84 BULLETIN 393, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
period 1905 to 1910 and between the latter date and 1915, thus obtain- 
ing a 5-year period between which no roads were improved and a 
5-year period during which the improved road system of the county 
was constructed. In 1905 the assessed valuation of all taxable prop- 
erty was $2,074,016, while in 1910 it had increased to $2,821,813, or 
36 per cent. The assessed valuation in 1915 was $8,085,100, a total 
increase of 180.5 per cent, so that the rate of increase was nearly six 
times as great as during the preceding 5 years. Comparing real estate 
only, it is shown that the assessed valuation was $1,798,936 in 1905, 
$2,492,232 in 1910, and $7,338,050 in 1915. The increase was there- 
fore 38.5 per cent from 1905 to 1910, and 194 per cent between 1910 
and 1915. It is estimated that property is assessed at about one- 
third of its true cash value. The large 1915 assessment is due partly 
to the fact that until a few years ago property was assessed at only 
about 20 per cent of its value. A new railroad has been built in the 
county, and this, together with the improved highways, has resulted 
in bringing under cultivation large tracts of land which were formerly 
nonproductive. | 
A personal inspection to determine the effect of the road improve- 
ment on land values brought out the fact that there is a wide varia- 
tion in land values, due partially to the relative fertility of the soil and 
partially to the transportation facilities. [or example, the orange and 
erapefruit orchards, located on fertile “‘ hammock” lands within easy 
hauling distance of the railroads or steamboat landings, are valued 
at from $400 to $600 per acre, while unimproved sandy pine lands 
within 3 miles of Manatee sell at from $35 to $40 per acre. Some of 
the low-priced lands had increased $25 per acre, while uncleared pine 
land, which had sold during the preceding year at $40 per acre, had 
increased in value to $60 adjacent to the road and $50 a mile from 
the road. As examples of values, it may be stated that a tract of 40 
acres of land sold in 1911 for $10 per acre was resold in 1912 for $37.50 
per acre. For another tract, which could have been bought in 1910 
for $20 per acre, $100 per acre was refused in 1912. A tract of 1,000 
acres 6 miles south ‘of Manatee was purchased before the roads were 
improved at $10 per acre, and where this land abutted on the im- 
proved roads it sold during 1913 for $75 per acre, and for $55 to $60 
per acre within one-half mile of the improved road. 
A member of a real-estate firm of Bradentown stated that land 
which sold at $20 per acre before the road improvement sold at $50 
per acre since the roads were constructed, and that lands were sold 
after the road construction which could not have been sold at any 
price before. Other examples illustrating the effect of the improved 
roads on land values are given, as follows: 
A prominent citizen of Sarasota bought a tract of 29 acres about a 
year ago for $10,000, or $344 per acre, and resold April, 1914, for 
