The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1891-09-21

The Farmers and the Roads.
The League OF American Wheelmen has
performed q public service In issuing.
through Its Committee on Highways I'm
prOvements. two pamphlets on the roads Of
this country. their condition and their
cure. The second pamphlet. entitled Tho
Gospel OF Good Roads" is direct appeal to
the American farmer. by Mr.. ISAAC Il. POT-
TER. the Chairman OF the wheelmen's COM
mittee. and 1t deserves the attention Of
every countryman and OF not few dwell
ers In towns and cities.
Mr.. PoTTER's purpose Is to show to the
farmer that the greatest remedy for the
cure OF improbable farming lies In the
farmers hands The common road. he
points out. Is part OF the machinery Of agri-
culture. as mach so as the farm wagon; and
any improvements In the roads reduce the
cost Of getting farm produce to market. and
thus save to the farmer more Of the value
OF those products.
A bad road. says Mr.. POTTER. is an ex-
pensive thing. To maintain the 100000
horses Of this Countrywide figures are those
OF the census OF 188O-costs $4.OO0.OO0 q day;
SO that every day that a horse stands idle
when he might work Is q waste to be checked.
Furthermore. every unnecessary horse Is
waste OF material; and Mr.. POTTER estimates
that 1000, 600 horses not absolutely necessary
are used ON American farms: needless cx-
penditure OF s5OO. 900 day. exclusive Of the
original cost OF the horses. On the smooth
surface OF macadam road one horse will
haul twice tho load that the same horse
could haul on the best dirt road. and from
five to ten times as much as can be hauled
by single horse when the dirt road is COW
cred with soft mud and ruts:
The average rainfall in the United States Is some.
thing over forty inches per year The dirt road absobs
these forty odd inches Of water. freezes and thnws
dries. puivrrzes changes from paste to powder and
back again from powder TO paste and for weeks at
time is practically impossible Farm traiic is tied up
You have produce to sell purchases to make. grain to
rind. timber to haul. bills to collect. and obligations
to meet but nll these must walt because your only
avenue of travel Is taking its annual soak. dozen
times day you look out Of your barn door with the
hope Of seeing some struggling vagrant Of whom you
eau inquire, How Is the road ="
The first cause OF the bad roads Is the
system Of road making that prevails in this
country. that relic Of the feudal system
which requires all persons living on a road
to devote so many days year to mending
the road" to scraping the dirt from the
sides into the middle, and then trusting to
Providence and the passers-by to beat the
upturncd streak Of dirt into something like
a wheel track. A detail OF this chief cause
is the absence Of drainage. 1.-THE great de-
stroyers OF common earth roads" says MIR.
POTTER. "arc water and narrow wheel
tires" The narrow wheel tires furnish the
second cause OF our bad roads.
European farmers use much broader tires
than we usc here: and the gauge Of their
front wheels Is less than that OF their hind
wheels. SO that the two sets of wheels do
not truck In Bavaria. for instance. u
stringent law Ia enforced uQninSt the Use OF
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