806 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences , Arts , and Letters. 
ferences in value existed, the road was divided into shorter sec¬ 
tions, so that estimates could he made more accurately. These 
last figure^, increased by 150 per cent, are the figures that ap¬ 
pear in the appraisal as giving the cost per acre of the right of 
way on the supposition that the road were completely elimina¬ 
ted and the company obliged to purchase it anew. 
Right of Way through Villages and Small Cities. 
The methods employed to determine the value of the right 
of way through villages and small cities were in the main the 
same as those employed to determine the right of way through 
farm lands. All transfers of land located within one block of 
the right of way, where the recorded consideration was not 
merely nominal, and which had taken place during the five-year 
period, were examined. The acreage of this property was de¬ 
termined by increasing its dimensions by one-half the width 
of all streets fronting it, and from this acreage the price per 
acre was obtained by dividing the aggregate of the considera¬ 
tions by the total acreage. The property was then viewed by 
the inspector, and estimates were obtained from persons fa¬ 
miliar with the situation. From these data., the inspector made 
an estimate of the value of the land adjacent to the right of 
way, giving to the various elements such weight as in his judg¬ 
ment the circumstances seemed to demand. This estimate, 
increased by the percentage as agreed upon, was taken to be 
the acre value of the right of way. No account was taken of the 
existence of villages with populations of less than 500, since 
the amount of right of way within their borders is relatively 
small and is in most cases contiguous to land which, although 
it may be platted, is really farm land. 
Very great difficulty was encountered in this part of the 
work. It was difficult to obtain the dimensions of the lots 
accurately. In many cases, the number of transfers of prop¬ 
erty near the right of way was too small to furnish sufficient 
data upon which to* base safe conclusions. In many other cases,, 
the value of adjacent land varied greatly owing to the distri¬ 
bution of improved property. This difficulty was at least 
partially overcome by dividing the right of way through the 
