Pioneer press. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1882-19??, 1916-01-29
BY w. ANTHONY AERY.

the Majority.
BY w. ANTHONY AERY.
There Is now a vast number of col
ored farmers In the south, working
millions and millions Of acres rich In
possibilities, and yet only q small fac
ton Of this land is rated as improved
land. According to the census Of 1910,
there were in the south 800, 141 colored
farmers (2S7 per cent Of the total
number Of farmers) working 4cGO9,-
lit acres (12 per cent of the total farm
acreage), Of which 27,735,743 acres
(or 1874 per cent? were reported as i'm
proved land.
Colored farmers control nearly bill
Hon dollars worth Of land and build
1ngs in the south, and still they control
only One-eighth Of the land and build
ings on all the farms in the south
The value Of the land and buildings
under the control Of all the colored
farmers was given at 5000, 1872, ,3334
(12.2 per cent Of the total value Of
land and buildings for all farms in the
south) as against $3.50, ,2SO, ,aG3 01.6 per
cent? for 1900.
That the Negro farmer Is going for
ward by leaps and bounds In the pos
session and control Of property, how
ever, Is clearly shown by the census
figures Of 1900 and 1910. Even where
the Negro has many disadvantages to
face he Is making progress.
Tho dSC ooloro1 60 r,,, r,,,pore.
1910 held land and buildings valued at
$272,992, ,238 as per cent? as against
$1O6,619,328 (37 per cent in 1900 The
owners were distributed as follows:
South Atlantic states. 1O1 ,0G1: east
south central, 5S.737; west south cen
tral. 57,769
AS long as the colored tenant farm
ers, however, outnumbcr the cOlored
farm owners three to one and as long
as the tenant farmers have under their
control'a proportional amount Of land
and buildings which they may use
wisely and we'll or utterly abuse
through sheer ignorance the tenant
problem and. indeed the whole land
problem for the white south will be
pressing and serious one.
The 61O.474 cOlored tenant farmers
In 1910 titled 2G5G7.SO2 acres. Of which
2O,O96,375 were reported as improved
land. These tenants were using land
and buildings valued at SG16 67G9 14T
(S.4 per cent? as against $2GS. IT $50
(S.2 per cent? In 1900. These colOrcd
tenants were distributed as follows:
South Atlantic states, 253,1S1 east
eOuth ceptra1 OGG o2O. yyost so11+b ron
trail, 1,OG1.
If the Negro tenant IS not taught
how to treat the land properly and in
crease his earning power the whole
south will suffer tremendous econom-
ic loss. When more than rs per cent
OF the Negro farmers are tenants there
1S important work still to be done
along agricultural lines through the
public schools. the private institutions.
the state departments Of agriculture
and the press to help the tenants raise
themselves into the class Of owners
This Improvement for many. many
white farmers has already come about.
II the south IS to make the progress
It should there are still too many
white tenants as compared with white
farm owners.
One Of the most hopeful signs Of
progress, however, is the pcrccntile in
crease In Negro farmers. the amount
Of improved land held by them and the
value Of land and buildings they con
troll. In the south, according to the
census Of 1910, 24.5 per cent Of the
colored farmers were owners, O.1 per