La Junta tribune., 1912-03-30

improved. while there ars forty -6ve
agricultural counties that have uore
than 10 per cent improved The sver
age price OF farm lands 10 the xixfern
counties. according TO the r~yMrt uf The
United Statts~ census. wns 3tkiaD t,..r
acre. while the average price u land
In the forty-hye counties waa ~. ~
per acre In other words. the av~rure
price of farm lands IN the good roa Il
counties was $l120 or Is ,er .~ut
more than In the poor ROAD countie~
When We consider the fact thar ther.
are sI3.OOO.UOO acres of farm lands la
the United States the is,sSib!iisi..
along this line are rather startling
Even assuming that the land would
be increased only 81 nm acre the tota
enhancement on farm laads aione
would be 81 &3'c,tsOOp
Improved ruad- win Yield 40 add
tiona' income by enabling the farn-r
to cultivate with profit land which
otherwise would be les, profit bly, em
ploycd
There are about 4O0.OOO.OOO acre~ of
unlmproyed farm land In the CnitsI
States An average annual profit Of
~ cents an acre on thi. land wou o
mean net gain TO the wealth Of The
United States Of sooJ.nOno year
Truck products and small fruits mus
be- delivered quickly fo market n nm,
profit Is to be realized Truck and
small fruit farms cannot be inainta In.d
with profit II long haul over bad
roads in'ervene- between them AMI
the railroad station 4 network Of
first class hard smooth roads will nj
most Immediately increase the nnrnb.r
OF truck. fruit and dairy farms In an
community While tn. average yalur
OF wheat per acr. IL only fi.n3 and
corn IS -. the average valne Of vegr
tables per acre l. about so and o.
small fruits So
There l. steady trend OF populn
tlon from the country to the city. and
this may h. attributed To some extent
to bad roads During the ten year ~
Rod 1880 1900 the cities gained 2l.i.
600 more people than the country In
1850 only iG-l Ter cent OF the populI
tlou lived Ia cities In 800 the city
population represented about 81 per
cent of the total. and now 1, Is prob
bly, about ~ per cent
With hundreds ~ millions OF acre
II land uncultlvated We have the spe.
Iaclc of hundreds Of thousands OF b.
msn hclng, crowded into the citi,-
while year after year the human 'id'
rolls r.,tic~>ly In from the country {.
furnish more consumers aud derrca-
the uuml,er ~ producers
To prove that relation exists 4"
tween the question of population nut
roads the following Illustration may l.
cited:
In twenty-five counties selected from
eastern. southern western and norih
western states T. hiS been found thaf
only ~. per cent ~ roads were IN
proved Ia 1914 These same COUNT
show an actual decrease In populatioH
averaging 3.li2 for each county for tha
ten year ,rriod is.o.i.up Tw.nty.ng e
othrr counties 10 atcd IN the ithc
states containing 10 per cent 81 N
proved roads show an actual H. urDi~e
In population for each county OF ita5
Nhe,hcr good rUads cauSs God
schools. or vice versa. II Is tr71r That
they exist together and that on" ~ the
most important reasons for their i'm.
prOycmcnt i their effect on school nj
Tendance In the country n tIe Gun
Try schools are TO have n mnNiu.ru ~
helcncy In training AMI instru u the
children must b. afforded facIlI.a, for
reaching them With Improve lads
the graded school and the consH.liltri
school wili replace III. little ul. rpom
one teacher schools 10 prev agt in
many sections of IN. country
The possibilities Of r-rina = im
proved roads ar msde apIaryat by