The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1895-05-10
AGRICULTURAL HINTS.
THE SIDE.
Economical phases Involved In tbs Sub
iect Of Good Roads

several questions. The principal mes
are these: How much Is the be cit
derived from good roads? Who cts
the benefit? How much does IL c t?
Who pays for 1t? Who ought TO lay
for 1t?
Gen. Stone. of the federal dep rt-
ment of agriculture, has found u zee
independent estimates which place he
yearly loss To farmers in the I'm ed
States from bad roads at about q O.
00o, 900, equivalent to 81 an acre anu
ally. Capitalized at Ave per cent, this
amount. il saved. would increase the
value of farm land SEQ an acre, or a to-
tai increase Of Sic, 900. 000, 900. as the
total value of all farms Is about $780,
0O0, 900, 900 this would be an increase OF
fifty per cent. in their value. As the
total annual value of farrn products Is
only 50, 600. 00o, 600, one-tourth OF Its
value is lost through ba4 roads.
Comparisons have also been made
with foreign countries. The English
horse does twice the work OF the
American horse, the French horse
three times the work; not because
they are better horses, but because
they travel better roads. Mr.. Wollen
| estimates the annual cost of maintain
ing a horse 1T 500. II only one-fourth
of the horses in Indiana could be
spared, instead of one-half or two
thirds as in England or France, the
annual saving in horse maintenance
for this state alone would be S3O,OvO.-
900. Prot. Ely holds that poor roads
cost the farmer els per horse.
These estimates are none o high.
The gain from good roads when once
they arc completed will make the most
cautious statistics seem fabulous. But
there are two or three special points TO
be considered. The tremendous fall in
prices Of farm products in recent years
Is a heavy drawback to road improve
ment. Farm products have fallen in
prices even more than the roads have
benefited the farmer. In lsse, accord
ing 20 the reports of the secretary OF
agriculture, the average value OF the
corn product in the United States was
sll.o4 per acre; in 1898 It was 1921 per
acre. a fall of 81 per cent. Oats fell
from sll.4s per acre in 1852. to s6.ss
per acre in 1893, 40 per cent; wheat
yielded si2 per acre in 1852, only s*.l6
in 1898. "A fall of nearly 80 per cent
But the cost of production, according
TO the estimates of $4,000 farmers is
ell.G9 per ~acre-sl2.39 in Indiana
nearly double the price received for
the product. Horses, which in 1889
averaged SCI a head, are only S4s in
1894. a fall of Il per cent. in 81 years.
With horses Sc cheap and grain still
cheaper TO feed them, il is not likely
that farmers can spend much money ia
building roads to economic horse
flesh.
As a result Of this universal fall IN
products, the values of farm lands have
fallen correspondingly. Consequently
. large part Of the stone and gravel
roads which have been built during
the last fifteen years have not -seryed
! TO raise the value of abutting farm
property, as should be expected from
the estimates l have quoted. but have
I merely protected it from the universal
fall of all such property. In many
cases even the benefited farm lands
, have actually fallen in value, notwith
standing the advent Of the hard road
Closely connected with this is ,loth
er point TO be noted, naIlslv, that i
takes several years for f~ara.ers TO real
, lie the increased value which gooc
, roads bring. In order to take advan
tage of good roads the farmer mus
adopt a more intensive method OF cul
{ ti~vation. Must introduce crops fol
. which there is a market demand. mus
invest in more machinery and nipple
ments. All Of this requires time. and
|, meanwhile the farmer Is compelled u
pay his assessments in cash derived
from the sales Of deprecated products
l do not intend, however, to hole
, that farmers are not benefited
: by good roads. Indeed. they are high
{ " benefited relatively il their a
{ values remain even stationary and d.
not decline. since there Is almost no mar
! let at al nordddys for farms uithous suc1
roads. What l maintain is this, tina
farmers under the present fall il
{ prices Of farm products and farm land
Q cannot afford to zeal al the expense o
: building the county roads, as the,
: have done in the past. If we are Z
: have good roads the cities must he'll
; the Farmers.
The objection Is made that cite
; have their own heavy expenses 10
7 building and maintaining their streets
70 which the farmers do not contribute
: and, therefore, the farmers should no
ask them for help in constructing thei
country roads. The answer is tina
5 only the main gravel and macadar
! roads are contemplated under the Ne'
: Jersey and similar laws, which nigh
! properly be called county or stat
roads, and that # cities have streets I
: maintain, farmers have township an
cross roads to maintain, TO make col
nections with the pixies. The towi
ships of Indiana tax their propert
owners 10 to /. cents on the 500 fc
. maintaining their own dirt roads, an
an additional special a for me-
: roads, while the city Of ~Indianapol
y has a tax for the care Of its streets an
special assessments for new street
:. Boston spends l6 cents on the sl00 va
= uation for care Of streets. The one OF
sets the other, leaving the great tho
" oughfares connecting the cities an
villages as a proper charge for all