The ranch. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1902-1914, 1909-01-01

The following extracts are taken from
the annual report of Hon. James Will
son, Secretary of Agriculture:
Relation of Roads to Agriculture:
For many years the Department has
endeavored to impress upon producers
and consumers the close and intimate
relationship of the public road to agri-
culture, and while endeaVoring by
practical demonstration and scientific
experiment to improve methods or
construction and maintenance, has lost
no opportunity of awakening the pub
lie to a proper appreciation of the great
economic Importance of road improve
ment and the necessity for reform in
the management of the public roads.
Some conception may be had of the
immensely of the task by considering
the fact that there are 2,151,OOO miles
of road in the United States, a suffi-
cient length to encircle the globe at
the equator with sc parallel roads. The
total expenditure upon roads for 1904
was nearly $SO,O0O,O00. At that time
about $500 miles had been surfaced
with stone, 10000 with gravel, and
$500 with special materials, making
the whole mileage of improved roads
only TIA per cent of the total. An
effort has been made by the engineers
of this Department to estimate the
mileage of improved roads in 1908, and
the total value of all roads including
bridges and rights of way Taking
the 1904 figures as a basis, and assum-
ing that the macadam roads have in
creased 1875 per cent, the gravel ID
per cent. and those surfaced with spe-
cial materials % per cent, we have
43,45O miles of macadam, 124,468 of
gravel and 8,512 surfaced with special
materials. The cost of the macadam
has been estimated at $4,000 per mile,
of the gavel at $1,000, and the other
surfacing materials at $1,000.
There is about 10000 miles of
earth road, which it is estimated has
cost for grading, culverts, bridges and
all other items of expense an average
of $500 per mile. The right of way,
which has been estimated at 40 feet
in width for the entire mileage, is
worth at the average acreage valuation
as given in census reports $342,OOO,OOO,
making a total estimated cost of $780,,
1000 for all the roads of this coun-
try. Over these roads at least ESQ.,
900 tons of freight are hauled every
year to railroads, not including the i'm
Id 10 y1noy nd
docks for water shipment, which we
are unable to estimate. The data COL
lected by the Department indicate that
this hauling is done at an average cost
of not less than 23 cents per ton per
mile, and that the average haul is about
nine miles, which goes to show that
the transportation over the public roads
to the railroad represents an annual
cost of over half a billion dollars. Haul
ing in France is done in many cases at
as low a cost as cents per ton per
mile, and the average there is proba-
bly, not more than half of the average
for the United States. The selling
price of farm products is largely deter
mined by factors beyond the control
of the farmer. His prosperity must be
measured by the margin of profit above
the cost of production and of trans
portation; and it is only when the
great agricultural population awakens
to a realization that the road prob
lem is farm problem that we can
look for substantial progress in this
important branch of transportation.