The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1911-10-22

MAKING NEW ROADS FOR UNCLE
SAM.
soo,ooo.ooo tons OF freight. which orig
mated on their respective Enes. All
this had to be taken to and from the
| cars. great deal OF 1t waS made up
OF the products OF the farm and the
forests, and 1t Is estimated that at
least 20o000,000 tons Of It had a haul
OF nine miles, at a cost OF % cents a
ton That bill alone would represent
more than s43e.oOo.oOo, and other
freights and hauling would run the
sum to $500.0oo,000 or over. Now sup
pose we cut the wagon freight bill in
half. or to IL y cents ton. whioh Is
still far above the cost of hauling in
Europe, and the saving would be $780,
100000 year"
Indeed 1t is impossible to overesti-
mate our loss by bad roads," continued
Mr.. Page. Tho Fruit Growers Asso-
| citation OF Oregon lost in one year by
damaged fruit from the Willamette VAL
lev owing TO bad roads, 100000. The
cost to the fruit crop enormous, and
1t is SO with every crop of the farmer.
Take the wear and tear on the horses
We have more than 100000 draft an
| imans, which are worth more than
$1,000. 100000. Better the roads. and
the work could be done with half the
lumber, making a saving OF $1,000 o0,-
600 in capital. We have 100000 farm
wagons manufactured each year. The
wear and tear upon them runs high
into the millions.
Quick Transit and High Prices.
And then look at the money which
the farmer makes by getting his crops
to the market on time. Wheat and
cotton have rapid changes of prices
| In 1907 the range of wheat in Minneap.
oils was from &c cents to Sl.19 per
bushel, and there was a difference in
the selling prices OF corn at Chicago
of 81 cents per bushel. If the man
got his grain to the market while the
prices were high, lie did we'll, but IL
the bad roads kept him back. he had
to take low fiEure.
This loss from bad roads prevails
all over the country. but especially In
| the South ] have just returned from
a long trip through that region and
have made study of some of the con-
ditions. Let me show you what good
roads would do for corn and cotton
which, together with tobacco are tho
staple crops OF the South. The South
ern roads are worse than those of other
parts of the country, and the average
cost of hauling Is. therefore, far more.
The average cost of taking corn TO the
station the United States over is about
cents per hundred. while in eleven
Of the southern States it is more than
10 cents per hundred. Those eleven
States produced last year $4,000. 900
bushels of corn, and IL 1t had been
hauled to tho market the total freight
cost would have been over $1,000, 900.
Now. suppose that four-ffths of this
corn were consumed on the farms and
that only 100000 bushels wore
hauled. In that case the cost of haul
Ing would have been more than S14,-
100000. and If 1t could have been hauled
as cheaply as in other States OF the
Union, one-half of that amount, or
more than 100000. would have been
the saving on the corn haul alone.
Whnt Bad Roads Mean to Cotton.
The loss on the cotton crop Is very
much greater" continued Mr. Page.
AT 10 cents per hundred the cost of
hauling Is about so cents per bale,
and as the average distance each load
Is taken Is about eleven miles, the time
consumed Is one day. The average load
Is little moro than three bales, or
i''oO pounds. so that it costs about $3.50
10 get each load to the market The
cotton crop of last year was lust I'M
uer i!'VoV'ooo bales. and TO make n long
story short. we figure that the trans
portation cost of taking Il to the GIN
merry and then to tho railroad, includ-
ng the cost of hauling the seed. was
about slS.000.000. II the roads were ms
good as the average. this sum would be
CUT down ono half. making n saving of
S9,O0O,O0O But this is in the South
similar conditions prevail In many