246 MISC. PUBLICATION 218, U. 8S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 
in the four other States studied (lowa, North Carolina, South Dakota, 
and Washington) the situation was reversed. The lowest ratio of 
taxes to net rent before taxes on urban property was in Virginia, 16 
percent, and the highest in Washington, 32 percent. 
The ratios of taxes to net income before taxes for various kinds of 
property in North Carolina for 1929 (rented city property and rented 
farms, 1927) are as follows (80): 
Percent 
Rentéd city: propert ye 2 So es es ee ee NS ee ee ee 30 
Rented sia rags see See eee 29 
RailroadsSs= 2 222 cutee ee eS ee eee eae 25 
State banks... See ee eee es eee MT we ae 24 
Telephone Companies sc. be as ees es Speen y= Se eee 23 
Nationalibanks.. 152-40 2. e222 ee oe pe ei ee 22 
Manufacturing: companies=: 6a 2 22 ee 2 ee eee 21 
Owner-operated farms 2202: Os ee ee Ae ee ee ee ee eee 20 
Hire-insurance companiese: 215 55.2 eee ee er he 20 
Hlectricwight, and sO wernc OVI] a INS eee eee eg 15 
Tax ratios for various groups of enterprises in Pennsylvania for 
1924 and 1925 are as follows (56, p. 8): 
Percent 
Harms o5 22 ee ee es ee he ee a es ee ae a 38 
Mining ‘corporations: =< 2225 2 S22 elk iis ee es Se eee 38 
Hirernsurance Companiestd 2155 Biat AVASee Tees 1 OREO See ae pee es 27 
Steam! railroads. 521+ nisi LAO ae pty seven os ge lee ee ee 22 
Telephone;and-telesraph companies 2296 en ee 19 
Tafe insurance Companies’ 2. ea ee ee ee ee 19 
Light wheat; and -power companies == se as ee ee ee ee eee ee eee 18 
Newspaper and publishing 'corporations=4: =). Cae ee ee eee 15 
Manufacturing corporations: 2422) Pagers: a2. Si il ts eae ee ee 14 
Foundriese 2 :+)7 a. SA ee ee a ee oe 13 
Building and. loanvassociations : 52 <= = =e Os ee ee ee ee eee 13 
Statistics similar to the foregoing could be given for a number of 
other States, but a sufficient number has been presented to show that 
deferred-yield forests generally require a larger proportion of their 
incomes for taxes than do most other enterprises. 
TRENDS 
While it is not safe to predict the future of taxation on the assump- 
tion that past trends will be continued without modification, such 
trends may serve to throw light on the present situation and to point 
out prevailing tendencies. The study of timber taxation in Oregon 
and Washington included a study of trends in taxes. It was impossi- 
ble to determine the ratio of taxes to value for each year; therefor: 
use was made of the next best measure, taxes per thousand board feet 
of timber. This measure is a better indication of tax burden than 
is the tax per acre, since it takes into account the cutting and growth 
of timber. Table 99 shows the taxes per thousand board feet of 
timber as paid (columns 2-5) and as converted to 1926 dollars (col- 
umns 6-9) by the use of index numbers of wholesale prices of all com- 
modities furnished by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics. 
Since the taxes are paid in the year following the assessment and levy 
in Oregon, Washington, and Maine, the index numbers used in the 
succeeding tables for these States are for the year following the date 
of the assessment and levy. 
