The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1912-10-18
UNCLE SAM AS A FIRST
AID TO BETTER ROADS
From Thursdays Daily.

eral government has done much In
recent years to stimulate the interest
of the people in good roads, and its
public roads bureau, in the depart
ment OF agriculture, is a center OF
constant agitation and education along
that line. 1t is no doubt true that
the present movement in congress
in the direction of having the federal
government share in the cost OF
building a comprehensive road system
throughout the United States, owes
something to it's origin to the &C.
tivities of the good roads bureau
What congress is to do, by the way,
has not yet been determined. In.
stead of making an appropriation out
of hand, congress, by way of com.
promise, has referred the question
to special commission, which will
Investigate and make report. That
report will, in all probability, serve
as a guide to the lawmakers. Ulti-
mately, it is believed, the federal
government will share in this work
If the several states will do their
part, and there can be an agreement
which will limit the annual federal
outgo for that purpose. 1t is Likely
that the special commission above
referred to will make it's report to
congress during the coming session
Scatter the Good Seed.
In the meantime, the federal good
roads officials continue to multiply
the argument in favor of better roads
and to scatter them broadcast over
the country. One of these arguments,
as stated by Paul D. Sargent, acting
director of the good roads bureau,
runs about as follows:
Many attempts have been made
to fix the relative weights which a
horse can draw in an ordinary wa.
gon over level road surfaces of var
ious kinds, and the figures which
follow are current and fairly reliable:
"On muddy earth road the amount
varies from nothing to maximum
OF 800 pounds; on smooth, dry
road, from 1000 to 1900 pounds; on
a gravel road in bad condition, from
1000 to $500 pounds, on a gravel
road in good condition, about $500
pounds; on macadam road, from
1000 to 5000 pounds.
Hauling on Good Road.
These figures show that if the
these roads, a horse will haul on a
good macadam road from three to
five times as many tons per mile a
day as upon a moderately muddy
earth road"
Mr.. Sargent fairly bristles with H.
Illustrations of the good results which
follow the construction of good roads,
and out of a number of these illus
trations is the following, which is
typical of the entire number:
A farmer in Sullivan county, Ten
nessee, in 1908, had to haul barbed
wire from Bristol to Kingsport, dis.
lance of twenty-three miles. He
found that with two-horse team his
maximum load was 500 pounds, and
that three days were necessary for
one round trip. To haul one ton,
therefore, required twelve days, and
at So a day for man and team, the
cost was $50. This was before Sui
livan county issued bonds for road
Improvement. Under the bond is
sue, the road from Bristol to Kings
port was improved, so that the same
team can now readily haul a ton to
the load and make one round trip in
two days at a cost of Sc. The tom
mile cost under the old conditions
was $1.66, and this cost was reduced
to 26 cents by the improved road.
Average Haul of Cotton.
In the cotton states of the south"
says Mr.. Sargent, "the average haul
of cotton from the farm to the ship
ping point is 11.S miles. The average
load is about LOO pounds, a little
more than three bales, and the aver
age cost is 80 cents a bale The cost
of marketing the 1911 crop, on this
basis, was $13,00O,220. Now, to each
bale of cotton there is about half a
ton of cottonseed, which was hauled
from the farm to the gin, and then a
large percentage of it was hauled
again to the shipping point. The aver
age cost of hauling cottonseed in
this country is SO a ton. The 1911
crop of seed, therefore, cost $24,375,-
Ala to haul. The total cost of haul
ing the 1911 cotton crop, it thus ap-
pears, was $37,375,634.
ANY system of road improvement
throughout the cotton states which
would reduce the annual hauling
charge 5 per cent would effect saw
ing of S1,S6S,7S1 a year. 1t would,
lHSIolole, appear IndL 1t would be
good business for the cotton planters
to incur liberal expense for road
Improvement, even if such expense
should entail an annual interest and
maintenance cost of $1,0OO,OOO. In
parts of the south where the roads
have been improved, team of horses
will haul ten bales of cotton to mar.
ket, while in the sections where there
has been no Improvement, a team
finds one bale heavy load"
Same Argument In Wheat States.
Mr.. Sargent applies the same ar
gument to the wheat states of the
north and the middle west. He also
points out many illustrations to show
how radically the price of farm lands
has advanced following the construc-
tion of good roads. One illustration
is taken from Lee county, Virginia.
A farmer living between Ben Hur
and Jonesville owned 100 acres of
land, which he had offered for sale
at $1,000. In 1908 the roadway lead.
ing alongside the farm was improved
and, although the farmer fought the
Improvement, he has since refused
to sell his farm for $4,000 Along
this same improved road a tract of
1873 acres was supposed to have been
sold for $4,000, but the contract was
not formally closed. Later following
the road improvements, this same
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