That is but one part of the "moving target" problem when addressing  
those issues. Edmund Ruffin's 1832 publication of "Essays on  
Calcareous Manures" after his research done at Beechwood in Prince  
George County was the basis for American agricultural chemistry and  
led to rejuvenated fields formerly bereft of nutrients by tobacco  
monocropping and what might politely be termed "not Best Management  
Practices" in terms of crop rotation and fallow field practices. So  
productivity will go up due to Ruffin and in American Farmer and other  
rags of the Agricultural day, there are articles on myriad facets of  
improvement techniques.

What I'm particularly interested in is more the acreage that was  
tended and how many folks it took to tend it. Obviously forced and  
reluctant labor is one factor, small family capabilities on  
independent farms is another, soil type, location and fertility/ 
exhaustion are another and the economic means to afford force  
multiplying mechanical devices and their attendant rise over time are  
others in the mix.

It is clear that forced or volunteer labor will reach a plateau.  
Adding equipment, however initial rudimentary, to the mix will show an  
increase and the gradual replacement of human labor by machinery over  
time will also evolve into what it is currently. Those figures are  
where I am aiming.

Lyle Browning


On Jan 4, 2008, at 11:14 PM, macbd1 wrote:

> To supplement prior discussion, it now seems likely that some  
> conclusions of Fogel & Engerman will be 'supplanted' based on the  
> most recent research:
>
> http://www.uc3m.es/uc3m/dpto/HISEC/seminarios/documents/SpainJune2007.pdf 
>  (2007 ongoing)
>
> This concerns _A New View of Antebellum Southern Productivity  
> Growth_ by Alan L. Olmstead and Paul W. Rhode, June 2007, a working  
> paper circulated to invite discussion and critical comment while  
> research continues toward final conclusions and publication.
> This research is supported by National Science Foundation  
> Collaborative Research Grants, "Seeds and Slaves: Technological  
> Change, Plantation Efficiency, and Southern Economic Development"  
> SES-0550913 and SES-0551130.
>
> 'Conclusions' are on page 45 of the hyperlinked paper that, in part,  
> address how cotton planters and others analyzed and cross-bred  
> Mexican hybrid cotton seeds to result in 'greatly' increasing cotton  
> harvests and efficiency factors, likely surpassing results of the  
> reaper implementation on grain harvesting in the antebellum era  
> (that accounted for up to 100% efficiency increases.)  Furthermore,  
> that the total impact of the Mexican hybrids was likely extended  
> even more from the very positive effects on cotton yields and  
> quality (neither were improved by the reaper), and that the easier  
> picking cotton varieties helped smooth out peak labor demands such  
> that labor hours needed for the harvest more closely approximated  
> those needed for non-harvest tasks. This led to quieting the often- 
> heard comment during the early 1800's that Southern farmers planted  
> more cotton than they could pick (via slave labor.)
>
> Interesting that such 'new' knowledge is being 'harvested' from 19th  
> century records...
>
> Neil McDonald
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Lyle E. Browning" <[log in to unmask] 
> >
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Saturday, December 29, 2007 2:33 PM
> Subject: [VA-HIST] Agricultural productivity
>
>
>> I've dug out figures that show that by 1860 it took 1 slave to tend  
>> 10 acres of most crops. Recognizing that coerced labor is what it  
>> is, are there also figures on what subsistence farmers were able to  
>> do on  average with their crops on a comparable basis.
>>
>> Did no-one in the ante-bellum US do studies on agricultural   
>> productivity for slave and free labor, possibly abolitionists?  
>> I've  been working on agri-techno-changes and would like some form  
>> of  comparative basis to flesh out the lectures.
>>
>> Thanks in advance.
>>
>> Lyle
>
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