Skinner—Appraisal of Railroad Property . ! 801 
in township 21 north, range 9 east, and the highest being 6.27, 
found in townships 22 and 23 north, range 5 east. These 
two extremes are found in two districts in which the 
number of transfers of farm land is very small. This may 
indicate, as one might expect, that at least part of the fluctua¬ 
tion in the ratio is due to the fact that the number of sales 
does not give sufficient data upon which to base accurate con¬ 
clusions. In the first case, there were thirteen sales, aggrega¬ 
ting 1,044 acres and distributed along about six and one-half 
miles of road, and the average value of the land was deter¬ 
mined to be $24.6,6 per acre. In the second case, there were 
twenty-one sales, aggregating 1,429.6fl acres and dis¬ 
tributed along about seven and three-quarters miles of 
road, and the average value of the land was de¬ 
termined to be $12.36 per acre. On the other hand, 
that this fluctuation is not wholly due to lack of suf¬ 
ficient data is shown from the fact that along the nine miles 
of road adjoining the section just mentioned to the northwest 
there were one hundred and five sales aggregating 9,049.50 
acres for which the average price was determined to be $12.61 
per acre. For this district the ratio was determined to be 
1.54. The character of the land is quite similar in the two 
districts, being mostly new lands upon which the value of the 
improvements is small. This fact would seem to indicate that 
the determination of the market value of the farm lands may 
be, after all, not much less accurate in the region of sparse sales. 
In the third case, the ninety sales, though at no point dense, 
were quite evenly distributed along the line. The land is, for 
the most part, new, and the value of improvements would con¬ 
stitute a relatively small part of the value. 
In determining the results presented in the foregoing table, 
no account was taken of the cost of purchasing the right of way. 
The salary and expenses of a competent right of way man 
would certainly range from $1.00 to $5.00 per acre according 
to the character of the land purchased. 5 
s By the Michigan board of appraisal this amount is put at figures 
ranging from $1.00 to $8/50 per acre according to location and value. 
M. E. Cooley: Instructions as to right of way, adopted January 9, 1901. 
