The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1895-11-07
/ FARM AND GARDEN.
SYSTEMATIC WORK.
Without 1t Our Country Roads VIII Never
BE Improved.

Without 1t Our Country Roads VIII Never
Be Improved.
1t seems as if there had been enough
said in the farm papers to convince
everyone that there should be an or,
gained movement for good roads Nv
those who live in the rural districts, in
every part of the country. The costli.
est item the American farmer has to
pay is the cost of bad roads to him. It
is an axiom that the best road is as
bad as the poorest part of it, because
load that cannot be taken across the
poorest part of road or up the Steep
est grade on it cannot be transported
over it. This being the case it behooves
everyone who uses the country roads
to interest himself in a movement for
the betterment of them in the most
RvEilable manner.
In Ohio there are as good roads as in
any state in the union, and there are
those that are as bad as any that can
be found anywhere. In most of the
southwestern part of the state stone
roads are the rule and there is no time
of the year that the roads are bad.
The stone bottom and the easy grades
make it possible to haul heavy loads
over them at all seasons, and those who
live in this part of the state could not
be prevailed on to give up the good
roads which have added to the value of
their farms much more than it cost to
build the roads along them. In
those parts of the state where the roads
are rivers of mud during great part
OF the winter the only objection raised
to making the roads good is the cost of
them. Until this fear of paying the
cost of the improvement is done away
with, not much can be done, as any
proposition to improve will be voted
down. 1t is much the same in other
states. Where good roads have been
made those who paid for them are sat
istied that they are worth more than
they cost, while in those sections where
the roads are liable to be bad after a
wet spell the item of cost prevents any
improvement being made.
Much can be done in the way of i'm
proving the roads by a revision of the
road laws and putting the work that is
done on those places where it will do
the most good. If but a short distance
was made good each year, it would not
be very long until the main roads could
be made fairly good at no greater ex-
pense than is now put on them each
year.
Massachusetts, has taken the lead in
this matter and has appropriated $780,
900 for the purpose of making a start.
A highway commission has been ap-
pointed and experimental work begun
in several counties, and already the
benefits of systematic work are begin
ming to show result in a gratifying
manner.
Once the farmers of the country real.
ize how much they lose by being mud
bound for several months each year
they will take hold of this matter in
earnest. AS it is, they must market
their crops when they can. With good
roads they could market them wher
they found it to their best interests to
do so. The wear and tear of teams,
vehicles and harness is a very large
item to be counted in the cost of bad
roads, not to mention the extra work
they make by making small loads neces-
sary. Good roads are a mark of civil
zation that is lacking in too many
places in our country.-Springfeld CO.,
Farm News