The recent new lines in Southern Michigan secured but few donations, although all considerations of $1 and other good and valuable considerations were classed as donations unless the contrary was susceptible of proof. In the case of the Ann Arbor Railroad, in Washtenaw County, the $1 consideration represents a higher price than the average, this being known by the writer, as he bought it. The same is true of the Detroit and Toledo Shore Line, in Monroe County. In making an appraisal, no deductions should be made for donations, if there are any, as the fact that land is donated does not indicate absence of value; nor should an addition be made to the appraisal value on account of the fact that a road has been held up and compelled to pay exorbitant prices in certain localities. In some counties the base values of land in villages and small towns were given at ridiculously low prices in 1900; some are as low as from $50 to $100 per acre in towns of from 1,000 to 3,000 population. When one stops to consider that a lot 4 by 8 rods contains ⅕ acre, and that such lots in a town of considerable size range from $50 to $300 each, it is readily seen that from $250 to $1,500 per acre are not excessive figures. The figures for an adjoining county were often very high, and village values were put up to substantially full value. The result of adding percentages in 1900 was to magnify discrepancies, and little villages of from 200 to 500 population in one county were appraised at a higher rate than towns of from 2,000 to 5,000 in the next. In 1902 the appraiser undertook to equalize all such discrepancies, and found that no hard-and-fast rule would apply. A comparison of village values, as determined by actual purchase, with the 1900 appraisal, is given in Table 5. The 1900 appraisal for city lands, outside of Detroit and Grand Rapids, was generally very conservative or low. In some cases the figures were extremely low. TABLE 5.—AVERAGE PRICE PER ACRE FOR VILLAGE LAND. Actual purchases are averaged from recent transfers. The 1900 appraisal averages are averages of prices as applied after all percentages and fixed charges are added.