A SUMMARY OF RECENT PROGRESS 185 



At present they very largely parallel existing 

 steam railways, and while they give better 

 freight and passenger service and assist mate- 

 rially in diminishing rural isolation in the areas 

 which they traverse, their influence does not 

 extend very far from the line itself, and they 

 reach relatively small areas of the country. 

 However, their value to the farmer is very large, 

 and, as they increase in number and in efficiency 

 of service, they will become a powerful factor 

 in rural progress. 



The good-roads movement is beginning to 

 take on large proportions. It is, however, a 

 complicated question. To make first-class roads 

 is a costly business, and while a few such roads 

 are of great value in a general social way, they 

 do not quite make general country conditions 

 ideal. To accomplish this, every road in the 

 country should be a good road the year through, 

 and this is an ideal very difficult of realization. 

 However, in general, the roads are improving 

 and as rapidly as the wealth of the country will 

 permit the road system of the United States will 

 be developed. Of course, good roads are a 

 prime requisite for rural betterment. 



In general, it may be said that during the past 

 decade the improvement of means of communica- 



