FOREST TAXATION IN THE UNITED STATES 109 
eastern counties are nearly always on section lines. The roads were traversed by 
automobile, using the speedometer to measure distances. Plats made up from the 
county records, showing names of owners and the location of buildings with respect 
to the forties and other descriptions, assisted greatly in determining approximately 
the property boundary lines. Where more exact orientation was especially 
desirable, such as on farm properties, fences usually marked boundaries. Loca- 
tions were also obtained by interviews with residents. The territory which could 
not be covered directly by road was reached by foot traverse or in many cases was 
filled in from sources of information considered reliable. 
DESCRIPTION OF BUILDINGS 
As much detailed information in regard to improvements as it seemed practical 
to record and use was entered in the field schedules. All of the major buildings, 
such as houses, barns, and stables, in the selected townships, except in St. Louis 
County, were examined to determine their size, construction, and depreciation. 
No record was kept of the minor buildings usually found on the farm, such as 
chicken coops, pig pens, garages, and small granaries. Note was also made if 
houses were of construction adapted to summer use only. The area occupied by 
each building was estimated by eye, checking the accuracy by actual measure- 
ments at frequent intervals. The heights of barns and stables were estimated 
in feet, making allowance for any unusual roof construction which would increase 
or decrease the cubical content from that of the building of usual construction. 
The heights of houses were recorded in stories; where an external inspection 
indicated that the attic was finished off or where an upper floor was of the dormer 
type of construction, a half story was added to the full stories below; basements 
or cellars were not taken into consideration. In order to compute cubic contents, 
the number of stories was later converted into feet: 1 story equaling 13 feet; 1% 
stories, 15 feet; 2 stories, 22 feet; and 2% stories, 24 feet. Each building was 
classified also on the basis of its construction, as follows: log, hewn timber, frame 
(two qualities), stucco, brick, or stone. 
Finally each building was classified as to its condition in four categories (A, B, 
C, and D), representing different degrees of depreciation. In a few cases, in 
which it was judged that a particular building had a value different from its 
replacement cost less depreciation, there was substituted in the record for the 
actual condition such condition as would reflect its actual value. For example, 
a farmhouse too expensively built for its location might be quite new, but never- 
theless it would be recorded so that its value would be calculated by a discount 
from replacement cost sufficient to account for obsolescence, in order that the 
calculated value might be valid under the circumstances. 
In many eases a field appraisal of the improvements was made as a check on 
the other data. 
APPRAISAL OF BUILDINGS 
After a critical examination of the literature on the appraisal value of buildings 
it was decided that for an extensive appraisal method such as this study entailed, 
adequate values could be secured from a table of unit values originally constructed 
by an underwriter, J. N. Brown, in 1902, and compiled by Arthur (11). Haas 
(21), working in Minnesota in 1922 with the values given in that table, found, 
after corrections due to the difference in purchasing power of the dollar, that the 
figures obtained were very acceptable. The original 1902 values, as given by 
Arthur (11), were corrected by an index of building values prepared by Conrad 
H. Hammar while at the University of Minnesota. Using the values for frame 
houses and barns as a base, values were selected by comparison for the cruder 
types of construction, log, hewn log, frame covered with building paper, and sum- 
mer cottage. These unit values were checked by applying them to typical 
buildings and comparing the computed values with direct appraisals by members 
of the staff and others competent to make such appraisals. The value for stucco 
construction may appear low to those familiar with the cost of such construction 
in cities and villages. However, of the comparatively few stucco houses on the 
selected townships, most were refinished log houses. The unit values per cubic 
foot used for various types of construction are listed in table 22. 
