Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1894-09-08
FARM AND GARDEN.
WILL GOOD ROADS PAYq
Tho Figures in This Article Give ur
Affirmative Answer.

sideration. The problem at the present, |
of vital Importance, is not so much |
whether it is advisable to improve our |
roads in a permanent and systematic |
manner, but will we profit by the in
vestment? Will such roads pay their |
first cost and subsequent maintenance? |
AS an illustration of this we submit an
estimate which we have prepared for |
improving 175 miles, being the road
mileage, at the present maintained, in
the township of Yarmouth, in the
county of Elgin, which is the closest
to us:
175 miles cost 81 800 per mile 1915 600 90
Equal annual payments per cent
~ years l6Sl0 10
Maintenance, $50 per mile ......... $500 90
Total yearly payment. ................. 2lTl6 40
Present system, including statute la
nv, oor w Si per oay ,se s9Ve ~
sal716 45
Total acreage, in township, 7O,OOC
Assessed value, 81, 700, 900; per 100 acres,
$3,s50 Estimated actual value, S4,-
600, ,0O0 Extra rate required for annual
payment, 49l mills. Estimated increase
in value of property, 10 per cent,
S400, 900.
In constructing 1T5 miles of stone
road, so per cent. of S157,5Oo would
be expended for labor that could be
performed by the ratepayers; this
would equal 1925 for each 100 acres.
| The roads would cost S315, 900, of
which $157, 800 would be spent in the
township. The property would be in
creased in value $400, Taking
| these figures into consideration, the
1 -, u. - l. A..
extent of $242, 500 over and above the
cost of construction of the road. In
estimating the increased value, we are
satisfied that we have placed it at a
very low figure, furnishing, as the
roads will, sure means of transporta-
tion every day in the year, which must
prove the profit of the investment to
the farmer, to the merchant and to the
commerce of the world.
The reasons for this are many and
various. Fertility being constant, it
is the accessibility of market that fixes
the value of tillable land. 1t is the
facilities for transportation afforded
by her network of railways that has
given Ontario her wealth of agricul-
ture. Without such means the vast
resources of our country would be al
most valueless. And so we claim that
the same law by which railroad
gives value to real estate will also
hold when hard road completes the
transportation system from farm to
shipping station. For all practical
purposes that piece of land has been
moved several miles nearer the mar
l1ets of the world, and at times it has
I h.an i I
olation and anchored to present civ.
ilization. Its fortunate possessor, nc
longer at the mercy of the barometer,
can go where he pleases and come
when he gets ready. His produce he
can sell when the prices are best, and
is not like his mud-bound brethren
compelled to wait the pleasure of sun
shine and shower, and then in some
halcyon days, when the roads are
!, good, is not like him compelled tc
, force his product upon an unwilling
market at whatever price crowded
warehouse, elevator or railroad may
dictate. His teams, instead of being q
heavy expense and of little use from
four to six months in the year can be
protitably employed every day, anc
that, too, with less wear and tear o.
vehicles, less loss of time, and less
danger of crippled horses than in at
tempting to fathom bottomless some
thing sometimes called public high
way. True, you can sometimes hau
in winter on dirt roads just as we'll a.
any other, but the benefits to be de
rived from this are largely offset by
the fact that such a state of affairs il
| 1nlnnlyn1 fA,. I,,
you are totally unprepared to take ad
vantage of it. Besides, it is only :
question of few degrees of the ther
mometer, when the hard frozen dir
returns to it's original plasticity
and the so called road become
neither thing of beauty nor JOY for
ever, nor even a fit associate to tn,
progress, the civilization and tn,
christianity of the nineteenth century
But with the change to solid roads al
uncertainty vanishes. The distance t,
market is constant factor every da,
:. in the year. No paralysis of business
no stagnation of trade, no slow collec
tions, because the farmer is stuck il
the mud. He has taken his rightfu
place in the business world. and is in
creasing profits by decreasing cost o
= production. His hauling is done whel
i" crops do not need, or on account of th
! weather, cannot receive his attention
1t is done at less expense as the load
n are larger and are hauled in less time
t He receives for the product of his skill
: and toll that price allotted by tina
t supreme law of finance, supply and de
: mand, and is no longer at the mercy o
S greedy spectators, and glutted mar
g kets. And if the cost of these roads b.
! not in excess of what is absolutel,
a necessary, and be at all fairly. dis
!. tributed among those benefited, it i
t our firm belief that many miles coult
d be constructed at a direct financia
y profit to say nothing of the mental ant
|. moral Improvement which might aris
g from the closer association of villag
: and country life, to say nothing of tn