman, etc. This family own a horse and buggy, keep poultryand have a fair garden. They are rather thrifty and have money stowedaway somewhere. 

The second family consists of the parents and eight children. Theirincome is fair, but they are always "hard up. " They spend their moneyextravagantly. The man is head teamster on the plantation and makes 80cents per day, which is increased to $1. 30 during the grinding season. The wife in this family also did no work save in the fall. 

 $16. 00 14. 40 17. 60 15. 40 18. 40 16. 80 17. 80 7. 87 6. 85 10. 10 9. 25 9. 65 10. 10 11. 00 12. 60 8. 75 12. 60 13. 30 15. 55 14. 50 11. 90 2. 90 1. 50 4. 50 1. 25 1. 80 . 65

 ------------------------------------------ $40. 62 33. 30 45. 45 37. 95 43. 60 41. 40 40. 70

 17. 80 18. 00 16. 60 23. 30 44. 95 43. 05 Man 11. 00 10. 25 4. 00 6. 00 19. 30 18. 00 Boy 11. 90 12. 40 11. 70 19. 25 25. 75 23. 00 Son 6. 75 17. 25 14. 75 Girl 1. 60 Boy 2. 10 8. 00 5. 25 Boy 3. 00 15. 15 13. 50 Woman ---------------------------------------------- 40. 70 40. 65 32. 30 60. 40 130. 30 119. 15--665. 82

These families are typical so far as known. In comparing their incomeswith those in other districts it must be borne in mind that they have norent to pay and their only necessary expenses are for food and clothesand incidentals. Certainly both of the families should have money totheir credit at the end of the year. The total wages depends not only onthe willingness to work, but also on weather conditions. One gets theimpression that in some places conditions are pretty bad and even bysome white residents of the state it is claimed that a state ofservitude almost prevails on many plantations. In any case the Negroesdo not seem satisfied. The labor is rather heavy. For this or otherreasons there has been quite an exodus to the cotton country in recentyears, which has caused the cane planters much trouble and they willmake many concessions to keep their tenants. To meet this emigration forsome time efforts have been made to import Italian labor but the resultshave not been wholly satisfactory. The Italians are more reliable andthis is a great argument in their favor, but with this exception theyare not considered much better workers than the blacks. The storekeepersmuch prefer the Negroes, who spend their money more freely. 

The planters claim that the labor is unreliable and say they never knowon Saturday how many workers they will have on Monday. They also say itis hard to get extra labor done. In 1900 on one plantation the womenwere offered ten cents a day extra for some hoeing, but only four heldout. Higher wages were offered if some cane were cut by the ton insteadof by the day, but after a week the hands asked to return to the gang atthe lower wage. 

In the rice fields along the river about the same wages prevail as forthe field hands in the cane plantations. The rice crop, however, is buta six months crop, so other employment must be found for part of theyear if nothing but rice is raised. It is usual in this region to raiserice as a side crop. 

CHAPTER V. SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT. 

=COUNTRY CHURCH AND SCHOOL. =

Hitherto we have had to do chiefly with the economic situation of theNegro farmer. There is, however, another set of forces which may not beignored if we are to understand the situation which confronts us. Theseare, of course, the social forces. In discussing these it is more thanever essential to remember that a differentiation has been taking placeamong the Negroes and that there are large numbers who are not to begrouped with the average men and women whom we seek to describe. It mayeven be true that there are communities which have gained a higherlevel. Any statement of the social environment of 8, 000, 000 people mustnecessarily be false if applied strictly to each individual. Theexistence of the higher class must not, however, be allowed to blind usto the condition of the rest. 

The average Negro boy or girl is allowed to grow. It is difficult tosay much more for the training received at home. We must remember thatthere is an almost total absence of home life as we understand it. Thefamily seldom sits down together at the table or do anything else incommon. The domestic duties are easily mastered by the girls and choresdo not weigh heavily on the boys. At certain periods of the year thechildren are compelled to assist in the farm operations, such as pickingcotton, but most of the time they are care free. Thus they run almostwild while the parents are at work in the fields, and the stranger whosuddenly approaches a cabin and beholds the youngsters scattering forshelter will not soon forget the sight. Obedience, neatness, punctualitydo not thrive in such an atmosphere. The introduction to the countryschool a little later does not greatly improve conditions. The teachersare often incompetent and their election often depends upon other thingsthan fitness to teach; upon things, indeed, which are at times far fromcomplimentary to the school trustees. The school year seldom exceedsfour months and this may be divided into two terms, two months in thefall and two in the spring. School opens at an indefinite time in themorning, if scheduled for nine it is just as likely as not that itbegins at ten thirty, while the closing hour is equally uncertain. Theindividual attention received by the average child is necessarily small. The schools are poorly equipped with books or maps. The interior viewgiven on page 61 is by no means exceptional. 

It may not be out of place to mention the fact that recognition of theseevils is leading in many places in the South to the incorporation ofprivate schools, which then offer their facilities to the public inreturn for partial support at the public expense. Public moneys arebeing turned over to these schools in considerable amounts. In somecounties the public does not own a school building. Without questioningthe fact that these schools are an improvement over existing conditions, history will belie itself if this subsidizing of private organizationsdoes not some day prove a great drawback to the proper development ofthe public school system, unless it may be, that the courts will declarethe practice illegal and unconstitutional. 

The home and the school being from our point of view unsatisfactory, thenext social institution to which we turn is the church. Since the warthis has come to be the most influential in the opinion of the Negro andit deserves more careful study than has yet been given to it. Only someof the more obvious features can here be considered. The first thing toimpress the observer is the fact that time is again no object to theNegro. The service advertised for eleven may get fairly under way bytwelve and there is no predicting when it will stop. The people drift inand out, one or two at a time, throughout the service. Families do notenter nor sit together. Outside is always a group talking over mattersof general interest. The music, lined out, consists of the regulationchurch hymns, which are usually screeched all out of time in a high key. The contrast between this music and the singing of the plantation songsat Hampton or some other schools which impresses one as does littlemusic he hears elsewhere is striking. The people have the idea thatplantation songs are out of place in the church. The collection is takenwith a view to letting others know what each one does. At the propertime a couple of the men take their places at a table before the pulpitand invite the people to come forward with their offerings. The peoplestraggle up the aisle with their gifts, being constantly urged to hastenso as not to delay the service. After half an hour or so the resultsobtained are remarkable and the social emulation redounds to the benefitof the preacher. It is difficult for the white visitor to get anythingbut hints of the real possibilities of the preacher, for he is at onceintroduced to the audience and induced to address them if it ispossible. Even when this is not done there is usually an air ofrestraint which is noticeable. Only occasionally does the speaker forgethimself and break loose, as it were. The study then presented isinteresting in the extreme. While the minister shouts, the audience areswaying backward and forward in sympathetic rhythm, encouraging thespeaker with cries of "Amen", "That's right", "That's the Gospel", "Giveit to 'em bud", "Give 'em a little long sweetening". There is noquestion that they are profoundly moved, but the identity of the spiritwhich troubles the waters is to me sometimes a question. The forms ofthe white man's religion have been adopted, but the content of theseforms seems strangely different. Seemingly the church, or rather, religion, is not closely identified with morality. I am sorry to saythat in the opinion of the best of both races the average country (andcity) pastor does not bear a good reputation, the estimates of theimmoral running from 50 to 98 per cent. Of the total number. It is farfrom me to discount any class of people, but if the situation isanything as represented by the estimate, the seriousness of it isevident. This idea is supported by the fact that indulgence inimmorality is seldom a bar to active church membership, and if a memberbe dismissed from one communion there are others anxious to receive himor her. There are churches and communities of which these statements arenot true. It is interesting to note that the churches are securing theirchief support from the women. As an organization the church does notseem to have taken any great interest in the matters which most vitallyaffect the life of the people, except to be a social center. If thesethings be considered it is easy to see why the best informed are seekingfor the country districts men who can be leaders of the people duringthe week on the farms as well as good speakers on Sunday. It is apleasure to note that here and there some busy pastor is also spending agood deal of his time cultivating a garden, or running a small farm, with the distinct purpose of setting a good example. The precise way inwhich the church may be led to exert a wider and more helpful influenceon the people is a matter of great importance, but it must be solvedfrom within. 

Turning from religious work we find the church bearing an importantplace in the social life and amusements. Besides its many gatherings andprotracted meetings which are social functions, numbers of picnics andexcursions are given. These may be on the railroads to rather distantpoints, and because of the lack of discrimination as to participants, many earnest protests have been filed by the better class of Negroes. The amusements of the blacks are simple. Nearly all drink, butdrunkenness is not a great vice. Dances are in high esteem, and areoften accompanied by much drinking and not infrequently by cuttingscrapes, for the Negro's passions lie on the surface and are easilyaroused. In South Carolina the general belief seems to be that thedispensary law has been beneficial. There is also a universal fondnessfor tobacco in all its forms. Gambling prevails wherever there is readymoney and not infrequently leads to serious assaults. Music has greatcharms while a circus needs not the excuse of children to justify it inthe Negro's eyes. Some of the holidays are celebrated, and when on thecoast the blacks dubbed the 30th of May "Desecration Day, " there werethose who thought it well named. Active sports, with the occasionalexception of a ball game, are not preferred to the more quiet pleasureof sitting about in the sunshine conversing with friends. America cannot show a happier, more contented lot of people than these same blacks. 

If we turn our attention to other characteristics of the Negro we mustnotice his different moral standard. To introduce the little I shall sayon this point let me quote from a well known anthropologist. "There isnothing more difficult for us to realize, civilized as we are, than themental state of the man far behind us in cultivation, as regards what wecall par excellence 'morality. ' It is not indecency; it is simply ananimal absence of modesty. Acts which are undeniably quite natural, since they are the expression of a primordial need, essential to theduration of the species, but which a long ancestral and individualeducation has trained us to subject to a rigorous restraint, and to theaccomplishment of which, consequently, we can not help attaching acertain shame, do not in the least shock the still imperfect conscienceof the primitive man. " From somewhat this standpoint we must judge ofthe Negro. Two or three illustrations will suffice. Talking last summerto a porter in a small hotel, I asked him if he had ever lived on afarm. He replied that he had and that he often thought of returning. Asking him why he did not he said that it would be necessary for him toget a wife and a lot of other things. I suggested the possibility ofboarding in another family. He shook his head and said: "Niggers isqueer folks, boss. 'Pears to me they don' know what they gwine do. Ef Igo out and live in a man's house like as not I run away wid dat man'swife. " The second illustration is taken from an unpublished manuscriptby Rev. J. L. Tucker of Baton Rouge. 

 There is a negro of good character here in Baton Rouge whose name is ---- ----. He is a whitewasher by trade and does mainly odd jobs for the white people who are his patrons, and earns a good living. He is widely known through the city as a good and reliable man. Some time ago he had trouble with his wife's preacher, who came to his house too often. The trouble culminated in his wife leaving him. Soon thereafter he sent or went into the country and brought home a negro woman whom he installed in his house to cook and otherwise serve him. Explaining the circumstances to Mr. ----, he said: "I a'in' got no use for nigga preachers. Dey is de debbil wid de wimmen. I tol' dat ar fellah to keep away fr'm my house or I'd hunt him wid a shotgun, an' I meant it. But he got her'n spite a me. She went off to 'im. Now I's got me a wife from way back in de country, who don' know the ways of nigga preachers. I kin keep her, I reckon, a while, anyway. I pays her wages reg'lar, an' she does her duty by me. I tell yeh, Mr. ----, a hired wife's a heap better's a married wife any time, yeh mark dat. Ef yeh don' line er yer can sen' her off an' get anudder, an' she's nutten to complain 'bout a' longs yeh pay her wages. Yes siree, yeh put dat down; de hired wife's nuff sight better'n de married one. I don' fus no mo' wid marryin' wives, I hires 'em. An I sent word to dat preacher dat if he comes roun' my house now I lays for 'im shore wid buck shot. "

Commenting, Mr. Tucker says that the man had no idea of moral wrong, thereal wife has lost no caste, the preacher stands just as well with hisflock and the "new wife" is well received. The third instance occurredon a plantation. A married woman, not satisfied with the shoes shereceived from the store, wanted a pair of yellow turned shoes. Theplanter would not supply them. The woman was angry and finally left herhusband, went to a neighboring place and "took up" with another man. 

These cases sufficiently illustrate prevailing conceptions of thesacredness of the marriage tie. Certainly this involves a theory of homelife which differs from ours. Many matings are consummated without anyregular marriage ceremony and with little reference to legalrequirements, and divorces are equally informal. Moral lapses seldombring the Negro before the courts. All these things but indicate thehandicap which has to be overcome. Within the family there is oftengreat abuse on the part of the men. The result of it all is that manyNegroes do not know their own fathers and so little are the ties ofkinship' regarded that near relatives are often unknown, and if possibleless cared for. This may be substantiated by the records of any charitysociety in the North which has sought to trace friends of its Negroapplicants. To attempt a quantitative estimate of the extent of sexualimmorality is useless. It is sufficient to realize that a differentstandard prevails and one result today is a frightful prevalence ofvenereal diseases to which any practising physician in the South canbear witness. I am glad to say there are sections which have risen abovethese conditions. 

The transition from slavery to freedom set in operation the forces ofnatural selection, which are sure and steadily working among the peopleand are weeding out those who for any reason can not adapt themselves tothe new environment. Insanity, almost unknown in slavery times, hasappeared and has been increasing among the Negroes of the South at arate of about 100 per cent. A decade since 1860. Of course, the numberaffected is still small, but the end is perhaps not reached. We havewitnessed also the development of the pauper and criminal classes. Thiswas to be expected. There is also some evidence of an increase in theuse of drugs, cocaine and the like. The point to be noted is that thereis taking place a steady division of the Negroes into various socialstrata and in spite of race traits it is no longer to be considered ason a level. 

I have sought to represent the situation as it appears to me, neitherseeking to overemphasize the virtues or the vices of the race. It isclear to me that in spite of the obvious progress the road ahead is longand hard. While I do not anticipate any such acceleration of speed aswill immediately bring about an economic or social millenium I believethat proper measures may be found, indeed, are already in use, which ifwidely adopted will lead to better things. How many of the race willfall by the way is, in one sense, a matter of indifference. In the longrun, for the whites as well as the blacks, they will survive who adapttheir social theories and, consequently, their modes of life to theirenvironments. 

CHAPTER VI. THE OUTLOOK. 

"One of the things which militates most against the Negro here is hisunreliability. * * * His mental processes are past finding out and hecan not be counted on to do or not to do a given thing under givencircumstances. There is scarcely a planter in all this territory whowould not make substantial concessions for an assured tenantry. " ANorthern man, now resident in the South and employing Negro labor, says:"I am convinced of one thing and that is that there is no dependence tobe placed in 90 per cent. Of the Negro laborers if left to themselvesand out of the overseer's sight. " These quotations from men who areseeking to promote the success of the Negroes with whom they come incontact might be multiplied indefinitely from every part of the South. The statements are scarce open to discussion, so well recognized is thefact. If I have rightly apprehended the nature of the training affordedby Africa and slavery there was little in them to develop the habits offorethought, thrift and industry, upon which this reliability must bebased. 

I am not arguing the question as to whether this unreliability marks adecadence of Negro standards or whether it is due to the present higherstandards of the white. For argument, at least, I am willing to admitthat in quality of workmanship, in steadfastness and self-control therehas really been great progress. My interest is in the present and futurerather than the past. I have tried to show that, judged by presentstandards, the Negro is still decidedly lacking. Personally I am notsurprised at this. I should be astonished if it were otherwise. Thetrouble is that we at the North are unable to disabuse ourselves of theidea that the Negro is a dark skinned Yankee and we think, therefore, that if all is not as it should be that something is wrong, thatsomebody or some social condition is holding him back. We accuseslavery, attribute it to the hostility of the Southern white. Something_is holding him back_, but it is his inheritance of thousands of yearsin Africa, not slavery nor the Southern whites. It is my observationthat the white of the black belt deal with the Negro more patiently andendure far more of shiftless methods than the average Northerner wouldtolerate for a day. It is interesting to note that Northern white womenwho go South filled with the idea that the Negro is abused can scarcekeep a servant the first year or so of their stay. Of course there areexceptions, few in number, who say as did a lumberman in Alabama lastsummer: "I never have any trouble with the Negro. Have worked them fortwenty years. Why, I haven't had to kill one yet, though I did shoot oneonce, but I used fine shot and it didn't hurt him much. " We haveattempted to have the Negro do in a few years what it has taken usthousands to accomplish, and are surprised that he has disappointed us. There is no room for discouragement. Contrast the Negro in Africa andAmerica to see what has been done. 

Unless this unreliability is overcome it will form even a greaterhandicap for the future. Southern methods of agriculture have been morewasteful of small economies than have Northern. That a change isimperative, in many districts at least, has been shown. Is the Negro ina position to take advantage of these changes? At present it must beadmitted that he does not possess the knowledge to enable him to utilizehis environment and make the most out of it. It has been shown that heis bearing little part in the development of the trucking industry, naymore, that he does not even raise enough garden truck for his ownsupport. In a bulletin of the Farmer's Improvement Society of Texas Ifind the following:

 Very many, in the first place, do not try to make their supplies at home. Very often much is lost by bad fences. Lots of them don't know where their hoes, plows, single-trees, etc. , are at this minute. Lots of them buy butter, peas, beans, lard, meat and hay. * * * Well, really, to sum up, if there's anything like scientific methods among the vast majority of our people I don't know it. * * * I venture to say that not one negro farmer in a hundred ever saw the back of one of these bulletins (agricultural), much less the inside. 

If some of these primary lessons have not been mastered what chance isthere that the Negro will overcome, unaided, the crop lien system andhis other handicaps and introduce diversified agriculture, stockraising, etc. ? Slavery taught him something about work and he is willingto work, and work hard, under leadership. Herein lies the possibility ofhis economic salvation. He is not yet ready as a race to stand alone andadvance at the pace demanded by America of the twentieth century. Hemust be taught and the teaching must be by practice as well as byprecept. Viewed from this standpoint, though it is equally true fromanother, one of the great needs of the South is that its white farmersshould pay more attention to other things than cotton. So long as landis considered too valuable to use for pasture, for hay, for the variouscrops on which stock live and fatten, or so long as it is consideredprofitable to sell cotton seed for $5 a ton and throw away four or fivetimes this amount in the food and manure which the same seed contains, the Negro will not see the advantage of a different system. Nor does thesight of thousands of tons of rice straw dumped into the Mississippieach year, just as a generation ago the oat straw in Iowa was burned, lead him to suspect unused sources of wealth. The possibilities ofSouthern agriculture are great, but the lead must be taken by thewhites. 

The Negro has a great advantage over the Italian or other Europeanpeasant in that the white man prefers him as a helper. He is patient, docile and proud of his work. He is wanted by the native whites, and ifthe reader doubts this let him go to any Southern community and attemptto bring about any great exodus of the Negroes and he will be surprisedto find how soon he is requested to move on. This interest on the partof the whites is a factor which must be considered. It would be a happyday for the Negro if the white woman of the South took her old personalinterest in his welfare. This friendly sentiment will not increase withtime and each succeeding generation will emphasize, more and more, industrial efficiency, and the Negro will not be preferred. Corresponding to this is the fact that the Negro respects and willinglyfollows the white man, more willingly and more trustingly than he doesanother Negro. He is personally loyal, as the care received by thesoldiers during war time illustrated. But slavery is gone and thefeudalism which followed it is slowly yielding to commercialism, whichgives the palm to the more efficient. 

Hitherto the Negro has tilled much of the best land of the South. Meantime the great prairies have been settled and about all the goodcheap land of the northwest taken. A tide of immigration is setting intowards the Southern states. Already the rice industry of Louisiana hasbeen revolutionized by white immigrants. What may this mean for theNegro if these incoming whites defy race prejudice and seek the richbottom lands of the Mississippi or elsewhere? Will the Negro be in aposition of independence or will he only assist the white? Will he tillin the future the best lands or will he be forced to the less fertile?With the knowledge of the present regarding yellow fever, malaria andtyphoid the dread of the lowlands is disappearing. If the indicationspoint, as many believe, towards the South as the seat of the next greatagricultural development these questions become of vital importance tothe Negro. Can he become economically secure before he is made to meet acompetition which he has never yet faced? Or does the warmer climategive him an advantage, which the whites can not overcome? I must confessthat I doubt it. In "The Cotton Plant" (page 242), Mr. Harry Hammondstates that in 39 counties of the Black Prairie Region of Texas, inwhich the whites predominate, the average value of the land is $12. 19per acre, as against $6. 40 for similar soil in twelve counties of theBlack Prairie of Alabama, in which the Negroes are in the majority. Hesays further: "The number and variety of implements recently introducedin cotton culture here, especially in the prairies of Texas, is verymuch greater than elsewhere in the cotton belt. " This would indicatethat heat alone is no insurmountable obstacle. 

If these things be true, then as the late Mr. J. L. M. Curry said:

 "It may be assumed that the industrial problem lies at the heart of the whole situation which confronts us. Into our public and other schools should be incorporated industrial training. If to regularity, punctuality, silence, obedience to authority, there be systematically added instruction in mechanical arts, the results would be astounding. "

The question of classical education does not now concern us. Theabsolutely essential thing is that the Negro shall learn to workregularly and intelligently. The lesson begun in slavery must bemastered. As Dr. E. G. Murphy puts it:

 The industrial training supplied by that school (slavery) is now denied to him. The capacity, the equipment, and the necessity for work which slavery provided are the direct cause of the superiority of the old time darkey. Is freedom to have no substitute for the ancient school? * * * The demand of the situation is not less education, but more education of the right sort. 

I would not say that I thought all Negroes should be farmers, but I dofeel that the farm offers the mass of the race the most favorableopportunity for the development of solid and enduring character. Itseems to me that the following words from one of our broadest minded menapply with special force to the Negro:

 If I had some magic gift to bestow it would be to make our country youth see one truth, namely, that science as applied to the farm, the garden and the forest has as splendid a dignity as astronomy; that it may work just as many marvels and claim just as high an order of talent. "

CHAPTER VII. AGRICULTURAL TRAINING. 

There remain to be considered some of the agencies at work to better thelot of the farmer. In this I shall not attempt to give a list ofinstitutions and outline of courses but to indicate various lines ofwork which seem promising. 

In discussing the training of the Negro farmer credit must first begiven to the white planters under whom he has learned so much of what heknows. Under the changing conditions of agriculture this training, orthe training received on the average farm is not sufficient and must besupplemented by special training if the desired results are to beobtained. 

It probably lay in the situation that the Negro should get the idea thateducation meant freedom from labor. It is none the less unfortunate forhim. To counteract this idea has been a difficult matter and theinfluence of the average school has not been of any special help. Thecountry school taught by a teacher, usually incompetent from anystandpoint, whose interest has been chiefly in the larger salary madepossible by his "higher education" has not been an unmixed blessing. Thechildren have learned to read and write and have preserved their notionthat if only they could get enough education they might be absolved frommanual labor. Even today Hampton and Tuskegee and similar schools haveto contend with the opposition of parents who think their childrenshould not be compelled to work, for they are sent to school to enablethem to avoid labor. Quite likely it could not be expected that thecountry school should hold up a higher ideal, for here we have to dowith the beginnings of a system of instruction which had to make use ofsuch material as it could find for teachers. The same excuse does notsuffice to explain the attitude taken by the bulk of schools maintainedby the northern whites for the Negroes. Their inability to comprehendthe needs of the case can only be ascribed to the conception of a Negroas a white man with a black skin and a total failure to recognize theessential conditions of race progress. When the Roman monks penetratedthe German woods the chief benefits they carried were not embalmed inLatin grammars and the orations of Cicero, but were embodied in theknowledge of agriculture and the arts which, adopted by the people, madepossible later the German civilization. The old rescue mission sought toyank the sinner out of the slough of despond, the social settlementseeks to help him who has fallen in the contest of life or him to whomthe opportunity has not been offered, to climb, recognizing thatmorality and religion attend, not recede progress. The old charity gavealms and the country was overrun with hordes of beggars; the new seeksto help a man to help himself. A similar change must come in the effortsfor the Negro. It has been sought to give him the fruits of civilizationwithout its bases. It will immediately be argued that this is wrong, that the chief educational work has been but primary and that littleso-called "higher education" has been given. This is true, even to theextent that it is possible to find a town of 5, 000 inhabitants one-halfNegroes, in which the city provides but one teacher for the blackchildren and the balance are trained in a school supported by the giftsof northern people. But, and this is the important thing, the spirit ofthe education has been clear and definite and that the plan has not beencarried out has not been due to lack of faith in it. General Armstrong, thanks to his observations in Hawaii, perceived that a different coursewas necessary. His mantle fell on H. F. Frissell and Booker T. Washington, so Hampton and Tuskegee have been the chief factors inproducing the change which has been noted as coming. Now that industrialtraining is winning support it is amusing to note the anxiety of otherschools to show that they have always believed in it. I can but feelthat had the plans of General Armstrong been widely adopted, had theteachers been trained to take the people where they were and lead themto gradual improvement, that the situation today would be radicallydifferent. It is, however, not too late to do this yet and thewidespread founding of schools modeled after Hampton and Tuskegeeindicates a general recognition of the needs of the situation. 

Yet, even these schools have not turned out as many farmers as is oftensupposed. On examination of the catalog of Tuskegee for 1901 I find onlysixteen graduates who are farming and thirteen of these have otheroccupations (principally teaching). The combination, I think, desirablerather than otherwise. Three others are introducing cotton raising inAfrica under the German Government. From the industrial department ninehave received certificates in agriculture and six in dairying, but theirpresent occupations are not given. Asking a prominent man at Tuskegeefor the reason, he exclaimed, rather disgustedly, that they dislikedwork and preferred to teach. This merely indicates the handicap Tuskegeehas to overcome, and perhaps the average agricultural college of theNorth cannot show a higher percentage of farmers. An official of theDepartment of Agriculture tells me that only 5 per cent of the graduatesof the agricultural colleges become farmers. To show how muchagricultural training is given at Tuskegee the following statement forthe year 1902-3 is of interest: No pupil is counted twice. One hundredand eighty-one students are engaged in the actual operations of thefarm, truck garden, orchard, etc. Seventy-nine are taking the dairying, etc. , and 207 are taking agriculture as part of their academic work. Yet, more of the graduates become professional men (lawyers, preachers, etc. ) than farmers, the proportion being about three to one. In citingTuskegee I am, of course, not forgetting that other schools, such asTougaloo and Talladega, have excellent farms and are seeking (thoughtheir chief emphasis is elsewhere) to give agricultural training. 

Reverting to the different lines of work which seem hopeful, the subjectmay be subdivided into several sections. We have first to do with theefforts to make the young child appreciate Nature and become interestedin her processes. Perhaps Hampton has developed this side mostextensively, both in the little garden plots cultivated by the childrenand the nature study leaflets prepared for use in other schools. Personally I can but feel that there is a possibility of vastlyextending such instruction by means of the country schools. If they maybe consolidated, and this is being done in many sections, I think a waycan be found to make the school house the social center of the districtin such a way as will greatly help conditions. 

Actual instruction in practical farming, dairying, horticulture, etc. , is given in an increasing number of schools, but the opportunities arestill very inadequate to the needs. If it be possible the way must befound to enable the Negro to use more and better machinery. The averageplanter does not care to introduce expensive machinery lest it be ruinedby careless and ignorant tenants. 

These industrial schools can never hope to reach more than a certainpercentage of the people. There must be measures adopted to widen theinfluence of the school. Tuskegee may be mentioned for its attempts toreach out. For many years an annual Farmers' Conference has been heldwhich bids fair to become the Mecca of the Negro farmer. The influenceexerted cannot be measured, but it is believed to be great. One weakspot in many of the schools is that they have little if any directinfluence upon the life of the community in which they are situated. There are, however, some exceptions. The Calhoun Colored School has afarmer's association meeting monthly. This is made up chiefly of men whoare purchasing land through a company formed by the school. Topics oflocal interest, methods of farming, etc. , are the subjects fordiscussion. There is also a mother's meeting with subjects of moredomestic interest, with a savings department for co-operative buying. Curiously enough the formation of the mother's meeting was at firstopposed by the men (and by some whites), as it took the women out of thefields occasionally. Now it is more favored. As Tuskegee and many otherplaces there are similar farmers' associations, of which no specialmention need be made. Tuskegee has an outpost some miles from the schoolwhich is doing a general neighborhood work. The following paperscirculated by the school will give a general idea of their conceptionsof the needs as well as of their efforts to influence conditions for thebetter:

 MY DAILY WORK. 

 I may take in washing, but every day I promise myself that I will do certain work for my family. 

 I will set the table for every meal. I will wash the dishes after every meal. 

 Monday, I will do my family washing. I will put my bedclothes out to air. I will clean the safe with hot water and soap. 

 Tuesday, I will do my ironing and family patching. 

 Wednesday, I will scrub my kitchen and clean my yard thoroughly. 

 Thursday, I will clean and air the meal and pork boxes. I will scour my pots and pans with soap and ashes. 

 Friday, I will wash my dish cloth, dish towels and hand towels. I will sweep and dust my whole house and clean everything thoroughly. 

 Sunday, I will go to church and Sunday school. I will take my children with me. I will stay at home during the remainder of the day. I will try to read something aloud helpful to all. 

 QUESTIONS THAT I WILL PLEDGE MYSELF TO ANSWER AT THE END OF THE YEAR. 

 1. How many bushels of potatoes, corn, beans, peas and peanuts have we raised this year?

 2. How many hogs and poultry do we keep?

 3. How much poultry have we raised?

 4. How many bales of cotton have we raised?

 5. How much have we saved to buy a home?

 6. How much have we done towards planting flowers and making our yard look pretty?

 7. How many kinds of vegetables did we raise in our home garden?

 8. How many times did we stay away from miscellaneous excursions when we wished to go? What were our reasons for staying at home?

 9. How have we helped our boys and girls to stay out of bad company?

 10. What paper have we taken, and why have we taken our children to church and had them sit with us?

 HOW TO MAKE HOME HAPPY. 

 Keep clean, body and soul. Remember that weak minds, diseased bodies, bad acts are often the result of bad food. 

 Remember that you can set a good table by raising fruit, vegetables, grains and your meat. 

 Remember that you intend to train your children to stay at home out of bad company. 

 Remember that if you would have their minds and yours clean, you will be obliged to help them learn something outside the school room. Remember, that you can do this in no better way than by taking a good paper--the New York Weekly Witness or The Sabbath Reading, published in New York, cost very little. Have your children read to you from the Bible and from the papers. 

 YOUR NEEDS. 

 You need chairs in your house. Get boxes. Cover with bright calico, and use them for seats until you can buy chairs. 

 You need plates, knives and forks, spoons and table cloths. Buy them with the tobacco and snuff money. 

 You need more respect for self. Get it by staying away from street corners, depots and, above all, excursions. 

 You need to stay away from these excursions to keep out of bad company, out of court, out of jail, and out of the disgust of every self-respecting person. 

 You need more race pride. Cultivate this as you would your crops. It will mean a step forward. 

 You need a good home. Save all you can. Get your home, and that will bring you nearer citizenship. 

 You can supply all these needs. When will you begin? Every moment of delay is a loss. 

 HOW TO BECOME PROSPEROUS. 

 1. Keep no more than one dog. 

 2. Stay away from court. 

 3. Buy no snuff, tobacco and whisky. 

 4. Raise your own pork. 

 5. Raise your vegetables. 

 6. Put away thirty cents for every dollar you spend. 

 7. Keep a good supply of poultry. Set your hens. Keep your chickens until they will bring a good price. 

 8. Go to town on Thursday instead of Saturday. Buy no more than you need. Stay in town no longer than necessary. 

 9. Starve rather than sell your crops before you raise them. Let your mind be fixed on that the first day of January, and stick to that every day in the year. 

 10. Buy land and build you a home. 

The various states are beginning to establish institutions in whichagriculture and industrial training may be given. Among these may bementioned that of Alabama at Normal, and of Mississippi at Westside. Alabama has also established an experiment station in connection withthe Tuskegee Institute. 

In Texas there is an interesting movement among the Negro farmers knownas the "Farmers' Improvement Society. " The objects are:

 1. Abolition of the credit system. 2. Stimulate improvements in farming. 3. Co-operative buying. 4. Sickness and life insurance. 5. Encouragement of purchase of land and home. 

The Association holds a fair each year which is largely attended. According to the Galveston _News_ of October 12, 1902, the society hasabout 3, 000 members, who own some 50, 000 acres of land, more than 8, 000cattle and 7, 000 horses and mules. This organization, founded andmaintained entirely by Negroes, promises much in many ways. In October, 1902, a fair was held in connection with the school at Calhoun, Ala. , with 83 exhibitors and 416 entries, including 48 from the school and avery creditable showing of farm products and live stock. 

Besides these general lines which seem to be of promise it is in placeto mention a couple of attempts to get the Negroes to purchase land. There have been not a few persons who have sold land to them on theinstallment plan with the expectation that later payments would beforfeited and the land revert. There are some enterprises which areabove suspicion. I am not referring now to private persons or railroadcompanies who have sold large tracts to the Negroes, but toorganizations whose objects are to aid the blacks in becominglandholders. The Land Company at Calhoun. Ala. , started in 1896, buying1, 040 acres of land, which was accurately surveyed and divided intoplots of fifty acres, so arranged that each farm should includedifferent sorts of land. This was sold to the Negroes at cost price, $8per acre, the purchasers to pay 8 per cent on deferred payments. Thesums paid by the purchasers each year have been as follows:

 1896--$ 741. 03. Found later to be borrowed money in the main. 1897--$1, 485. 15. Largely borrowed money. 1898--$ 367. 34. Men paying back borrowed money. Advances large. 1899--$ 374. 77. 1900--$1, 649. 25. Money not borrowed. Advances small. 1901--$ 871. 49. Bad year. Poor crops. Money not borrowed. 1902--$2, 280. 42. Advances very small. Outlook encouraging. 

There have been some failures on part of tenants, and it has beennecessary to gradually select the better men and allow the others todrop out. The company has paid all expenses and interest on its capital. A second plantation has been purchased and is being sold. There is amanager who is a trained farmer, and by means of the farmers'association already mentioned much pressure is brought to bear on theNegroes to improve their condition. The results are encouraging. InMacon County the Southern Land Company has purchased several thousandacres which it is selling in much the same way, but it is too early tospeak of results. Even at Calhoun but few of the men have yet gottendeeds for their land. 

A word regarding the methods of the Southern Land Company will be ofinterest. The land was carefully surveyed in forty-acre plots. These aresold at $8 per acre, the payments covering a period of seven years. Theinterest is figured in advance, and to each plot is charged a yearly feeof $5 for management. In this total is also included the cost of houseand well (a three-roomed cabin is furnished for about $100, a well for$10). This sum is then divided into seven equal parts so that thepurchaser knows in advance just what he must pay each year. The objectof the company is to encourage home ownership. Until the place is paidfor control of the planting, etc. , remains with the manager of thecompany. Advances are in cash (except fertilizers), as no store isconducted by the company and interest is charged at 8 per cent for themoney advanced and for the time said money is used. 

On this place in 1902, H. W. , a man aged 68, with wife and threechildren, owning a horse, a mule and two cows, did as follows. He andhis son-in-law are buying eighty acres. They made a good showing for thefirst year under considerable difficulties and on land by no means rich:

 Debits. Credits. Fertilizer $ 34. 88 Cotton $390. 32 Whitewashing 3. 00 Liming 19. 76 Lease contract 180. 00 Cash 130. 36 Interest 3. 12 ------- $371. 12 ------- Balance Jan. 1, 1903 $ 19. 20

This leads me to mention the question of land ownership on the part ofthe Negroes. This has not been mentioned hitherto for several reasons. In the first place the data for any detailed knowledge of the subjectare not to be had. Few states make separate record of land owned by theblacks as distinct from general ownership. The census has to depend uponthe statements of the men themselves, and I have heard tenants solemnlyargue that they owned the land. Again a very considerable proportion ofthe land owned is also heavily mortgaged, and these mortgages are notalways for improvements. Nor is it by any means self evident that landownership necessarily means a more advanced condition than where land isrented. Moreover, a considerable proportion of the _farms_ owned are sosmall that they do not suffice to support the owners. Conditions vary indifferent districts. In Virginia it has been possible to buy a few acresat a very low price. In parts of Alabama, or wherever the land has beenheld in large estates in recent years, it has often been impossible forthe Negro to purchase land in small lots. Thus, though I believeheartily in land ownership for the blacks and believe that wellconducted land associations will be beneficial, I cannot think that thisalone will solve the questions confronting us. Retrogression is possibleeven with land ownership. Other things are necessary. On the basis ofexisting data the best article with which I am acquainted on thissubject appeared in the _Southern Workman_ for January, 1903, written byDr. G. S. Dickerman, in which he showed that among the Negro farmers theowners and managers formed 59. 8 per cent of the total in Virginia, 57. 6per cent in Maryland, 48. 6 per cent in Kentucky, falling as we go Southto 15. 1 per cent in Alabama, 16. 4 per cent in Mississippi, and 16. 2 percent in Louisiana, rising to 30. 9 per cent in Texas. Evidently theforces at work are various. 

Within a few months, at the suggestion of Mr. Horace Plunkett, of theIrish Agricultural Organization Society, a new work has been taken up, whose course will be watched with great interest. I quote from a letterof Mr. Plunkett to Dr. Wallace Buttrick, of the General Education Board:

 From what I have seen of the negro character, my own impression is that the race has those leader-following propensities which characterize the Irish people. It has, too, I suspect, in its mental composition the same vein of idealism which my own countrymen possess, and which makes them susceptible to organization, and especially to those forms of organization which require the display of the social qualities to which I have alluded and which you will have to develop. These characteristics which express themselves largely, the old plantation songs, in the form of religions exercises, and in the maintenance of a staff of preachers out of all proportion I should think, to the spiritual requirements, should, in my opinion, lend themselves to associative action for practical ends if the organizing machinery necessary to initiate such action were provided. 

 What, then, is my practical suggestion? It is that your board, if it generally approves of the idea, should take one, two, or, at the most, three communities, such as that we inquired about, and organize them on the Irish plan. The farmers should at first he advised to confine their efforts to some simple object, such as the joint purchase of their immediate agricultural requirements. * * * I would at first deal solely with the colored people, beginning in a very small way, leaving larger developments for the future to decide. 

Hampton Institute has taken up the suggestion and is planning toorganize a community. Everything will, of course, depend on themanagement as well as on the people. If the results are as satisfactoryas they have been in Ireland the efforts will be well expended. 

With this brief and incomplete account we must take leave of the Negrofarmer. Throughout the thesis I have attempted to keep two or threefundamental propositions constantly in sight. Briefly summarized theseare that we have to do with a race whose inherited characteristics arelargely of African origin; that these have been somewhat modified underAmerican influences, but are still potent; that the economic environmentin America is not a unit and must finally result in the creation ofdifferent types among the blacks; that the needs of the differenthabitats are various; that the segregation from the mass of the whitesis fraught with serious consequences; that measures of wider applicationmust be adopted if the Negro is to bear his proper part in the progressof the country; that owing to the great race differences the whites musttake an active interest in the blacks; that in spite of the manyhandicaps under which the Negro struggles the outlook is not hopeless ifhis willingness to work can so be directed that a surplus will result. To my mind the Negro must work out his salvation, economic and social. It cannot be given without destroying the very thing we seek tostrengthen--character. This is the justification for the emphasis nowlaid upon industrial training. This training and the resulting characterare the pre-requisites of all race progress. Industrial education isthus not a fad nor a mere expedient to satisfy the selfish demands ofsouthern whites. It is the foundation without which the superstructureis in vain. If I have fairly stated the difficulties in the way and haveshown the possibility of ultimate success, I am content. For the futureI am hopeful. 

MAPS SHOWING THE DISTRIBUTION OF THE NEGROES IN THE SOUTHERN STATES

 These maps are particularly referred to in Chapter II. The chief geological districts are indicated. The figures are based upon the census of 1900. The maps are here included in the hope that they may prove of value to students of the problems herein discussed. 

=VIRGINIA

NEGRO PERCENTAGE OF POPULATION, 1900

 Total Negroes 660, 722 Total Whites 1, 192, 855 Negroes form 35. 6% of total=

=VIRGINIA

NEGROES PER SQUARE MILE, 1900

 Square Miles in State 40, 125 Average Negroes per Mile 16. 4 Average Whites per Mile 29. 7=

=NORTH CAROLINA

NEGRO PERCENTAGE OF POPULATION, 1900

 Total Negroes 624, 469 Total Whites 1, 263, 603 Negroes form 33% of total=

=NORTH CAROLINA

NEGROES PER SQUARE MILE, 1900

 Square Miles in State 48, 580 Average Negroes per Mile 12. 8 Average Whites per Mile 26=

=SOUTH CAROLINA

NEGRO PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL POPULATION, 1900

 Total Whites in State 557, 807 Total Negroes in State 782, 321 --------- 1, 340, 128

Negroes form 58. 4% of total=

=SOUTH CAROLINA

NEGROES PER SQUARE MILE, 1900

 Square Miles in State 30, 170 Average Negroes to Square Mile 25. 1 Average Whites to Square Mile 17. 9=

=GEORGIA

NEGRO PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL POPULATION, 1900

 Total Whites in State 1, 181, 294 Total Negroes in State 1, 034, 813 --------- 2, 216, 107

Negroes form 46. 7% of total=

=GEORGIA

NEGROES PER SQUARE MILE, 1900

 Square Miles in State 58, 980 Average Negroes per Square Mile 17. 6 Average Whites per Square Mile 19. 9=

=FLORIDA

NEGRO PERCENTAGE OF POPULATION, 1900

 Total Whites 297, 333 Total Negroes 230, 730 ------- 528, 063

Negroes form 43. 7% of total=

=FLORIDA

NEGROES PER SQUARE MILE, 1900

 Square miles in State 54, 240 Average Negroes per Mile 4. 2 Average Whites per Mile 5. 4

=ALABAMA

 Total Whites in State 1, 001, 152 Total Negroes in State 827, 307 --------- 1, 828, 459

Negroes form 45. 2% of total=

=ALABAMA

NEGROES PER SQUARE MILE, 1900

 Square Miles in State 51, 540 Average Negroes per Mile 16 Average Whites per Mile 19. 4=

=MISSISSIPPI

NEGRO PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL POPULATION, 1900

 Negro Percentage in State 58. 5 Total Whites 641, 200 Total Negroes 907, 630 --------- 1, 548, 830=

=MISSISSIPPI

NEGROES PER SQUARE MILE, 1900

 Average Negroes per Square Mile 19. 58 Average Whites per Square Mile 13. 82 Square Miles in State 46, 340

=TENNESSEE

NEGRO PERCENTAGE OF POPULATION, 1900

 Total Negroes 480, 243 Total Whites 1, 540, 186 Negroes form 23. 8% of total=

=TENNESSEE

NEGROES PER SQUARE MILE, 1900

 Square Miles in State 41, 750 Average Negroes per Mile 11. 2 Average Whites per Mile 36. 8=

=KENTUCKY

NEGRO PERCENTAGE OF POPULATION, 1900

 Total Negroes 284, 706 Total Whites 1, 862, 309 Negroes form 13. 3% of total=

=KENTUCKY

NEGROES PER SQUARE MILE, 1900

 Square Miles in State 40, 000 Average Negroes per Mile 7. 1 Average Whites per Mile 46. 5=

=ARKANSAS

NEGRO PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL POPULATION, 1900

 Negro Percentage in State 28

 Total Whites in State 944, 850 Total Negroes in State 366, 856 --------- 1, 301, 706=

=ARKANSAS

NEGROES PER SQUARE MILE, 1900

 Square Miles in State 53, 045 Average Negroes per Sq. Mile 6. 9 Average Whites per Sq. Mile 17. 8=

=LOUISIANA

NEGRO PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL POPULATION, 1900

 Total Whites in State 729, 612 Total Negroes in State 650, 804 --------- 1, 380, 416

Negroes form 47. 1% of total=

=LOUISIANA

NEGROES PER SQUARE MILE, 1900

 Square Miles in State 45, 420 Average Negroes per Mile 14. 3 Average Whites per Mile 16. 1=

=EASTERN TEXAS

 Whites in District 1, 747, 052 Negroes in District 608, 301 Negro Percentage in State 20. 4 In District Covered 25=

=EASTERN TEXAS

NEGROES PER SQUARE MILE, 1900

 Square Miles included 60, 453 Average Negro . 10 Average White 28. 8

Includes all Counties with one Negro per Square Mile=

Footnotes:

[1] See article by A. H. Stone. Atlantic Monthly, May, 1903. 

[2] "The Negro in Maryland. "

[3] The Negro in the Yazoo-Mississippi Delta. 

[4] Bulletin, Department of Labor, No. 35. 

[5] The Future of the American Negro. 

[6] Olmsted, F. L. --The Cotton Kingdom. 

[7] Olmsted, F. T. The Cotton Kingdom. 

[8] Negroes of Litwalton, Va. --Bulletin Department of Labor, No. 37. 

[9] Rents a mule. 

[10] Bulletin, Department of Labor, No. 35. 

Transcriber's Notes:

Passages in italics are indicated by _underscore_. 

Additional spacing after some of the quotes is intentional to indicateboth the end of a quotation and the beginning of a new paragraph aspresented in the original text. 

Inconsistencies in spelling, punctuation, and hyphenation have beenretained from the original. 

Misprints corrected: "entrepeneurs" corrected to "entrepreneurs" (page 6) "optomistic" corrected to "optimistic" (page 8) "from" corrected to "form" (page 9) "Atantic" corrected to "Atlantic" (page 9) "stdy" corrected to "study" (page 10) "Talledega" corrected to "Talladega" (page 16) "inhabitated" corrected to "inhabited" (page 17) "sevaral" corrected to "several" (page 31) "carefuly" corrected to "carefully" (page 37) "Tusgekee" corrected to "Tuskegee" (page 73) "Talledega" corrected to "Talladega" (page 73) "charactertistics" corrected to "characteristics" (page 77)

Two footnotes are marked [7]; both refer to the same footnote. 

The key to the table on page 51 was extracted from the column headingsof the original table that were printed vertically. 

Wide tables have been split in half with one column repeated.