No. 6. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 429 



a cereal producing state, has less people than it had ten years ago, 

 showing that farmers and farm laborers are leaving the farm homes 

 and going to manufacturing cities. 



Pennsylvania farms should be operated by their owners, more cattle 

 fed upon them, less grain, hay, and straw sold from them, and as 

 a result a very much greater yield would be secured. A large per- 

 centage of our Pennsvlvania soils have not been worked more than 

 100 years and seem to be worn out, but they are not, simply robbed 

 and can be restored. England and Germany have worked their soils 

 for about 2,000 years and produce about 100 per cent, more grain 

 than we do. Let us follow their example. 



REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON ROADS AND ROAD LAWS 



By HON. J. C. WELLER, Chairman. 



The Legislature of 1911 passed upon more road legislation of 

 far-reaching consequences and greater importance than any previous 

 legislation in the history of the Commonwealth. By the act of May 

 31, 1911, the Highway Department of the &tate was reorganized, 

 consisting at present of a Highway Commissioner, a First Deputy 

 Highway Commissioner, a Second Deputy Highway CtJmmissioner, 

 a Chief Engineer and a largely increased clerical force in all of its 

 departments. 



Section G, states the purpose of this Act, that all those existing pub- 

 lic roads, highways, turnpikes and toll roads or any parts or por- 

 tions thereof, subject to the provisions hereinafter made in the case 

 of turnpikes and tollroads forming and being main traveled roads or 

 routes between county-seats of the several counties of the Common- 

 wealth and main traveled roads or routes leading to the State line, 

 and between principal cities, boroughs and towns, shall be known 

 marked, built, rebuilt, constructed, repaired and maintained by and 

 at the sole expense of the Commonwealth; and shall be under the 

 exclusive authority and jurisdiction of the State Highway Depart- 

 ment and shall constitute a system of State highways, the same 

 being more particularly described and defined as follows : Rou^e No. 

 1, from Harrisburg to Sunbury to Danville, and thus continuing 

 Route No. 296, from Scranton to New York State line, completing 

 a net work of highways that will connect the county seats and prin- 

 cipal cities and boroughs of the Commonwealth. 



All of which is conditioned upon Joint Resolution No. 3, passed 

 by the last Legislature amending the Constitution of the State as 

 follows: ''That the General Assembly may authorize the State to 

 issue bonds to the amount of fifty million of dollars for the purpose 

 of improving and rebuilding the highways of the Commonwealth." 

 As a rule, farming communities are not in favor of bonding the State. 

 Where the money derived from the sale of bonds is to be used in build- 



