The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-08-07

improvement. put IuoIc ID o
 siderable proportion of the farmers
 doubtless one-ffth and possibly one-
 fourth-who have little knowledge or
 appreciation of the benefits Of gooo
 roads and who, therefore. object on
 account of the great cost of highway
 improvement. The farmers Of this
 class know that they will have to bear
 their full share of the burden of such
 Improvements; they discredit (not
 wholly without reason) the statements
 and conclusions of many public writ
 CTS as to the losses and gains to farm-
 CTS from poor and good roads respect ively; hence they view with apprehen-
 sion the general agitation in favor Of
 improved highways. Ignoring or un-
 dervaluing the educational and so-
 cial advantages. as well as the comfort and enjoyment of good roads. or feel ing unable to pay the price Of such
 benefits, these farmers regard with distrust and disfavor measures Tor highway Improvements; and they are
 likely to oppose efforts for the better
 ment of our roads unless they can first
 be convinced that good roads will
 prove a paying financial investment. Speaking. therefore, in behalf of those
 who for any reason are not influenced by the higher considerations in favor of improved highways, l raise the
 question. Will it pay the farmers in
 dollars and cents to improve their
 public roads?
 question, let us consider in what ways
 permanently good roads will prove fi- nancially beneficial to farmers. All will agree, l think, that @ good road will
 Ffrst-Economize time and force in transportation between farm and mar ket.
 taIx advantage of market fluctuations in buying and selling.
 Third-Permit transportation Of farm products and purchased commod- ities during times of comparative leis-
 ure.
 Fourth-Reduce the wear and tear
 on horses, harness and vehicles.
 Fifth-Enhance the value of real es-
 tate.
 ways in which improved roads will be
 financially advantageous to farmers, 1t is very difficult to estimate, in dollars and cents. the benefits to accrue there from. Distrusting my own Judgment in the premises and fearing, also. that my opinions would have little weight with others. I sought the advice of the farm CTS themselves. Letters of inquiry
 were sent to sixty of the most inteli- gent farmers in forty counties located
 in central and northern parts of the
 State The substance of these letters is given herewith:
 First-About what population of the public highways in your county are now
 good gravel roads?
 Second-Please estimate the average increase Gin dollars and cents) in the selling price per acre of land through out the county, as the result of such gravel roads.
 U,la yN ~Ir Af. J1 county were converted into improved highways, how much in your judgment, would 1t increase the average selling price per acre of land throughout your county? Fourth-what would be a fair esti mate of the cost per mile of converting our common dirt roads as they now ex- l ist into good, gravel roads, provided. of l course, the work were to be performed economically under some competent, general supervision, and not hampered I by legal restrictions? Fifth-Supposing that your county | were divided into 100-acre farms and | that the average distance of each farm | from market were five miles, what, in | your judgment would be the average annual cost Gin dollars and cents) to l each farmer of our unimproved high l ways? <. In answering the fifth question please | IdhG lntO account the TtuuCcu lOduS, lu- creased time, extra wear and tear, and loss In sales for inability to deliver products when the market is best. Over forty replies to these queries were received. As would be expected, | from the difference in soil, surface. and | distance from gravel beds. there Is | wide range in the estimates of the diff ferent correspondents. Many of the es- | inmates are necessarily mere guesses, while others are based on a thorough knowledge of the matters under consid l eration.
 The averages of the estimates should give-and they probably do give ap- proximately--the consensus of opinion, held by the most intelligent farmers of the State, as to the cost and money value of improved highways and the | loss due to poor roads. 70 The approximate averages for the forty counties are as follows: First-The average estimated in- crease in the selling price of land due to existing improved highways is $6.4S per acre. The estimates from which | this average Is made refer in most | cases to lands near the improved roads;
 but in a few instances they apply to
 all lands of the county. The average l increase. therefore, of $6.4 per acre
 is lower than was intended for the | lands near the improved roads. | Second-The estimated average in- ! crease per acre that would result from | improving all the public roads is $9. l Third-The estimated average cost of | converting the common public roads in | to improved highways is $l,146 per mile. | Fourth-The estimated average an-
 nual loss, per 100 acres, from poor | roads is $76.2S.
 l If these estimates are even approxi- | mately correct, they furnish a key to | the satisfactory solution of the ques- 1 ton of highway improvement from the money standpoint. On the basis of the 1 last-mentioned estimate the average
 annual loss per acre from poor roads | is over 76 cents. In five years the loss
 es would aggregate $2.432 for every
 section of land, and this sum would | construct two miles at a cost of $1,216 per mile. which Is S70 per mile above the estimated average cost given by the | farmers themselves. The present road | tax, which under existing laws. is l largely thrown away, would, under 1 proper system of road maintenance,
 doubtless keep improved highways in perfect repair.
 If the foregoing statements are near ! approach to the truth. 1t follows that
 the losses and expenditures which far
 mers actually incur on account of poor l roads would also secure permanently | good roads. Can any sane mind doubt | the wisdom of exchanging the losses, | delays, accidents and vexation of spirit, l occasioned by bad roads, for the com
 fort and other advantages of good | roads when the cost is the same?
 Malaria Makes Pale SIckIy Children. The Old Standard Grove Tasteless
 Chill Tonic drives out malaria and