The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1911-10-24
UNCLE SAM ROAD BUILDER
A Talk With Director Page About
the Government Plans for
Improving Our Highways
(By Frank G. Carpenter.)

IN capital. We have a half million
farm wagons manufactured each year.
Inc wear and tear upon them runs
high into the millions.
Quick Transit and High Prices.
And then look at the money which
the farmer gets by getting his crops
to n market on time. Wheat and
cotton have rapid changes Of prices. In
1907 the range Of wheat at Minneapo-
lis was from rs cents to $1.19 per
bushel, and there was g difference in
the selling price of corn at Chicago Of
- cents per bushel. If the man got
his grain to the market while the
prices were high he did we'll, but if
the bad roads kept him back he had
to take a lower figure.
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
nave made a 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 the
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 z cents per hundred, while in
tl0Ntu VI IIc OOultEfn CIaLeS, It IS
more than Is cents per hundred.
Those clever States produced last
year S55, 100000 bushels of corn, and
If it had been hauled to market the
total freight cost would hay been
over seventy-one million dollars. Now,
suppose that four-fifths of this crop
were consumed on the farms, and
that only 100000 900 bushels were
hauled, In that case the cost of haul
ing would have been more than four
teen million dollars, and If it could
have been hauled as cheaply as in 9TH
er States Of the Union One-half Of that
amount, or more than seven million
dollars, would have been the saving
on the corn haul alone.
What Bad Roads Mean to Cotton.
'"The loss on the cotton crop is very
much greater continued Mr.. Page.
"At Is 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 more than three bales,
100 pounds, SO that it costs about
$3.50 to get each load to the market.
The cotton crop Of last year was just
under $4,000, 900 bales, and to make
a long story short we figure that the
transportation cost Of taking it to the
ginnery and then to the railroad. In
Guiding the cost Of hauling the seed,
was about $4,000. 600. If the roads
were as good as the average this sum
Would be cut down one-half, making
a saving of $4,000, 900. But this is in
the South. Similar conditions prevail
in many parts of the North, and alto
gether the loss on u hauling is one
of the biggest leaks Of our whole In
dustrial system.
Uncle Sans RoadWays.
What is the extent of our road
ways"
Il suppose o mean the United
States over said Mr.. Page. W. have
altogether something like twenty-five
hundred thousand miles Of roads OF
| one kind or another. We have enough
altogether, if placed end to end, to
reach 100 times around the earth and
leave some to spare. Much of this
length, however, is of a character not
worthy of the name road. Some Of it
is little better thar a rock pile, and
others are wide track through bitches
and sWamps. OF the whole only seven
miles in each hundred car be said to
have any improvements whatever, and
on the most of it the improvements
are such IS to be unworthy OF note.
Altogether not 2 per cent can be called
f~irst-class-'
but I thought we were doing a
great deal as to improving our roads.
Mr.. Page?'
80 We are, but a vast amount OF
the money spent does no permanent
good. The ordinary way of handling
the roads is through a road superin-
tendent or road supervisor, who Is
usually a politician and knows nothing
about roads. In many cases he patches
up the highways in front Of the farms
Of his principal constituents, dlSslns
out the weeds from the sides ano
throwing them to the center. In
many places the road taxes are palo
in abor. This gives unskilled and
IRRESPONSIBLE workmen, and in other
places the roads are let out by con
tracts. which often means graft. In
some of our towns the streets have
been torn up and relaid again and
again. and the same Will De the case
with the roads of the which
gre contracting for highway improve
EirSt a gravel road may be