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Show fought the improvement, he has since refused $3,000 for his farm. Along this same road a tract of 188 aores was supposed to have been sold for 16,000. The purchaser refused the contract, however, and the owner threHtened to sue him. After the road improvement, and without any improvemaut upon the land, the same farm was sold to the original purchaser pur-chaser for $9,000.. In Jackson county, Alabama, the people voted a bond issue of 1250,000 for road improvement and improved 24 per cent, of the roads. Tbe census of 19C0 gives the value of p11 farm lands in Jackson county at 4.90 per aore. Ste selling value at that time was $6 to $15 per acre. The census of 1910 places the value of all farm lands iu Jackson couutD at S9 79 Deri The Effect of Good Roads. The direct effect that changing bad rodds into good roads has upon la nd value and the general economic well-fare well-fare as a community is shown in several sev-eral concrete illustrations gathered by the United States department of agriculture. agri-culture. The department has just issued is-sued a Btatemeut on he subject, based upon a mass of information gathered by the office of public roads, which is making a special study of the ecouomic effect of road improve meut in the country. According to data gathered, where good roads re place bad ones, the values of farm lands bordering ou the roads iucreane to such an extent that the cost cf road improvement is equalized, if not exceeded. The general laud values, as well as farm values, showed advances, ad-vances, following the improvement of roads. Among tbe illustrations cited by the department are the following : In Lee connty, Virginia, a farmer owned 100 acres between Ben Hur nnH .TnnAHuillft whinh Via nffpiwl t.n acre, and the selling price is now from S15 to $25 per acre. Actual figures fig-ures of increased value following road improvements are shown, As the roads in no way effect soil fertility or quality of the farm, advances ad-vances are due essentially to tbe decrease de-crease in the cost of hauling produce to market or shipping poiut. Farms are now regarded as plants for the business of farmiug, and .any reduction reduc-tion in their profits through unnecessarily unneces-sarily heavy costs for hauliug on bad roads naturally reduces their capitalization capital-ization iu values. With reduced costs for hauling, prohts are iucreas ed ; with the result that tbe farm plant shows satisfactory earnings on a higher capital value. The automobile has also begun to be an important factor in increasing rural values where good roads are introduced. Immigration is particularly marked where road conditions are favorable ; in fact, the figures of the department seem to indicate that good roads indirectly in-directly increase the demand for rural property ; and the price of farm land, like that of any community, is ruled by the relations between demand and supply, sell for $ 1,800. In 1909 this road was improved, and, although ths farmer |