42 



BULLETIN 393, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

 Table 14. — Values or sale price -per acre. 



1911, iDef ore 

 improve- 

 ment. 



1912, after 

 improve- 

 ment. 



1911, before 

 improve- 

 ment. 



1912, after 

 improve- 

 ment. 



$50 

 50 

 20 

 30 



20 



S80 

 80 

 42 

 50 

 40 



S30 

 30 

 40 



S40 

 40 



75 



Av. 33 



56 



Table 14 shows the approximate land values of eight tracts in the 

 Powell Valley along the roads before and after improvement and 

 that these properties increased about $23 per acre, or about 70 per 

 cent. If all of the improved farm land in the county within one-haK 

 mile of the improved roads increased in value at the same rate as the 

 Powell Valley lands above referred to, the total increase would 

 amount to $860,940. 



The foregoing examples, showing that there has been a decided 

 increase in, the value of lands along the improved roads, are in 

 conflict with the record of assessed valuation. 



EFFECT OF ROAD IMPROVEMENT ON TRAFFIC. 



This county has an excellent home market at the various mining 

 camps in the northern section of the county and in the adjacent 

 county of Wise, but does not begin to supply the demands of those 

 markets. 



The traffic on the road connecting Jonesville, the county seat, with 

 Ben Hur, its railroad point, is about the heaviest in the county, and 

 represents about nine-tenths of the total freight receipts for shipment 

 over the Louisville & Nashville Railroad at Ben Hur. It consists 

 principally of coal and supphes hauled from the raOroad station, 

 and -timber and other forest products hauled to the station for 

 shipment. 



The Tri-State Road, which extends from Cumberland Gap toward 

 JonesviUe through Rose Hill, also has considerable traffic. The 

 hauling consists principally of foodstuffs from farms in the fertile 

 PoweU Valley to the market in Cumberland Gap and Middlesboro, 

 Ky. The macadamizing of this road has opened up a large area 

 of the Powell Valley to the market in Middlesboro. Since this 

 road was completed there has been an increase of 25 per cent in the 

 number of buggies sold by the wagon factory in Cumberland Gap and 

 automobiles are being introduced into this section, which shows 

 that the people are finding the improved roads of social as well 

 as commercial benefit. 



The road which connects Pennington Gap, the principal town 

 of the county, with the mining section at St. Charles is another 

 one of the principally traveled roads. Since the improvement several 



