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58 BULLETIN 393, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. ' 
During the year 1911 the average cost of engineering on county 
roads in Franklin County was $17 per mile of road surveyed. During 
the year 1912 this had been reduced to $14.82 per mile for the total 
of 134.6 miles of road surveyed. As the county does no road work 
by contract, the quantities are not estimated in advance, and the 
cross sections are therefore not measured. This fact is largely 
responsible for the low cost of the surveys. 
Most of the stone and gravel was donated. Many of the roads 
are built of crushed bowlders which have been taken off the fields 
and piled up at the roadside as fences. In some cases the county 
has paid for stone, the average being about 5 cents per cubic yard 
in the field. Where the stone was hauled to the crusher, the farmers 
were paid about 30 cents per cubic yard for delivering the same. 
SURFACE TREATMENT. 
Ccntracts were let during 1914 for the resurfacing of many of the 
State and county highways. About 45 miles of county gravel and 
macudam roads were treated with bituminous applications durimg 
1913, at a cost of $0.011 per square yard. This work was continued 
during 1914 and a distributer has been purchased for this purpose. 
The soads are treated to a width of 7 to 10 feet. 
EFFECT OF ROAD IMPROVEMENT ON LAND VALUES. 
It is estimated that about 75 per cent of the land outside of the © 
State forest reserves is tillable. The other 25 per cent is either cov- 
ered with stone or so rough that it can not be used except for forest 
production or grazing. 
The average farm contains 116 acres, and the average value of 
land per acre, including buildings, according to the United States 
census, was $32.40 in 1910. The value of good land in the county 
averages from $45 to $50 per acre. A study made in 1912 indicates 
that farms for sale on macadam roads were more valuable than those 
located on earth roads. Eleven farms containing 2,046 acres and 
located on earth roads were offered at an average of $23.48 per acre, 
while three farms located on macadam roads were offered at an aver- 
age of $106.69 per acre for 239 acres. 
Since the improvement of the road between Chateaugay and — 
Chateaugay Lake, about 64 miles, the value of adjacent land in- 
creased from about $50 to $60 an acre. The total cost of this road 
was about $22,750, while the increased value of three-fourths of the 
land within a half mile of the road on either side, according to the 
above figures, amounts to $31,200. It is estimated that about three- 
fourths of the land in that part of the county is either under cultiva- 
tion or is tillable. 
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