A decade of negro extension work, 1914-1924

U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
MISCELLANEOUS CIRCULAR NO. 72
Washington, D. C.
October, 1926
Land ownership and home improvement are vital in developing negro farm life in the South.
A DECADE OF NEGRO EXTENSION WORK, 1914-1924
By O. B. MARTIN, in Charge, Southern States, Office of Cooperative Extension Work
Home ownership is the largest factor in the solution of the so-called negro problem. Cooperative extension work, especially since the comprehensive organization of negro extension agents, has been one of the greatest influences in encouraging and helping negroes to become landowners and to succeed with land investments. Energetic negroes soon learn thrift and have the ability to become good demonstrators.
Fig. 1.—Negro home remodeled and beautified according to plans and suggestions furnished by the negro extension agent. Home ownership and improved living conditions are important factors in obtaining a permanent upbuilding of the negro farm community in the South. That negro agents are building well is indicated by their success in influencing the construction of 569 new houses, the remodeling of 1,002 old houses, and the beautification of 1,336 home grounds during 1924.
Fig. 2.—Field demonstration in cultivating cotton. The negro is naturally a farmer and takes a keen interest in putting to use the better practices learned at demonstration meetings.
Because of the inevitable economic changes resulting from the World War, many large plantations have been cut up and sold at low prices. In some sections of the South, chambers of commerce and other business organizations have been promoting campaigns to encourage negroes to become landowners. In 1920 about 217,500 negroes in the Southern States owned their farms and about 703,500 were tenants. In some States negroes have been buying farms faster than white people, and the rapid increase of ownership during the last five years is most noticeable. It is not surprising that it has taken a backward race a long time to acquire property and develop farms. It takes white agricultural college graduates quite a while to do that. The next 25 years unquestionably will witness a marked contrast to the first quarter of the century in this regard. It is well that the development is taking place along the lines of the negro’s training and disposition. All of this confirms the judgment of Booker T. Washington, the negro educator, who said: