Evening Republican, Volume 18, Number 307, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 December 1914 — HOME TOWN HELPS [ARTICLE]

HOME TOWN HELPS

PAYS TO HAVE SHADE TREES Their Worth to the Owners of Property Can Be Shown In Actual Dollars and Cents. If a estate dealer teHs you that the house or building lot you are thinking of buying is worth several bigfe dred dollars more because it is well supplied with shade trees, don’t be too sure that he is trying to take advantage of you until you have counted and measured the trees. Very) probably he may be telling the truth,; for it has lately been discovered that the right kind of trees do increase the> value of a piece of real estate. In order to determine the value of trees 4n residential districts the Massachusetts Forestry association re-1 cently sought the advice of a number; of practical real estate men. These! men were asked this question: “How; much, in your judgment, do full-grown; shade trees along the street improve! the value of the adjoining land fori house lots?" The majority of answers ranged I from 10 to 50 per cent, while somei went so far as to state that a house lot would be worth 100 per cent morel if full-grown shade trees were stand-1 ing in front of it. A fair average of! the answers held that trees would! improve the value of the adjoining; land 40 per cent. Expert tree appraisers say that a shade tree in good condition and well; placed is worth $1 per square inch* of cross-section measured at breast! height. At that rate, a tree one foot; in diameter is worth sll3, while a< tree two feet in diameter is worth 1452. For the sake of illustration, sup- ; pose that we take a good-sized house* lot, 50 by 100, or 5,000 square feet, worth 25 cents a foot. The land value worth $25 a foot. The land value is Is $1,250. If the trees are spaced 50 feet apart, on the street there would; be one tree in front of the property. The tree is two feet in diameter and worth $452, which would increase the value of the lot 36 per cent.