The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1910-07-28


write. In four good road states out |
of 100000 population there are 2O.-
600 illiterates. Do good roads concern
YOU? If you are one of the 3O,OOo.O 600
people who live OH farms in the United
States it is fairly safe guess that YOU
know something about bad roads. even
if YOU do not know and have never
CHANGED to cross the I. per cent of inn
proved roads of the total 2.OOMO
miles of highway in the United States.
Americas country roads are 50 no.
toriously bad that it costs more to
haul a ton of wheat from farm to mar
ket than to ship that ton from New
York to Liverpool. Americas country
roads are so bad that it costs the
American farmer 23 cents to haul u
ton when it costs the English or the
Belgian or the French or the German
farmer only from to 8 cents for the
same haul. You, Mr. Town Man, and
you, Mr.. Farmer, pay for the unneces-
sary waste of those bad roads, the
town man by extra cost Of what he
eats, the farmer by lessened profits on
what he sells. The same reason ex-
plains why the town man pays S1.25
in spring for potatoes which cost from
80 to 75 cents i'll the autumn.
The interstate commerce report
shows that the railroads yearly haul
2G5 5OGO. 900 tons of farm produce and
that the average haul from farm 10
market for the whole country is nine
and Il fraction miles Put the cost of
hauling Mt a round 81 Il ton for the
nine miles and you have the cost Of
hauling farm produce ut round half
billion dollars year. Half that cost
- waste. solely owing to bad roads.
The charge to haul wheat from New
cents per bushel The charge to haul
n bushel of wheat from farm to mar
kct. "a miles, is 5.11 cents. The stor-
age on wheat at water fronts is .
cents bushel a year.
The results Of bad roads are yearly
tolls of $3.50 against every person
who eats farm produce. That yearly
waste would build 100000 miles of Al
nacadam roads every year, basing the
cost at the very highest average OF
$1,000 mile.
The beauty Of the relentless scheme
of things is when we mend our ways
lin this case, mend our roads-natur,
not only wipes out the deficit. but sh'
puts plus to the account where ther'
used to be minus. Supposing Of th'
o,C0O,OOO miles of roads in the Unite'
States all were improved instead 0
only per cent, what would he tn
result to farmer and consumer: Firs
of all, the big deficit Of waste on hau
on storage. on cornered prices. wipes
out! The minus goes off the nationa
slate and the plus comes on.
The good road moves the remotes
farm right next to the market. 4 farI
twenty miles from the market on
all the year round good road Is neare
market than a farm seven miles ava
on bad road. Truck farmers In Ne
Jersey and Long Island can haul the
. produce to market, thirty miles. cheal
1 or than they can ship by railroad. an
that produce nets. according to we
: known averages, as follows:
'' Fruit. $50 per acre: flowers. S2.O'
per acre; corn. IS per acre: wheat,
per acre; oats, 81 per acre: vegetable
$40 per acre.
Out in the DakOtas and Ninneso
and Manitoba farmers haul their pro
uct thirty and forty miles. but they CT
haul 1t only when the roads are dry
the early fall. and at that season q
price Is lowest The farmer along T
good road can command the best pri
by hauling only when the price Is be-
and he can also raise the produce tn
gives biggest net returns It you wou
learn why q whole family can live. a
live well. of an acre in Holland Al
Belgium and France when a fam
often fails TO live well of 100 acres
: America.
with good roads Dakota farm.
who under present conditions drl
hub deep In gumbo mud during spri
G. could market their crops when prif
* ruled tho highsst. Instead " selli