Putnam patriot., 1908-07-17


 aterpury, 6,0J Marlborough, le Andoyer, la. | nion, III Bolton, ta5 Scotland, lat There are reported for taxation in the State 2,6S3, ,6I9 acres of land. The total area of the State, as given by the au. therities, is 5, ,2e2 ,560 acres. The differ. ence between these two sets of figure, is largely accounted for by the fact that the larger statement includes all watei within the limits of the State and alsC the highways and other spaces not in eluded in detailed statement of acre age. It is highly interesting to know that since these figures were compiled il has been found that report of the comptroller published in ls5l, gave the acreage of the State, by counties and total, and put il al 2,6lo, 228, which is
 5.426 acres iess than is now listed. This is very close pproXination.
 The valuation of land k almost anus ingly varied In Holland county it averages s9 an acre, and in Fairfield county Ss4. In Hartford county, Marl- borough and HartIand report Nj an acre; Burlington and anton s9, and so on up to sS5 in West Hartford, sl49 in New Britain, and s2., 165 in this city. The lowest averages in this county are Southbury sl0, Woleott $ll, and Prospect SIS, while the highest is New Haven S5Ss. In New London county the lowest average is in Noluntown s an acre, Salem and Waterford report St. and so on up to S354 in New Lon don, as against S5s i'll Norwich. In Fairfield county Weston, al SIS an acre marks the low average, and Bridgeport with sl ,745, the highest. Windham drops in Chaplin 10 s4, i'll Sterling and
 Eastiord and Ashford to s5 an acre, and fiSes To Sl6l in Putnam as conlfasfed with sl2 in kiIingly and s2l i'll Nind- ham, In I4uehfield county Rarkham- sled. with farm land averaging ' an acre. is the lowest, and N alertown, al s3.5 an acre, is al the top. MiddieseN county ranges from s6 in East Had dam to S39 in MiddietoWn, and Tol- land shows S4 an acre i'll Stratford and Willington, and from this runs up 10 s2o in Ellington, and s277 in Vernon.
 The horses, asses and mules in the State number D 5,596, and average va lue of s5s, ranging from an average of S47 in Holland 10 s67 in New Haven.
 A study of the figures as to neat cat tie suggests that tax values and market values may not always coincide. There are reported l52, ,i70 neat cattle, worth an average of s2l each. Who has neat cattle to sell al that priees In our own county, the cows of Farmington are re- ported as averaging only SIS each. Windsor Locks, with horses averaging 500 each and cows averaging S27, stands at the head of the list.
 IT these figures seem Tn any respect inaccurate, then their publication VIII serve the large public purpose ot lhNit- ing criticism and making assessors iook more sharply The importance ei the publication is, that it gives the figures for every town, and thus enables neigh- boring communities to compare tax methods and valuations one with an otber. AS well as to re fleet on some home eccentricities.
 One question asked by the Commis- sioner is. when the last reyaluation oi nroperty was made. Ninety-iive towns do not know when this occurred; one, New Fairfield, is running still on the ,s4s valuation. and several through the State are holding to valuations estap- lisbed in the 70s. Others, however, are coming right along in the way of pro gress. There are today e7 towns that value their land at l00 per cent for tax alton purposes, and 6o that treat ouiid- ings similarly. This is most hopeful symptom.
 The honor lists of those that value bofh land and buildings at 100 per cent