Maryland independent. [volume] (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1874-current, 1914-08-07
GOOD ROADS as CROP PRODUCERS

GOOD ROADS as CROP PRODUCERS
That an improved road will in
crease vastly the productiveness Of
the area through which it runs has
now been satisfactorily demonstrated
by studies conducted by the United
States Department Of Agriculture in
Virginia. Conditions in Spotsyl-
vania County were investigated with
particular care, and the results have
proved surprising. In 1909 the
county voted 100000 to improve
40 miles of roads. Two years after
the completion Of this work the rail-
road took away in IL months from
Fredericksburg, the county seat, IL
900 tons Of agricultural and forest
products hauled ove- the highways
to that town. Before the improve
ment Of the roads this total was oni,
$4,000 tons annually; in other words,
the quantity of the clunfy's produce
had risen more than As per cent.
Still more interesting, however, is
the increase shown in the quantity
of the dairy products. In 1909
these amounted to 1t4,S15 pounds,
IN 1911 to 273,02s pounds, an in
crease of practically 140 per cent in
two years. In the same time ship
ments of wheat had increased SO per
cent, tobacco 81 per cent, and iun-
Der and other forest products As per
cant.
In addition to this increase in
quantity the cost of hauling each
ton Of produce was materially reduc-
ed. In other words, the farmers not
only produce more, but produce
more cheaply, for the cost Of trans
portation to market is Of course an
important factor in the cost of pro-
duction. From this point of view, it |
is estimated that the 100000 spent
in improving the roads in Spotsyl-
vania County saved the farmers of
that county $4,000 a year.
In the past two years the traffic
studies of the Federal experts show
that approximately an average OF d5,-
900 t'ns of outgoing products were
hauled over the improved roads in
the county an average distance oil s
miles, or total of $4,000 ct, n
miles. Before the roads were i'm
proved it was estimated that the
average cost Of hauling wss 20 cents
aton-mile," after the improvement
this tell to IL GEMS a @ton- mile, or
saving of s cents. A saving of s
cents per mile on $4,000 "ton-miles"
is Sal 900 a year, The county's in
vestnent of 100000 in other words
returns dividend of 40 per cent an
nually.
Because this saving, in cases of this
chai act.r, does not take the form Of
cash pnt directly into the farme,'s
pocket there is wide spread tenden-
cy to believe that is if fictitious pro-
tit, while as a matter of fact it is Just
as real a source of profit as an in
crease in the price of wheat.
In Dinwiddie County, Va, for ex-
ample, where peanuts are one of the
staple CROP, the average load for two
mules on a main road was about /, 900
pounds b fore the road was improved
After its Improvement the average
load was found to be 1900 pounds,
and the time consumed in hauling the
larger load to market was much re-
daced. In other words, one man
with a wagon ana two mules could d.
more than twice as much work witt
the improved road than with an I'M
improved road. L lis is the expIane-
ton of the extrao' binary rise in the
total output of az licultural products
in a county with good road system.