The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1910-07-30
The IMPORTANCE
OF GOOD ROADS
VALUE OF GOOD ROADS NOT APP
PREcIATED BY AVERAGE FARM
ER-CosT OF HAULING OVER
POOR ROADS IS NOT REALIZED
PALMER EXPLAINS.

THE value of good roads Is often
not appreciated by the farmers as
much as 1t should be-" said Prof. w.
c. Palmer, agriculture editor Of the
A. c. "Of course the burden of making
better roads falls directly on them,
which is another side to the problem.
The average cost Of hauling a ton one
mile on the ordinary country roads is
$.25, while the average price Of hauling
one ton one mile on the railroads Is
three-fourths of cent. In other words,
the cost of hauling Is thirty three times
as much with team and wagon as with
steam. This has been accomplished
by number of factors. Some of these
can be and must be considered in
making good roads, that is, to have a
good hard road bed and to eliminate
grades. The railroads do not as rule
have a grade Of more than per cent
some of them have adopted 2 per cent
as the maximum grade. Two per cent
would mean a rise Of two fe ct in 100
feet. This would not be considered
much of a grade on the ordinary road,
but this is the way it works out.
"a team can exert a pull on a short
distance of one-half its weight, but for
ordinary work the load it can pull
should not be over lilo the weight of
the team, for instance a team weighing
5000 pounds can exert a pull of 800
pounds. This, however, Is putting forth
al the energy Of which they are capable.
1t has also been found that the pull re-
quired to take ton over the ordinary
a
that the load is one ton and the wagon
weighs 1900 pounds this would make
total of $500 pounds, and at the rate
of 100 pounds per ton would make a
total Of 264 pounds, little less than
the team is capable Of hauling. In fact
| ii could very nicely handle 500 pounds
more which would bring the pull up
to 800 pounds, and making the load
$500 pounds. This, however, is for
the level. AS q grade Is approached
this, of course, will be increased. A 8
per cent grade would increase the draft
of the wagon and load $500 pounds by
| 315 pounds, bringing it up to 579
pounds which is almost twice what the
team can handle as a regular thing. If
the grade is increased to 20 per cent
| or twenty feet in a hundred feet the
draft of this same load would come to
a little over 1900 pounds, or the maxi
mum that this team could pun when
exerting it's utmost power. Any grade
beyond this would mean that the load
would have to be reduced, and In fact
no team should be required to have
to pull to its maximum capacity. From
this then 1t is evident that increasing
the grade increases the draft very fast
and hence grades should be eliminated
as far as 1t Is possible.
con the Macadam road team car
pull three times as much on the leve
as on the good road, but the increase In
draft up grade remains the same as or
the earth road so that a grade would
be more Objectionable on macadan
road than on a. poor road. On the leVe
: 5000 pound team could easily handle
four tons, while the maximum grade
that 1t could pull up with such load
would be a 10 per cent grade, and ever
) that is more than should be expected
from the team.
There is a very marked tendency II
the west of running roads on the sec
: ton lines. This is good where the lanc
is level but where there are hills 1T II
usually advisable to go around rathel
than to go over them, at least wher'
this can be done, and thus avoid
sleeper grade. There is also this OBJ
lection to cuts and fills that 1t bring
up a soil that is not good for road max
!. ing and one that washes easily, ant
the expense of cutting down hills Il
usually greater than would be the cos
of buying a right -of-way around thu
lhill and thus avoid the grade. Rail
road engineers will make considerable
curves in the roads in order to avoi,
grades, and they have the problem yer.
carefully studied out and they will
often times make a detour of goo
many miles in order to avoid grade.
Having to haul the produce from
the farm to the market over poo
road adds to the cost Of production
and again good road that can b
depended on in all seasons bring
! the farmers several miles nearer tow
i and it also increases the value of tn
land considerably as the buyer will pa,
quite a bit more for land that he cal
reach with good road than for lan'
that is hard to reach on account o
poor roads due either to steep grade
or to the poor quality of the roadbed
The main thing in new country, how
! eve.. is getting the roads laid out i
: the right place, as it is not an cas-
! matter to change them after they hav
: once been established and money ex
! pended on them