-residents. There are some
plantations rented out to negroes that there is not a white
man on at all. The proprietor comes and collects his rent at
the end of the year when the crop is made; or it may be his
negro tenant consigns the cotton to a factor in New Orleans.

Q. Where is the proprietor himself usually resident?
--A. In different States. We have people who are proprietors
of real estate who live out in Orange, New Jersey; some live
in South Carolina; some live in Georgia, in the various
States, but they own property with us, and this property is
rented directly to the negroes. Generally, though, there is
a responsible manager in charge of this property, but there
are instances where there is not even a white man on the
place at all.

Q. In those instances, how do matters work? Do the negroes
conduct affairs with reasonable prudence, and consult the
interest of the owners?
--A. No, sir; in these instances the property generally goes
to decay gradually; the negro will not make an improvement
on real estate at all.

Q. In these cases do the negroes work together and carry on
the plantation as a whole, or is the plantation cut up into
small holdings and rented out to negroes?
--A. It is cut into small portions and rented according to
the size of the family. Some men work two mules; some four.
It is regulated better by the number of animals he works.
For instance, a mule can cultivate in that country with ease
about fifteen acres. A man with two mules would work thirty
acres; a man with four, sixty, and so on. I know some
negroes who work eight and ten mules that they have paid
for; but I will say this right here, and it shows the
necessity of the education of the negro and of fitting him
for the condition of being able to take care of himself and
make his own contracts and sign his own name to a contract:
I have known of numerous instances where negroes, working
under the management of a proprietor of a plantation, have
made enough money to buy a home; such a one will go back out
in the hills, that section of country lying back of the
alluvial lands, and buy a home. In three or four years he
will move back to the river again, having lost all his
property, mortgaged it to some storekeeper, become
extravagant