The Julesburg grit-advocate., 1915-07-29

meat Of Agriculture has receatly esd
mated that the farmers Of the United
States are losing annually at least tvo
hundred and Afty niilioa dollars be-
cause they cannot get their farm and
dairy products 70 the markets quick
ly and economically vhea the quoted
prices are highest. o. account Of the
haA roaAs q certain tines Of the year
A good illustration OF how this loss
ID Incurred will be noted il the case
OF two sosthern farmers living in Diff
ferent counties. their farms being An
equal distance from the same cotton
market. Both OF these farmers have
telephone service In their homes. and
through this medium learn that cotton
has advanced one dollar per hale.
One farmer must travel bad road ID
order to get to his cotton TO the mar
ket. while the other farmer 10 blessed
with . good road the entire distance.
Both farmers start owt. as they are an
xiOus to sell their cotton. the market
being very irregular The one liv-
ing on the bad road can haul but one
bale. while the other farmer can haul
from four to ten bales according to
his teams. The following day the
price has dropped again to the former
price. The one farmer has pocketed a
clear pront of from four to ten dollars
for every load he delivered to the mar
ket, while the other must be content
with profit OF but one dollar per load
as compared with the price before the
raise. This Ia . condition which has
actually existed for several years In
the vicinity of Florence. Alabama,
where the cotton was sold.
Another case was that OF a farmer
within few miles of Bristol, Tenn
essee. who had about one hundred
bushels Of potatoes which he wished
to market. However. owing to a con-
tinuation Of bad weather in conjunc-
ton with the bad roads. he was un-
able to haul the potatoes into Bristol,
during which time the price at that
city went up to $1.40 per bushel. The
potatoes rotted in the cellar. A we'll
known merchant of Bristol stated that
during that winter. as high as ten car
loads of produce, including wheat, pO-
tatoes, and other staple necessities.
were shipped in to feed. not only Bris-
tol, but much of the adjacent territory
The country Is rich farming district,
and this condition was only made nec-
essary on account Of the impossible
condition of the roads.
There are many such instances
where counties that are rich in agri-
cultural products are SO burdened with
bad roads that these products cannot
be marketed. and where tine incoming
shipments Of food stuifs greatly ex-
ceed the outgoing shipments. when 1t
should be just the other way. Many
Of these counties so burdened. with
the roads improved. would be not only
self-supporting, but they would be
able to ship considerable produce to
market.
AS the roads in any locality are i'm
proved. the hauling and earning ca
pacity of the teams and motor trucks
are accordingly increased. thereby re-
ducing the cost of delivery to markets
Increasing the market possibilities AMI
materially reducing the cost of living
The earning capacity of team on
a good gravel road Is conservatively
estimated to be five times that of a
team that is forced to travel over loose
sand or mud roads. The earning ca
pacity of the same team is also ten
times greater when the road is a we'll
built, macadam road than when 1t is a
loose or muddy dirt road.
To ship wheat by ocean freight from
New York to Liverpool, England
costs about 20 cents per bushel The
distance is about 3,1O0 miles. In JEFF
ferson County, Tenn, as has already
been shown, it cost the farmers fifteen
cents per bushel to haul wheat be-
tween cambridge and jefferson, a dis
tance of only ten miles. prior to the
improvement of the road.
The writer has dwelt at consider
able length on the enonomic benefits
of the improvement Of the public high
ways. so the remainder of this article
will be devoted to the social benefits
derived from the Improvements of our
roads. The social conditions in rural
communities are matters Of great i'm
portance and deserves serious consid-
Grafton Those who live in cities
and towns generally fail to realize the
scant opportunity for social enjoy
ment that is offered to those who are
so often practically isolated in the ru-