Mohave County miner., 1916-12-02
GOOD ROADS IMPROVE SCHOOL ATTENDANCE
 AND LAND VALUES


 portion of the available children att tending schools took place following the construction of good roads in 8 counties studied by the office of public roads and rural engineering of the Department of Agriculture is shown in a recent publication of the office, Department Bulletin No. 393. The im- provement in roads was followed also in several of the counties, the report shows, by consolidation of a number of the little one-room schools into graded schools, which give the pupils better educational advantages; by a development of various industries; and by social improvements due to easler intercourse. These improvements are related closely to increases in land values and decreases in hauling costs, effects also traced to the construction of improved roads. The studies were made in Spotsylvania, Dinwiddie, Lee, and Wise Counties, Va; Franklin County, N. T.; Dallas County, Ala; Lauderdale County, Miss; and Mana tee County, Fla.
 In Spotsylvania County, Va, the average daily school attendance in creased from 57 per cent of the en- rollment before the roads were inn proved to 77 per cent after. Several small schools were consolidated. Be tween 1909, the year preceding the building of good roads, and 1913, the year following their completion, the shipment of forest products, the prin- cipal products of the county, increased more than 7S per cent. The increase during this period in the poultry busi- ness in the county was TT per cent, and in dairying no per cent.
 In Dinwiddie County, Va, the average daily attendance for children for 13 schools on the improved roads was 63.4 per cent of the enrolment in 1912-13, while the average attend ance for all other schools in the county was 56 per cent. Several school con solidations have been effected, larger school buildings have been construct ed, and pupils have been transported to school at the expense of the educa- tional system since the road improve ments were made. Truck gardening and dairying, which were profitable only within miles of the principal market town of the county before the road improvement, are now carried on proftably within a 7-mile radius.
 In Lee County, Va, a considerable industry has been built up following the road improvements in the ship ment of tan bark, extract wood, and pulp wood, products which could not be proftably hauled over the unim- proved roads. The improved highway system has attracted buyers of farm products who travel from farm to farm and furnish a new cash market for the farmers. There has been 25 per cent increase in buggies sold by a county vehicle factory.
 In Wise County, Va, social condi- tions have been bettered since the good roads were constructed, many farmers along the improved highways having built new homes or improved old ones, adding sanitary conveniences- School attendance has increased ma terially, but since compulsory attend ance regulations went into effect about the time the improved roads were completed, the influence of the two factors could not be determined separately. Several school consolida- tions have been made.
 Automobile registrations in Frank lin County, N. r., increased from S71 before the road improvement in 1912 to 853 after road improvement in 1914, and two automobile bus lines connecting distant towns in the county were established as soon as the i'm proved roads were opened.
 There has been a notable stimula- tion of dairying and general diversif- cation on the farms of Dallas County, Ala, since the improvement of the roads of that county.
 In the section of Lauderdale County, Miss, where most of the roads have been improved, the school attendance increased from 72 per cent of the en- rollment in 1912, just after the road work started, to 81 per cent in 1913 after the completion of the work. Several school consultations have been effected.
 In Manatee County, Fla, which produces chiefly fruits and vegetables, these products could not be hauled over the sandy roads before the im- was made, except at prohi- oitive cost. In the one year, 1912-13, the completion of the good roads, the area in vegetables in E0n