CHAPTER XXIII 

 COUNTRY ROADS 



The Importance of Good Roads. Few boys and 

 girls realize how important good roads are to the 

 farmer. Well-made highways enable farmers to 

 save much time in marketing produce, and time is 

 money. Easy travel also saves the energy of the 

 horses, which means economy of feed. When the 

 roads are in order the farmer can use his team when 

 the field work can not be done, and this reduces the 

 idle time of the horses. If travel is easy, the farmer 

 will go to market oftener, selling many odds and 

 ends of farm produce that otherwise might be left 

 to go to waste because of the time it would take to 

 dispose of it to advantage. For these and other 

 reasons a fine public road makes the farms along 

 the way more valuable. (Fig. 101.) 



Sociability Encouraged. Aside from the money 

 gain to the farmer, good roads encourage his family 

 to move about more and to enjoy themselves socially. 

 They gain a great deal in this contact with their 

 neighbors. They go oftener to church, to other 

 social events, to lectures, and to the city. 



Good Roads and Schools. The older children may 

 go farther to school if the roads permit. Consoli 

 dated schools are thus made possible, and pupils 

 may be transported at public expense some distance 



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