110 Misc. PUBLICATION 218, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 
TaBLE 22.—Unit values used in appraisal of buildings 
Type of construction Houses Barns 
Value per | Value per 
cu. ft. cu .ft. 
7 a ea lhe BATON Cots ENTE 3 ne Ep Nh ee BE eer SB i . 04 $0. 015 
Hewnilogses “e tiessit eed Sle Sa Se eae ae ea ee al ae ae a eee . 06 . 025 
Frame ((paperiexterior) $322.2 eins Bi es le rok Fe eee ee ee . 09 . 03 
Krame: (imber-exterior) 2: cee Soees Se ee eee ee ew ee kD . 04 
SEU CCO seer a Se a ea ee gee 2 Senta S123| 2a eee 
Brivate’summier (cottages == 2-225 <5 seers es ee ee Pe OR eee eo £08 |= 25-3. Sher 
Commercialisummer COttaces sree ene eee eee ee eee 05 
The 1926 value of each building was computed by multiplying the cubic con- 
tents by the appropriate unit value and deducting for depreciation. For example, 
a frame barn in B condition with an area of 360 square feet and a height of 10 
feet contains 3,600 cubic feet, which at $0.04 per cubic foot gives a replacement 
cost of $144. Since B-condition barns are assumed to have depreciated 35 per- 
cent, the present value is 65 percent of $144, or $93.60. 
Buildings in the selected towns in St. Louis County were appraised by four 
members of the technical staff, instead of by the method just described. These 
appraised values were later adjusted to make them as closely comparable as 
possible to the values as determined by formulas in the other counties. This 
and certain other minor difierences in the methods employed in the field study in 
St. Louis County, the first county studied, as compared with the other counties, 
are the consequence of improvements in technic as the work progressed. 
DESCRIPTION OF LAND 
Detailed information as to the physical character of the different forties or 
descriptions was recorded on field schedules. The land surface was described by 
cover classes, which included different types of farmland (plowland, stumpland, 
meadowland, and old field); the various forest types *! (aspen-paper birch, jack 
pine-oak, spruce-balsam-birch, mixed hardwoods, spruce-tamarack, and others); 
and open swamp. 
The topography, soil, and stoniness of each cover class within the description 
were also recorded for all selected townships except those in St. Louis County. Five 
grades of topography were recognized running from level to mountainous. Four 
soil classes were identified by direct inspection or by the vegetation growing on 
them. They were sand, medium loams, heavy loams, and peat. All land was 
divided also into four classes on the basis of surface stone, the first class being 
free from stone, the second class being moderately stony but tillable in accordance 
with local practice, the third very stony, and the fourth rock outcrop. 
After the completion of the field examination, each 40-acre description or 
other unit of assessment was given a property class designation on the basis of 
all the information which had been obtained. These property classes included 
farm, both operated and abandoned; resort; merchantable timber; and cut-over 
forest. 
APPRAISAL OF LAND 
The unplatted land was appraised by comparison with values established in 
recent transactions. This comparison was expressed in a valuation formula 
worked out for each township. The basis for this formula was in each case local 
sales of real estate since 1920, giving most weight to those since 1923. The 
information in regard to these sales was obtained, as previously mentioned, from 
county records and was supplemented by interviews with parties to the transac 
tions, by questionnaires when it was not practicable to interview the parties, 
and by information from real-estate agents and others. It was necessary to 
eliminate sales that obviously would not reflect values, such as those between 
relatives, transfers for perfecting title, and those with considerations of uncertain 
value at date of sale. 
The variables in the valuation equation were the most obvious and readily 
measured factors affecting value in each township, such as land use, soil, topog- 
“raphy, distance from local market or population centers, distance from roads, 
and quantity of merchantable timber. By restricting each formula to a given 
31 The forest types were based on those described by Kittredge (27). 
