The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-10-26
PLAN CAMPAIGN TO BETTER DIRT HIGHWAYS HERE Begin Great Movement to Improve All Connecting
 Roads In County CONFERENCE WILL
 BE HELD NOV. Il Selectmen, Commissioner Bennett and Others to
 Conduct Confab

One of the most compreh ensive movements ever attempted to procure better roads in Connecticut has been instituted by the Fairfield County Farm Bureau. Urging the necessity of improving the dirt roads in the state, by a coIlcerted and fairly rapid method, members of the bureau have interested themselves to such am nx- tent that they plan conference of all the selectmen of all the towns in the county for cooperative purposes.
 It is believed that by the discussion of various ideas and methods the best may be obtained and put into use. A dinner will be held at the Hotel Green, Danbury, at 3 o'clock on November Il and all the selectmen and public works department heads of the county are urged to be present. Highway Commissioner Charles J. Bennett will talk and others are expected to give addfesses.
 The following announcement has been made, by the Fairfield County Farm Bureau:
 changes have taken place in all rural sections of Fairfield county. They have come about so gradually that the significance of the generally awakening of interest in country life and the wonderful possibilities for
 
 acres of land now lying idle and un- productive throughout the county is apt to escape us.
 From every large city of the East large sums have been invested in farms and county property and dur ing the next decade, many more city investors will put their money into such lands. Fairfield county 1s-pa on the threshold of the richest City on the continent and offers many attrac- tions and advantages as a field for large investment.
 "A New York newspaper, in re- cent issue, estimated that the people of New York city alone, have invest ed during the last year more than thirty millions of dollars in country property within a radius of, two hun@ dred miles from the city, Our county is therefore, in direct competition with many other sections and must prepare to meet this competition, if it is to share equitably in this dis ing tide of prosperity and progress.
 Accessibility and ease of com munication are Important factors. in this connection. The automobile, the telephone, the rural delivery and par eel post have already done much to bring our country districts in closer relation with the affairs of the cities and the world. But that other vital means of comnunication, between our small country towns and the cities. the country dirt road, leading from the farmers door to the main improved highways, has not yet ad- justed itself to the modern needs of rural life. .
 '"True, the Connecticut State High way Department through it's system of trunk highways, is gradually connect- ing up the towns of the county with the principal cities of the state. That larger percentage of roads, however, the subsidiaries or feeders to this trunk system. are for the most part being, maintained and repaired through methods that are not at all well adapted to meet the changed conditions of traffic.
 The Fairfield County Farm Bureau fully appreciates the importance of good roads to our farming communi- ties. and to the proper development of the entire country as we'll With the hope that out of discussion and ex4 change of experience, we may be en- abled to formulate a practical pan for bringing about necessary changes in the system of handling these town roads, the bureau has taken upon it. self, as a logical organization for the purpose, to arrange for a county con ference to discuss the problem of the the farmers standpoint. To this end the bureau has issued the call for this general county meeting in co-opera- ton with the granges, chambers of commerce, bankers,s automobile asso- citations, and the Conn. Good Roads association to learn whether. or not we may, by working together. or in the interests of all, to devise some standard system of working more effl- ciently' and economically that large mileage of country roads that is not being uniformly handled.
 There are methods and practices now used for the repair and main tenance of roads in different parts of the county and state that are, per haps, improvements over those used in many of the other towns. It is hoped that the best of these methods may be incorporated in a general plan that will prove practicable and ac- ceptab1e to other. towns, so that deh- mite priciples may be fixed and stand ards formulated.
 'tArrangements have been made for the following addresses:
 What Good Roads Mean to the Farmers of Connecticut and How to
 CConttnued on Page 2.)