Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1895-05-18
FARM AND GARDEN.
VALUE OF GOOD ROADS.

Really n Question OF Farming nc Loss
or at = Profit.
There are few subjects more inn
portant to the farmers of this country,
and indeed to all men who transport
their merchandise in wagons, than the
subject of good roads. The country !
may be said to be just waking up to |
the value Of roads over which heavy |
burdens may be moved with economic |
al expenditure of force, but the intelli-
gent movement which began less than
ten years ago is gathering strength
and impetus year by year, and 1t is not
likely TO die out so long as single
6rst-rate road remains An object lesson
of the gain in money of such construc-
tions to those whose business or recrea-
ton makes them the users of country
| highways.
To the wheelmen q good deal OF the
enthusiasm of road reform is to be
credited. They have worked constant
ly and enthusiastically for the enact
ment of laws facilitating road-buildr
ing, for the extended use of the bicy.
Gle is impossible unless the old dirt
road-muddy in wet weather, and full
of ruts and holes, as well as a breeder
Of choking dust in dry weather-is re-
placed by the Macadam or Telford way.
with it's hard, well-crowned surface
and adequate drainage. But the influ-
ence of the wheelmen and the pleas
ure-drivers is not to be compared with
that which might be exerted by the
men whose business requires the trans
portation of heavy loads from their
farms and shops to the railroad sta
tions or their customers.
Col. Francis Vinton Greene has re-
Gently delivered an address on the sub
ject of good roads in the Butterfeld
Practical Course at Union college. In
the course of his remarks he showed
that while Massachusetts annually ex-
pends S66 mile on roads outside of
cities, New Jersey S43 and New York
$50, the average expenditure in the
other states is much less. Ii it is only
SlS mile, this means total annual
expenditure throughout the country of
$40 900, ,000 and much the larger part of
this vast sum is literally thrown away
on roads that are not only the cause of
vexation and discomfort to those who
drive over them, but that entail actual
loss upon those who are compelled to
carry their goods over them to the mar
kets or railway stations.
The enormous drain made by bad
roads on our resources was estimated
by Col. Greene, and his figures will not
be doubted by anyone who has paid
any attention to the subject. He said:
1T has been proved, not only by me-
chanical experiment but by actual test,
that the same force which draws one
| @0,, 4
four tons on hard Macadam road. On
the improved roads of New Jersey loads
of four to five tons are habitually
drawn by a two-horse team. This eff
fects a saving of fully three-fourths of
the cost of hauling to the station, and
reduces the cost of road transportation
from 80 cents to ~ cents per ton per
mile. What this saving amounts to
may be imagined when it is known
that the New York Central railroad
carries nearly 10000, 900 tons of way
freight in year. If this is hauled on
ly two miles by road, to or from the
4 station, and a saving of 2214 cents per
7 ton per mile could be effected, it would
:, mean total saving of S9,O0o,0 ,0o0."
i In other words, the question of road.
in many of our agricultural communi
i ties is a question of farming at a loss o,
s at profit. And there is not com
IS munity or town in the thiclSly settled
:, parts of the country that cannot pro
It vide itself with thoroughly good high
5. ways by anticipating its road taxes TO,
u fifteen or twenty years. Money Dor
rowed on fifteen or twenty year bonds
to be paid off from the annual roac
taxes, would be sufficient for the work
q in each locality, while the expenditure
u would involve little, if any, increased
'e taxation. The plan that is here sug
10 gested has been tried in towns neal
% New York, and it is noticeable thai
is every good piece of road that has beer
l. constructed in these communities in
q creases the sentiment in spending
q money in this way. A good road is ar
ID admira BILE object lesson of the fac
IL which Col. Greene seeks to enforce. IL
a this state the continuity of good road:
u could be secured through the county
Is system. If the proper spirit be aroused
Y in towns and villages, the problem viii
e. be speedily and satisfactorily solved
70 Harper's Weekly,