170 =MISC. PUBLICATION 218, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 
It will be noticed that the relative area delinquent in the forest 
counties was two or three times as great as in the other groups. It will 
also be observed that in the forest and mineral counties the percentage 
of area delinquent is about double the percentage of assessed value 
delinquent. This indicates that it is the cheaper land within these 
county groups that goes delinquent. The same is true to a less 
extent in the farm group. In the counties classed as urban and farm- 
urban the percentage of area delinquent is less than the percentage 
of assessed value delinquent. This is because platted property is 
included in the value classification but not in the area classification. 
These relationships are in respect to short-term delinquency. The 
unfavorable showing of the forest counties is even more pronounced 
in the case of long-term delinquency. Most of the land deeded to 
the State since 1910 has been in the forest counties. The number 
of acres of land and the number of platted lots that were deeded to 
the State because of delinquency between 1910 and 1928 in each of 
the county groups are given in table 55. 
TaBLE 55.—Delinquent real estate deeded to the State, 1910-28; county groups, 
Michigan } 
Unplatted 
County group Platted 
Ratio t in lots 
Area e 
total 
Forest: Acres Percent Number 
LEONA) cum ete) OB OVS] PU fs Weep ae eer Bs Udy PE SRE AS Oe ot aes ay 588, 513 5. 6 52, 737 
Upper Peninswla 222 eS ae ae le ne ee ee 214, 322 3.3 15, 153 
A Noy 2) eee epee Beil oe NOW ENN eng EM Ma ey ie ae BN BAS Se Ee Se | 802, 835 4.7 67, 890 
11592 597 
-l 1, 002 
(2) 22, 269 
ail 5, 253 
FIR Ga as oh es ae Se ee EOS NL Re ee Re 859, 881 253 97, 011 
| 
1 Sources of data: From annual reports of the auditor general of Michigan (73, Repts. 1910, 1915-28 
inclusive) and from U. S. Bureau of the Census, 1925. 
2 Less than 0.05 percent. 
It will be observed that a relatively small amount of the delin- 
quency in the more highly developed counties advances to the point 
where it reverts to the State, but that in the forest counties short- 
term delinquency is but a prelude to reversion. It is interesting to 
note that not only did 802,835 acres in the forest counties revert 
to the State during this period but also 67,890 platted lots. Many of 
these are in decadent lumber towns, and many others represent 
almost worthless properties acquired through lotteries and promotion 
swindles. 
MINNESOTA 
In order to discover to what extent delinquency in Minnesota can 
be attributed to adverse natural conditions, or in other words to 
what extent it is a land problem, the 16 northeastern counties were 
divided into five groups according to the extent of agricultural 
development, group 1 having the least and group 5 the greatest. 
The relative delinquency of the several groups according to several 
different measures was ascertained. 
60 For a detailed description of these county groups refer to the mimeographed Progress Report [3]. See 
footnote 5, on p. 12. 
