Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1911-07-20

OF statistics OF the department of aeri-
cui'ore seat letters of inquiry to $500
country correspondents. who reported
ah aN"FaSe cost per ton mile of %
sNh's' and AN average maui of 81 miles.
the rate of % cents is, if anylhinr
10" conservative. The report or the
i4eiStalH commission for tho
year ending une 50. 1906. showed that
-os''oo.uoo TONS OF freight handled by
.ae 'alifoaets was agricultural, forest.
~" malse'ilaheous farm products. II
We assunl" that 2o0.0 oo. 900 IONS. or less
,han 80 per cent OF this total was;
ilaUlvd o.e: the country roads. the cost
Or" cents or an average haul of "a
mics would be Sa32.400. GOO. This does
,'"t liirl'ide the enormous tonnage
"sui@u pS wagons 10 canals. wharves
ana docks. and with this considered III
Would follow tina, the total cost of
,i"liSpuftatlon on our wagon roads is
wen over 100000. 600 annually.
Accepting these figures as true. it
Io!lows that With good roads Il reduce
,lVn IN the cost of hauling from %
cents per ton mile to 11.5 cents per
ton mile would mean am annual saving
of $3.50. 000. 900.
According TO consular reports. he
COST OF hauling i'm Germany. France and
f.as1aiid averages about TO cents per
,nh per mile. Leading textbooks on
highway engineering give the cost of
hauling on broken stone roads in ordi-
nary condition ll.9 cents; earth roads
containing iuts and mud. go cents:
sahcN roads. when wet, 3..6 cents.
sandy roads. when dry. 81 ccnts; all of
s'rne cosf iiSures being ton mile costs.
Ii ~ost of hauling is largely deter
,i'''leo os she Size of the load that can
be handled. the number of wins tina:
can o. made i'm 4 single day and the
Wear ANA tear on teams and euuipruent.
Ime .'liuence OF grades may be illus
trated as follows: II a horse can draw
d loaa or l,3o0 pounds on a level earth
ROAD ne can draw only 900 pounds on
q . per cent grade. Steep grades are
dangerous In winter for the reason that
.hey become slippery. They are sub
Ject 70 serious damage by heavy rains
ahu II the road is covered with
trusiled stone without first reducing
tile grade. the cost Of maintenance is
very largely increased.
Smooth Surface Necessary.
the Importance of IL firm foundation
and "a smooth surface cannot he over
est1mated. as next to grades it infl-
silces the size of the load and the num-
Der OF trips possible to make in y day.
ms may be Illustrated by the state
Hleht thal an average horse can draw
one ton on a clay road, one and two
thirds tons on the best gravel road. two
ana fourths OF tho best mecadau1.
four and one-half tons on the best
bitlim1nized macadam and five tons on
q brick road.
Summarizing briefly the foregoing
data, it may be said that the chief
causes for the high COS, of hauling
are:
Flrst-Steep grades.
Seccnd-Uneven and non-uniform
surface and lack of drainage.
John Wanamaker offers data showing
the cost per ton mile OF auto truck
! service hpfwpnn N.,u- Nn,l. .;4,. ,,J a..
country districts thereabouts. During
10 months his eight auto trucks COW
ereu Il total of 217,114 miles at "a cost
or cents per ton per mile. This is an
average of OYER $4,000 miles per truck.
or approximately So miles per dav for
each month OF 26 days; including as
this does layouts and reserve DAYS
when trucks We're not needed. and tine
further consideration that at best one
hardly expects a cheap ton mile trans
portation cost between New York city
| and the country districts. the above. ;s
g remarkable showing.
With good country roads and the an
pi1cation of the motor driver truck to
the transportation Of farm products
between the farm and the farmers
market, transportation costs will be
very materially reduced.
lit is essential to the p]rosneritv of
the farmer that he realize how close
and intimate is the relationship OF roads
" CattAt
20 agriculture. The selling price or
farm products ia largely determined by
factors beyond the control of the farm
ef. ana his profit is represented by
ductlon and transportation and the
selling price. If he can materially re-
ducc the cost Of transportation. he
thereby Increases this ma gin of profit
without increasing the burden upon
the consumer. becaus. the selling price
is not increased"
To reduce this transportation cost
between the farm and the farmers
market. the work OF rOad Improvement
should be directed: first, toward the re-
duction of grades: second. the proper
drainage and surfacing of the roads.
Effects Of Road Improvement.
The cost of transportation material
ly effects the size Of the area which
can be cultivated about each SHINING
point. for the reason that the profit to-
the producer is represented by the mar
gin TIVE the cost of production and
transportation and the selling price.
and when the item OF Transportation
becomes so great as to wipe out the
difference between the cost of produce
ton and the selling price. production
must cease or be carried on at a loss.
That is to say. those farms which are
now at the greatest distance from a
market will. by improved roads, be en-
abled TO so reduce the cost OF transport
taticn as to make a much greater profit
than is possible with poor ~transporta-
ton facilities.
Improved roads would enable the
farmer to more successfully introduce
the system of intensive farming. II the
roads were properly improved the
market would t.esacccssible to him for
amy and all OF the products, at all
lines which soil and climate conditions
would make possible of production.