Very often the landlord's share of the small crop will not really compensate him for the depreciated value of his property, for land rented without supervision is likely to decrease in fertility and to bring in meager returns.
A more successful arrangement between the two extremes is often seen in sections where the population is largely white and land is held in smaller tracts.

Here a white farmer who owns more land than he or his sons can cultivate marks off a tract for a tenant, white or black, who may be said to work with his landlord.

Both he and others of his family may work an occasional day for the landlord, receiving pay either in kind or in cash.

Relations between such families often become close, and the tenant may remain on the property for years.

In some sections there are numerous examples of what might be called permanent tenants.
Sometimes such a tenant ultimately purchases the land upon which he has worked or other land in the neighborhood.
The plantation owner may be a merchant-landlord also and may furnish supplies to his tenants.