ECONOMIC TREATMENT OF LAND. 103 



channels to conduct the water to the gully holes. It is economical 

 that roads be well made and of good width. If it is considered 

 that an estate will take some time to develop, the centre only of 

 the road may be finished, and a grassy space left on either side, 

 till increased traffic necessitates the completion of it. Trees may 

 be planted on each side by the pathway edge ; but it is recommended 

 that these be all of one sort, and of a kind suitable to the district. 

 An ordinary width of road for a moderate estate would be 40 ft., 

 which would allow of a roadway 24 ft. wide and two footpaths 

 each of 8 ft. 



(d\ With regard to the proportionate allotment of the various 

 divisions, no hard and fast rule can be laid down. The frontage 

 and areas given to each lot must vary, as judgment is affected by 

 the nearness of the property to a town, or by the quality of the 

 neighbourhood, and determining the class and value of the house 

 needed. In larger estates which are, most likely, some distance from 

 towns, it is wise to set apart, in the first instance, certain areas of 

 ground, duly divided off, in view of the future development of the 

 property, as occupation land, which may retain its rustic character 

 till the area becomes built over. This enables the landowner to 

 sell smaller portions of land with the houses and, meanwhile, to let 

 on short leases the adjacent ground, as occupation land, till it is 

 required for building on. 



(e). With regard to the return afforded by the development of 

 land for building, it would be well, perhaps, to state a typical real 

 case not at all an extreme instance : 



A piece of land, 30 acres in extent, one mile distant from a town, 

 has a main road skirting its boundary. The value was ^"100 per 

 acre, and the land was let for agricultural purposes at 2 IQS. per 

 acre. The drainage and water supplies were connected with those 

 of the adjacent town. The ground was fairly level, with unimportant 



