The Negro Farmer Part 6

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 corn from six acres.

The second family came to the plantation in 1900 with nothing, not even with decent clothing. Now they have two mules, keep some pigs, own a wagon and farming tools. There are five adults in the family and two children. 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 no rent.

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, although the wife is a good worker and the man is willing and seems to try. They are considered one of the poorest families on the plantation. There are two adults and one child. They own farming implements, one mule and some pigs. They have a two-roomed cabin and farm 18 acres for which they pay a 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 extra labor, which for the third family was very heavy. This results from the fact that the average family _could_, but _does not_ pick all the cotton it makes, so when it is seen that enough is on hand to pay all the bills and leave a balance it is very careless about the remainder. Planters have great difficulty in getting all the cotton picked and a considerable portion is often lost. Extra labor must be imported. This is hard to get and forms, when obtained, a serious burden on the income of the tenant.

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

These three families are believed to be average and indicate what it is possible for the typical family to do under ordinary conditions. It is but fair to state that the owners of this plantation make many efforts to get their tenants to improve their condition and will not long keep those whose accounts do not show a credit balance at the end of the year. A copy of the lease in use will be of interest and its stipulations form quite a contrast to the one quoted from Alabama. The cash and share leases are identical save for necessary changes in form.

The names are fict.i.tious.

"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, Was.h.i.+ngton 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 quant.i.ty 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, mola.s.ses, 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 ent.i.tle 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 the result has been very creditable. The lease is much preferable to the one given on page 46.

If, as I believe, the families above reported are average and are living under ordinary conditions, it seems evident that a considerable surplus results from their labors each year. I wish I could add that the money were being either wisely spent or saved and invested. This does not seem to be the case and it is generally stated that the amount of money wasted 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 Montgomery Ward & Co., and Sears, Roebuck & Co., of Chicago are often found, and the express agents say that large s.h.i.+pments of goods are made to the Negroes. Patent medicines form no inconsiderable proportion of these purchases, while "Stutson" hats, as the Negro says, are required by the young bloods. The general improvidence of the people is well ill.u.s.trated by the following story related by a friend of the writer. At the close of one season an old Negro woman came to his wife for advice as to the use to be made of her savings, some $125. She was advised to buy some household necessities and to put the remainder in a bank, above all she was cautioned to beware of any who sought to get her to squander the money. The woman left but in about two weeks' time returned to borrow some money. It developed that as she went down the street a Jewess invited her to come in and have a cup of coffee. The invitation was accepted and during the conversation she was advised to spend the money.

This she did, and when the transactions were over the woman had one barrel of flour, one hundred pounds of meat, ten dollars or so worth of cheap jewelry, some candy and other incidentals and no money. Foolish expenditures alone, according to the belief of the planters, prevent the Negroes from owning the entire land in a generation. I would not give the impression that there are no Negro land owners in this region.

Thousands of acres have been purchased and are held by them, but we are speaking of average families.

Some curious customs prevail. The planters generally pay the Negroes in cash for their cotton seed and this money the blacks consider as something peculiarly theirs, not to be used for any debts they may have.

Although the prices for goods advanced are higher than cash prices, the Negroes will often, when spring comes, insist that they be advanced, so have the goods charged even at the higher prices, even though they have the cash on hand. This great over-appreciation of present goods is a drawback 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 the hills can scarce believe their eyes at the crops produced and constantly ask when the cotton plants are going to turn yellow and droop. That there is little migration back to the hills is good evidence of the relative standing of the two districts in their eyes.

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

THE SUGAR REGION.

South of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the alluvial district is largely given over to the growing of sugar cane with occasional fields of rice. The district under cultivation stretches back from the river a couple of miles or so to the edge of the woods beyond which at present there is no tillable ground, though drainage will gradually push back the line of the forest. These sugar lands are valued highly, $100 or so an acre, and the capital invested in the great sugar houses is enormous. Probably nowhere in agricultural pursuits is there a more thorough system of bookkeeping than on these plantations. This land is cultivated by hired hands, who work immediately under the eye of overseers. Nowhere is the land let out in small lots to tenants. Conditions are radically different from those prevailing in the cotton regions. The work season, it is claimed, begins on the first day of January and ends on the 31st of December, and every day between when the weather permits work in the fields there is work to be done.

=CABINS ON SUGAR PLANTATION.=

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

From the fact that the men would seldom work more than five and a half days a week arose the custom of paying off every eleven days. Each workman has a time book and as soon as he has completed his eleven days his pay is due. This avoids a general pay day and the demoralization that would likely follow. Work is credited by quarters of a day: Sunrise to 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 during autumn when the cane is being ground. For field work men get 70 cents per day, women 55 to 60 cents. During the grinding season the men earn from $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 the direct owners.h.i.+p of the plantation. All accounts against the store are deducted, 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 to see that pressure might be brought to bear to make it advantageous to trade at the local store.

During the year 1901 two families were able to earn the following amounts. The first family consists of three adults and two children, but the 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 day and the boys' to 40 cents and the father had chances to make extra time as night.w.a.tchman, etc. This family own a horse and buggy, keep poultry and have a fair garden. They are rather thrifty and have money stowed away somewhere.

The second family consists of the parents and eight children. Their income is fair, but they are always "hard up." They spend their money extravagantly. The man is head teamster on the plantation and makes 80 cents 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