84 BULLETIlSr 393, U. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 



period 1905 to 1910 and between the latter date and 1915, thus obtain- 

 ing a 5-year period between which no roads were improved and a 

 5-year period during which the improved road system of the county 

 was constructed. In 1905 the assessed valuation of all taxable prop- 

 erty was $2,074,016, while in 1910 it had increased to $2,821,813, or 

 36 per cent. The assessed valuation in 1915 was $8,085,100, a total 

 increase of 180.5 per cent, so that the rate of increase was nearly six 

 times as great as during the preceding 5 years. Comparing real estate 

 only, it is shown that the assessed valuation was $1,798,936 in 1905, 

 $2,492,232 in 1910, and $7,338,050 in 1915. The increase was there- 

 fore 38.5 per cent from 1905 to 1910, and 194 per cent between 1910 

 and 1915. It is estimated that property is assessed at abdut one- 

 third of its true cash value. The large 1915 assessment is due partly 

 to the fact that until a few years ago property was assessed at only 

 about 20 per cent of its value. A new railroad has- been built in the 

 county, and tins, together with the improved highways, has resulted 

 in bringing under cultivation large tracts of land which were formerly 

 nonproductive. 



A personal inspection to determine the effect of the road improve- 

 ment on land values brought out the fact that there is a mde varia- 

 tion in land values, due partially to the relative fertility of the soil and 

 partially to the transportation f acihties. For example, the orange and 

 grapefruit orchards, located on fertile ''hammock" lands within easy 

 hauling distance of the raUroads or steamboat landings, are valued 

 at from $400 to $600 per acre, while unimproved sandy pine lands 

 within 3 miles of Manatee sell at from $35 to $40 per acre. Some of 

 the low-priced lands had increased $25 per acre, while luicleared pine 

 land, which had sold during the preceding year, at $40 per 'acre, had 

 increased in value to $60 adjacent to the road and $50 a mile from 

 the road. As examples of values, it may be stated that a tract of 40 

 acres of land sold in 1911 for $10 per acre was resold in 1912 for $37.50 

 per acre. For another tract, which could have been bought in 1910 

 for $20 per acre, $100 per acre was refused in 1912. A tract of 1,000 

 acres 6 miles south of Manatee was purchased before the roads were 

 improved at $10 per acre, and where this land abutted on the im- 

 proved roads it sold during 1913 for $75 per acre, and for $55 to $60 

 per acre within one-half mile of the improved road. 



A member of a real-estate firm of Bradentown stated that land 

 which sold at $20 per acre before the road improvement sold at $50 

 per acre since the roads were constructed, and that lands were sold 

 after the road construction which could not have been sold at any 

 price before. Other examples illustrating the effect of the improved 

 roads on land values are given, as follows : 



A prominent citizen of Sarasota bought a tract of 29 acres about a 

 year ago for $10,000, or $344 per acre, and resold April, 1914, for 



