The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1905-08-10
Costumes of Bad Roads.

We have no doubt that on the aver
age our Minnesota farmers have to
haul their products at least five miles
by team, to get to town or to rail-
road market, and that this first short
haul costs them in time, labor of men
and teams, wear and tear, at least So
per ton, says an authority. Also
that it costs equally as much per ton
to haul their lumber, fuel and other
supplies back home. Of course this
cost will vary greatly in different To-
calities, but the average cost is likely
to be considerably more rather than
less. So, too, the average farm load
varies at different seasons and in
different localities, depending largely
on the condition of the roads, the
grades, etc. AS the average farm is
about quarter section, mostly I'M
der cultivation, it would be moder-
ate estimate to say that the average
farmer hauls, from the farm to town
and from town to the farm, at least
1co oOdo LII al LII SCdI: dV al CA
pense of at least $500 in time, labor
and other cost.
This is big item of expense and
often tells the difference between
profitable and Improbable farming.
If the average farmer could discover
way to reduce this cost of hauling
between the farm and the home
market, say one third, or 500, he
would feel greatly encouraged.
This, we believe, can be done, not
by one man alone, but by united and
intelligent action on the part of the
farmers in each community, by i'm
proving the county roads. A hun
dred dollars seems like big sum to
save, but if the roads were so good
and the grades so easy that the farmer
could haul a half more at each load
he would have to make only two thirds
as many trips and an average of fifty
trips saved would mean an average
saving of 500 per year.
Now a stretch of five or ten miles Of
country road is good deal like log
chain, with here and there weak link
The chain will have no greater
strength than that of its weakest link
and the farmer must measure his loads
by what can be hauled over or through
the worst places. 1t may be that fol-
four-ffths of the way he could haul a
couple of tons but that the othe,
stretches are so bad that he can hau,
scarcely ton. It is therefore unsafe
to take on more than a ton and even
then his horses, wagons and harnesses
will wear out or play out faster on the
one-ffth of poor road than on all the
rest. It may be that most of these bad
places can be improved with nc
greater expense than the district road
work, intelligently applied. That
would simplify the problem wonder.
fully, but as to those other bad places,
aye, there's the rub.
Well, it is up to the farmers to face
the difficulty and overcome it in a
practical business way. If overcome
it means vast saving to each farmer
who travels that way, an aggregate
saving of thousands of dollars each
year. AS it is it means a burden
some tax of thousands of dollars each
year.
Think of what would have been
saved had those worst places been
properly graded and fixed ten, fifteen
or twenty years ago! Think what the
saving will aggregate in the next ten
or twenty years if properly fixed!
Think of the aggregate loss in the
next twenty years if not fixed soon.