56 BUUJSTIN 1207, U. S. DEPAKTMBNT OF AGRICULTURE. 
this system have resulted in the assessments being largely the work of 
the engineer, as the only place where the judgment of the assessors 
is asked or required is in the classification of the lands. A gentle- 
man who has served as a viewer for some 30 districts said that he has 
no idea whatever of the various systems used by any of the engineers 
who had computed the assessments for these various districts. It is 
obvious that no one except a trained mathematician can know very 
much about such a system. So in practice this system becomes largely 
the work of the engineer instead of the whole board of viewers and 
deprives the landholders of the judgment of the whole board to 
which they are entitled. 
The field investigations upon which this bulletin is based failed to 
show that better results were obtained by the use of this complicated 
percentage system than were obtained by more simple methods in 
other sections. 
THE CLASSIFICATION METHOD. 
This method is followed in Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, Missis- 
sippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia, where it is 
required by statute. The statute requirements are very nearly iden- 
tical, being about as follows : 
In the case of drainage, the degree of wetness of the land, its proximity to 
the ditch or natural outlet, and the fertility of the soil, shall he considered in 
determining the amount of benefit it will receive by the construction of the ditch. 
The land benefited shall be separated into five classes. The land receiving the 
highest benefit shall be marked " Class A," that receiving the next highest 
benefit " Class B," that receiving the next highest benefit " Class C," that re- 
ceiving the next highest benefit " Class D," and that receiving the smallest 
benefit " Class E." The scale of assessment upon the several classes of land re- 
turned by the engineer and viewers shall be in the ratio of 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1 ; that 
is to say, as often as 5 mills per acre is assessed against the land in " Class 
A," four mills per acre shall be assessed against the land in " Class B," three 
mills per acre in " Class C," 2 mills per acre in " Class I)," and 1 mill per acre 
in " Class E." This shall form the basis of assessment of benefits to the lands 
for drainage purposes. 
The making of an assessment in these States resolves itself into a 
problem of dividing the lands of the district into five classes in 
which the relative benefits shall be as 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1. This is a 
very difficult thing to do, as the boundaries of the various classes 
must be adjusted until this ratio of relative benefits is obtained. 
Naturally, the lands of the district divide themselves into more or 
less distinct classes such as "swamp" or "high," or may be divided 
by their distance from the improvement, but unless the ratio of 
benefits between these classes is in fact as required by law, the 
boundaries of such classes must be juggled until the ratio is approxi- 
mated. The statutes also give the factors which must be considered 
and although they do not limit the consideration to these factors, in 
practice it was found that these are the only ones generally used. 
It has been pointed out elsewhere in this bulletin that ordinarily 
the fertility of the soil should not be used. In some of these States 
provision is made for the creation of more classes in case the condi- 
tions warrant their use. So long, however, as the statute provides 
and establishes the ratios between the various classes, it is doubtful 
if an increased number of classes will give any relief from the diffi- 
culties of making just assessments by this method. 
