Evening journal., 1913-07-12
coon ROADS AND LAND VALUES.

- ONVERTlNG bad roads into good roads in a rural
- district has an immediate and a beneficial effect
upon land values That shown conclusively by in
vestgatons made by the Department Of Agriculture
and other agencies The Office of Public Roads of the
Department of Agriculture has gathered mass Of ma
teria bearing that phase Of the good road oues-
tion and It is being made public. It is shown by the
reports made that where good roads replace bad ones
the values of farm lands bordering the roads increase
to such an extent that the road Improvement
Is equalzed, # not exceeded Marked advances also
are shown in general land values as wen as in farm
values coincident with road improvement The De
partment cites several illustrations show how
fetal good roads 70 abutng and neghboring prop
critics
In Lee county, Virginia farmer owned 100 acres
between Ben Hur and Jonesville which he offered to
sell for $500. In 1908 this road was improved and
although the farmer fought the Improvement he has
since refused $4,000 for his farm. Along this same
road a tract Of 1888 supposed to have been
sold for $4,000 The purchaser refused the contract
however. and the threatened to sue him After
the road Improvement and without any improvement
upon the land, the farm was sold to the orig-
nal purchaser for $4,000
In Jackson county Alabama the people voted
bond issue OF s25OO00 for road improvement and inn
proved "a per cent the roads The census Of 1900
gives the value of all farm lands in jackson county
at s4sO per The selling value at time was
the value Of all farm lands in Jackson county at $979
per and the selling price is s15 s25
per Actual figures of increased value following
road Improvement are shown
II must be admitted that the soil fertility and the
quality Of the farm not affected by the good roads
In other words that the soil Is the same and the build
ngs the same after the road Improvement that
they before. The advance in values Is due
chiefly the decrease in the Of hauling produce
20 the market or shipping point II As ponted out that
farms regarded plants for the bust
ness OF farming. Any reduction in their profits
through unnecessarily heavy costs for hauling bad
roads naturally reduces their capitalization into
values, the Department Of Agriculture says. Profits
increased with reduced for hauling. and a
farm plant shows IN consequence satisfactory earn
ngs higher capital value II is pointed out that
the automobile also has begun to be an important
factor in increasing rural values where good roads
introduced.
Another advantage growing out of good roads. tho
investigators say IS that immigration particularly
marked where road conditions favorable and that
the investigation dscoses that good roads indirectly
increase the demand for rural property It is admitted
all sides that the price Of farmland like that Of any
commodity. ruled by the relations between supply
and demand
These facts emphasized by the Federal Gov
crnment to which all Dolawareans should give heed
There Is nothing that Delaware needs more at the
present time than a comprehensive system of good
roads. radiatng from trunk lines all the rural
sections