ed; and the fences have been used for firewood, though an abundant
supply could have been obtained by a few hours' labor. Very often the
landlord's share of the small crop will not really compensate him for the
depreciated value of his property, for land rented without supervision is
likely to decrease in fertility and to bring in meager returns.

A more successful arrangement between the two extremes is often seen in
sections where the population is largely white and land is held in
smaller tracts. Here a white farmer who owns more land than he or his
sons can cultivate marks off a tract for a tenant, white or black, who
may be said to work with his landlord. Both he and others of his family
may work an occasional day for the landlord, receiving pay either in
kind or in cash. Relations between such families often become close, and
the tenant may remain on the property for years. In some sections there
are numerous examples of what might be called permanent tenants.
Sometimes such a tenant ultimately purchases the land upon which he has
worked or other land in the neighborhood.

The plantation owner may be a merchant-landlord also and may furnish
supplies to his tenants. He keeps only staple articles, but he may give
an order on a neighboring store for those not in stock or may even
furnish small sums of money on occasion. The tenants are not allowed to
buy as much as they choose either in the plantation store or in the local
store at the crossroads. At the beginning of the year the landlord or the
merchant generally allows a credit ranging from fifty to two hundred
dollars but rarely higher and attempts to make the tenant distribute the
purchases over the whole period during which the crop is growing. If
permitted, many, perhaps a large majority of the tenants, might use up
their credit months before the crop was gathered. In such cases the
merchant or landlord, or both, must make further advances to save what they
have already invested or else must see the tenant abandon is crops and
move.

These relations between landlord and tenant show much diversity, but
certain conditions prevail everywhere. Few tenants can sustain
themselves until the crop is gathered, and a very large percentage of
them must eat and wear their crops before they are gathered--a
circumstance which will create no surprise unless the reader makes the
common error of thinking of them as capitalists. Though the landlord in
effect takes his tenants