The daily telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1901-1926, 1912-06-03
6OOD RUADS AkE
OF GREAT VALUE


Bnt We are aIlsiRteresied IN the WeI-
fEre Of the farmer aud n the con
ditIons Of country life being such as
% stop the DRIFT OF the sons and
daughters Of our farmers into the
towns and cities and increase the
aggregate production of our farms.
Unless this can be done the problem
OF feeding and clothing our people
and maintaining our present stand-1
ard Of living promises to grow more
difficult from year to year Iafor-
nation from the census Office shows
that the population of cities Of over
$4,000 Inhabitants In the United
States increased thirty-three per
cent from 1900 to 1910. The increase
between 1890 and 1900 was lat ap-
proximately the same rate. This
means that the number Of our peo-
pie, exclusive of the farmers them
selves. who are consumers OF farm
products is increasing at about the
rate Of thirty-three per cent every
ten years, and there has been no
dlminution of the demand of the
people of other countries for our
food products and our cotton. The
increase in our home demand has
left a smaller exportable surplus,
and one effect has been a general In
crease in the prices of farm COM
mpdities OF all kinds. AS most Of
the best agricultural lands, in the
public domain have now been oceu-
pied. We can LOOK for relatively. little
future increases IN farm production
through the settling up Of new areas.
There are; however, in most Of our
older states regions 50 inaccessible
aid % poorly pf61ided q With high
ways that relatively little farming
can be, done! 'Rhis AS notably .tfps III
this Southern Appalachian region
where there are many fertile valleys
which contribute little or nothing to
cur food supply because of the diff
Guilty of hauling farm products over
the almost impossible mountain
roads which are their only means of
communication with the outside
world. For, future increases in our
supplies OF farm products we must
look to the bringing into cultivation
Of these remote lands and to. soil
conservation and improvement In the
areas now under cultivation. We
must have more intensive farming
which means more people on the
farm.
So farSas we can now seas there;
seems to be every reason to believe
that the demand for farm products
viii be maintained at such a level as
to insure profitable. prices. for. even
a very much larger volume of pro-
duction than we have at present. A
system of good roads Will prove to
be an important factor In adding to
the profitablenes sof agriculture and
attracting to the farms that addi-
tional population which win be
needed If our farmers are to be able
to keep pace with the ever increasing
demands miNe upon them. No mat
ter how favorable the climate may
be or how productive the soil. agrl-
cultural prosperity is impossible I'M
less farm products can be marketed.
In addition to contributing to the
prohtableness of agriculture, good
roads add in other ways to the at
Effectiveness of country life. They
greatly enlarge the farmers social
circle, facilitate the attendance of
himself and his family on church
services, and make it possible for
his children to be more regular in
school attendance during bad wealth
err Improved roads make possible
the consolidation of country schools
SO as to give the children the ben
eats OF graded schools. In some To-
calities in Indiana and Ohio where
the roads have been improved this
has been done with much success.
The small one-room district schools
have been replaced by central build
ings with enough rooms to accom-
modate the children within a radius
of several miles. Wagons haul the
children to school in the morning
and home in the evening.
The monetary value of good road
has been summarized under the fol-
lowing headings:
First. A reduction in the cost Of
hauling.
Second. An increase in the value
of lands within its zone of influence,
/ Third. Increase in productive
area through the making of I'M
cultivated land accessible.