VIII 



without any reservation, any person desirous of purchasing, 

 will have the opportunity to select and bid upon any of these 

 pine lands at prices, lower than such lands have ever been 

 offered. 



It will thus be the last opportunity which the public will 

 have of purchasing any of these lands at auction. 



The lands have, for the purposes of the sale, been divided 

 into 744 groups, varying in size from forty acres to several 

 thousand acres, and a minimum price or valuation fixed upon 

 each group; as will be seen by reference to the following 

 pages. 



The valuation was made by Messrs. Woodman and Frost, 

 and is based mainly upon the reports of the woodsmen who 

 examined the lands and scaled the timber. 



It was ordered by a vote of the Directors, on the 28th of 

 July, A. D. 1862, and was required to be at an average of 

 $2,10 per acre, and " of such a relative character, that the 

 " purchase, at such valuation of any group in preference to 

 "any other group, will give no real advantage to the 

 "purchaser." 



Not only the quality and quantity of timber, but the 

 distance from floating water was kept constantly in view, in 

 fixing the minimum price. It will be observed that very 

 different prices are put upon groups having about the same 

 number of feet to the acre, and of equal quality. Where this 

 difference occurs upon groups lying upon the same river, it is 

 due, generally to the different distances from floating water, 

 and to the distance from present lumbering operations upon 

 such river. Below the highest point on any river from which 

 logs have been run, the obstructions have, of course, been 

 removed; above, the obstructions may be considerable, re- 

 quiring more or less expenditure for their removal, and so 

 lessening the value of the lands above. 



The price put upon groups lying upon the waters of the 

 Saginaw, Muskegon and other streams where there are present 

 lumbering operations, is rather below than above the present 

 selling rates; but lands of equal intrinsic value situated upon 

 streams where there are no sawmills, and where it is doubtful 



