Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1901-05-08

S6S1 ~ SS r~SS
our farmers would doubt @
their M ,uctlon as r,
5s.2r,cal ,:es some o.
F.; ags.e t5r there is
! ars Lcn of the .-iMer!
.er q; zeps, who have little
s2aleg.ga G. appreciation of thf
oanef:s of good roads and wht
!, therefore object. The people o!
this class discredit the statements
and conclusions of en-
thusiasts as to the losses tc
farmers from poor roads and gains
from good ones. Ignoring and
undertaking the educational
and social advantages, as we'll as
comfort and enjoyment, of good
roads, let as feel unable to pay
the cost for such benefits derived
from highway improvement, and
than the question will arise, evil
it pay in actual dollars and cents
to build good roads?"
In answering this question, let
US consider in what ways per-
manently good roads will prove
financially beneficial to farmers.
We can agree that a good road
will, CD Economic time and
force i'll transportation between
farm and market. (2) Enable the
farmer to take advantage of
market fluctuations in buying and
selling, regardless of weather con-
ditions. (3) Permit transporta-
tion of rmproducts and purchas-
ed .commod dities during times Of
comparative leisure. (4) Reduce
the wear and tear on horses, har-
ness, and vehicles. (5) Enhance
the market value of realestate
throughout the entire county.
But while tits easy to enumerate
the ways IN which COED roads will
be financially advantageous to
farmers, it is very difficult to
estimate, in dollars and cents,
all the financial benefits to accrue
therefrom. To get at the figures,
we must of necessity 60 to sections
of Ihe country where good roads
exist and apply to the farmers OF
those sections for opinions.
We quote from a letter i'll posses
sion of the State Commissioner
of Public Roads of New Jersy, SIS
follows: ~ lived within two
miles of q macadam road leading
to my market city. My tenants
hauled manure from the city dur
ing the fall and winter, going
down with two horses and bring
ing out a load with them. When
be got within two miles of home
he to double up his teams in order
to bring the two horse load the
balance of the distance to my
farm. It took him longer and
was more fatiguing to the team to
come those two miles than to
come the entire ten miles on the
macadam, and he was frequently
Obliged to throw part of the load
off to get home with the four
horses. 1t is this waste of time
which makes it important to far
mers that we should have good
roads. I know it is necessary to
educate the people up to this idea
of good roadc, and that it require 8
a great deal of education in some
cases.
"Before the building of the good
roads twenty-five baskets of pota-
toes were considered good load
from my farm to market, twelve
miles, and now since the macadam
road has been built, our load is
80 to 100 baskets. During the
past winter our team has hauled
over $50 loads of manure from the
city, several of which / weighed
and found to amount to $500, T.
300 aud 1900 pounds, clear of the
wagon, which weighed about 2,300
pounds, a combined weight of
about four and one-half tons.
These loads were drawn from the
city to the point of leaving the
stone road with only two horses,
and the result has been the saving
of over 500 in the cost of my
hauling for one winter"
Another farmer form the same
state writes: "While I believe
that good roads are of great bene-
fit to all the mercantile, maLufac-
turing, and agricultural industrie 8
of our state, they have enabled
the farming class of our citize