r. The balance of the time the average farmer does little work.
The present system entails a great loss of time.

The absence of good pastures and of meadows is noticeable. This is also
too true of white farmers. Yet the grasses grow luxuriantly and nothing
but custom or something else accounts for their absence; the something
else is cotton. The adaptability of cotton to the Negro is almost
providential. It has a long tap root and is able to stand neglect and
yet produce a reasonable crop. The grains, corn and cane, with their
surface roots, will not thrive under careless handling.

The average farmer knows, or at least utilizes few of the little
economies which make agriculture so profitable elsewhere. The Negro is
thus under a heavy handicap and does not get the most that he might from
present opportunities. I am fully conscious that there are many farmers
who take advantage of these things and are correspondingly successful,
but they are not the average man of whom I am speaking. With this
general statement I pass to a consideration of the situation in the
various districts before mentioned.

TIDE WATER VIRGINIA.

The Virginia sea shore consists of a number of peninsulas separated by
narrow rivers (salt water). The country along the shore and the rivers
is flat, with low hills in the interior. North of Old Point Comfort the
district is scarcely touched by railroads and is accessible only by
steamers.

Gloucester County, lying between York River and Mob Jack Bay, is an
interesting region. The hilly soil of the central part sells at from $5
to $10 per acre, while the flat coast land, which is richer although
harder to drain, is worth from $25 to $50. The immediate water front has
risen in price in recent years and brings fancy prices for residence
purposes. Curiously enough some of the best land of the county is that
beneath the waters of the rivers--the oyster beds. Land for this use may
be worth from nothing to many hundreds of dollars an acre, according to
its nature. The county contains 250 square miles, 6,224 whites and 6,608
blacks, the latter forming 51 per cent of the population.

This sea coast region offers peculiar facilities for gaining an easy
livelihood. There are few negro families of which some member does not
spend part of the year fishing or oystering. There has been a great
development of the oyster industry. The season lasts from September 1 to
May 1, and good workmen not infrequently make