69 | 232,391 | 66,478 | 8.2 | 15.1 | [*]10.7
1870 | 276,291 | 201,888 | 74,403 | [*]6.7 | [*]8.3 | [*] 1.9
1860 | 296,142 | 220,266 | 75,876 | .5 | 5.7 | [*] 1.2
1850 | 294,675 | 208,454 | 86,221 | - | - | -
-------+---------+-----------+-------------+---------+----------+------------

[* - Decrease.]

The most striking fact to be noted concerning the reported farm areas
is the comparatively great decrease in the decade 1860 to 1870. This
was, of course, one of the disastrous effects of the Civil War, from
which the South, in general, after more than forty-five years, has not
yet fully recovered, as is shown by the fact that in some of the South
Atlantic states the reported acreage of farm land in 1900 was less
than it was in 1860.

A continuous increase is shown in the area of improved farm land
except in the decade 1860-1870. The decrease in the amount under
cultivation, reported in the census of 1870, was due to conditions
growing out of the change in the system of labor which prevented a
complete rehabilitation of agricultural industry.

Only three other of the 100 Virginia counties reported larger improved
areas in 1900, viz: Fauquier, 291,734 acres; Pittsylvania, 280,456 and
Augusta, 276,459.

TABLE II.--_Number of Farms by Decades: Summary, 1850 to
1900._

1900 1,948
1890 1,818
1880 1,841
1870 1,238
1860 1,207
1850 1,256

Comparison of the number of farms reported in 1850 with the number at
the last census shows an addition in fifty years of 692 farms.

The great increase between 1870 and 1880 is seen at a glance. During
this period the large plantations were steadily undergoing partition,
in consequence of the social and industrial changes in progress after
the Civil War.

TABLE III.--_Farms Classified by Area--1900._

Under 3 acres 22
3 and under 10 acres 155
10 and under 20 acres 171
20 and under 50 acres 246
50 and under 100 acres 264
100 and under 175 acres 396
175 and under 260 acres 324
260 and under 500 acres 274
500 and under 1,000 acres 88
1,000 acres and over 8

TABLE IV.--_Number of Farms of Specified Tenures, June 1,
1900._

Owners 1,116
Part owners 173
Owners and tenants 18
Managers 48
Cash tenants 232
Share tenants 361