30 MISC. PUBLICATION 218, U. 8. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 
burnt over rather recently and do not have the value per unit of 
area which is found in the Northeastern States. The forest counties 
were selected as typical of a cut-over region in which strenuous 
efforts have been made to develop a profitable agriculture. The 
efforts have been successful only in especially favorable locations. 
An entirely different set of conditions is found on the Pacific coast. 
Here, old-growth timber predominates in the tax base of the forest 
counties. Indeed, these counties were chosen expressly because tim- 
ber did thus predominate. The eight forest counties selected in 
Washington, for instance, are those counties in western Washington 
whose valuation of timber and unimproved lands for 1928 amounted 
to more than 40 percent of the value of all real and personal prop- 
erty as equalized by the county boards. The 15 agricultural coun- 
ties, on the other hand, are those counties in eastern Washington in 
which timber lands represent less than 5 percent of the value of all 
real and personal property as equalized by the county boards for 
1928 and in which city lots and improvements represent less than 
half of the same equalized value. . 
In Oregon the five forest counties are those in the western part 
whose valuation of timber and nontillable lands for 1928 amounted 
to more than half of the value of all real and personal property 
equalized by the county boards of equalization. The five agricul- 
tural counties are all located in the Willamette Valley, and none of 
them has more than a third of its tax base in timber and nontillable 
lands or more than a third of its tax base in city lots and improve- 
ments. 
In California the eight forest counties chosen have more than 12 
percent of their total land area in privately owned timberland and, 
at the same time, have no more than 3 percent of their land area in 
crop land and have little urban development. Not all the counties 
conforming to these conditions are included, but only those which 
comprise essentially contiguous areas in the two principal forest 
regions—the coastal range and the eastern part of the State. Four 
counties were chosen in each region. 
The 5 agricultural counties, on the other hand, were chosen from 
the 11 counties which have more than 25 percent of their land area 
in crop land. Of these 11, the 5 selected are those which have the 
smallest portions of their tax base in municipalities. Less than 
20 percent of the tax base is so classified by the 1929-30 report of the 
California State Board of Equalization. 
GOVERNMENTAL-COST PAYMENTS 
The governmental-cost payments of the various towns and counties 
were tabulated and distributed by functions. The functional distri- 
bution is presented in tables 12 and 13, where the various items are 
self-explanatory except those for social service and miscellaneous. 
Social service includes development and conservation of natural re- 
sources; conservation of health and sanitation; charities, hospitals, 
and corrections; recreation; and expenses of public-service enterprises. 
All of these items are of relatively minor importance in the selected 
localities and are combined for the sake of convenience in presentation. 
Miscellaneous includes relief to soldiers and other special classes, 
judgments and losses, and unclassifiable items. In California it 
