Part 5 (1/2)
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 have three one-roomed cabins, own one mule and two cows, and are leasing fifty acres of land, the effort to buy it having proven too much. Their account 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 man paid $94.61 towards his land but has since been leasing.
The third family consists of two adults and three children. They live in a board cabin of two rooms, have one mule, one cow and one horse. They are purchasing 50 acres of land. Their accounts for 1900 and 1901 stand between 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 1900 they paid $180 towards their land and $29.60 in 1901.
All of these families are a little above the average. The income is supplemented by the sale of chickens, eggs and occasionally b.u.t.ter. In hard years when the crops are poor the men and older boys seek service in the mines of North Alabama or on the railroads during the summer before cotton picking begins, and again during the winter.
The outfit of the average farmer is very inexpensive and is somewhat as follows:
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 gra.s.s and weeds from the rows of cotton.
(b) A scooter or ”bull-tongue” is a strip of iron used in opening the furrow for the cotton seed.
A cow costs $25, pigs $2 to $2.50, wagon (seldom owned) $45. A mule now costs 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 the Negroes a.s.sert that if one dies the owner often claims that it had been sold and proceeds to collect the value thereof. From either point of view the plan seems to meet with but little favor.
The following table will give some idea of the condition and personal property 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