The Kennewick courier. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1905-1914, 1908-11-27
GOOD ROADS FROM A
FARMERS STANDPOINT
Continued from page y
Continued from page u

over our present roads is 9, ce,+c
per Ton per mile Now that Won
aS appreciate what this means to
ane iaiher' let US apply it more di-
ieclly- The master Ct the Nation-
a. orange stated before the Good
.,oads convention at Buffalo tia.
mere are hauled over our country
ROADS from the farms to the mar
hets or shipping points nearly two
hundred million tons of STABLE farm
products annually; in addition 10
these, there is hauled back from
ine towns to the farms. products,
consisting of fertilizers, feed. coal,
lumber, hardware, etc, which the
farmer must have, amounting j.,
quantity to at least fifty million tons
annually, making total of two hun
cred fifty mill on tons which the
farmers transport annually over our
country roads. The average cost Of
mis- Is 20 cents rer ton per mile
VI 81 ior every four miles the farm
must maui a ton of produce in
order To market or ship it The
hsnres OF the Agricultural Depart.
ment snow the average cost of trans.
foftat, on per ton per mile over stone
roads in this country to be eight
cents, or little less than Cne-thir.;
inc average over our present roads
That is. where the farmer now ba,,,
one ton four miles over our presan.
roads at the cost of 81, he will haul
over the improved roads three tons
the same d stance at the same cost
CT one ton three times the distance
renee the master of the National
GrahSe sad that, making allowance
ioi exceptional cases, it is certain
that the cost of transporting a tor.
OF farm products over improved,
ROADS is not one-half the cost Of
transporting the sama over eartli
roads, and that the substitution o.
the improved highway for the pres
ent earth road would effect a saw
Ing to the farmers in TRANSPORTATION
alone of at least 81 for every ton
transported.
l should like to particularize H.
eatiy by showing how much of this
loss Is sustained by Washington
farmers, but | have no statistics a.;
to the quantity transported by our
farmers, or the cost thereof. but +
take one state which has kept such
data-Illinois. The report of her
ghWay comm; ss:oner shows the to
tai cost of hauling the Illinois farm
products in 1896 was over $780,
100000. That is approximately one
third of the total yield. He SAYS
two-thirds of this expense would be
saved by good road Improvement.
The Department, in the report re-
ferred to, estimates that a system
of improved roads would effect a
saving to the farmers and add to
the purchasing power of this class
at least $250.00O,0O0 annually upon
the basis OF their present OUTPUT.
What would be the result if the farm
eis of this country could save an
lav away annually this item of $3.50.
100000 which now goes from them
in the shape OF increased cost o.
transportation? They might sing
around their CHEEKY fires at night
Hard Times Come Again No More y
Bulletin 95 issued by the Good
Roads office Of the Agricultural De
partment, gives us further COMPARE
son on the line of the capacity OF
..
horse will pull, on a we'll improved
gravel road twice the load, and on
a hard, smooth stone road four times,
tho load he VIII pull on a well i'm
proved earth road. These statistics
which are fndisputable, prove thac
the farmer living On the earth road.
but four miles from market cannot
compete with the farmer living IL
miles away on the stone road But
these figures do not show the only
saving to the farmers Because of
lad roads,, the farmer or his hired
man spends fully twice the time in
travel that would be consumed over.
the improved roads. In bad wealth
CIR. our present roads are impossible.
SO that the farmer must therefore
wait and move his crops in good
weather, at time when. if he could
but work in his fields, he would in
crease the productivity of his farm.
thereby giving greater yield for
the next year Over the improv-
ed road the farmer can do his heavy
hauling when his fields are too wet
to work, AMI when his teams and
hired help would otherwise remain
Idle. The governor of Wisconsin
said: ''The heav est tax farmer
pays is the tax of muddy roads over
which he is now compelled to haul
his produce
But bad roads are source of loss
in other ways. The statistics prove
that they make farming Improbable;
they cause fruitful farms to be aban-
doned, and rich lands to lie in waste:
they are largely responsible for the
isolation and growing dissatisfact on
with country life, which, of all man
ner of living, should be the most
beautiful, the most truly helpful and
free; they increase it's solitude by
preventing that freedom Of vista
ton and social intercourse which as
between naiShbor and neighbor, as
between country and village, should
create sparkle and brightness in
q relation already too sombre.
The building OF these roads in
creases the value of the farms. The
director of the Office of Public Roads