186 BRANDSBY SHOWS THE WAY 



up the traffic generally. The advantages, of course, 

 were mutual. The farmers gained by having their 

 cartage work done at substantially lower rates, and 

 without wear and tear of horseflesh, and the railway 

 company expected to gain an increase in traffic. 



The business done by the motor-waggons (which 

 serve intermediate villages as well) has, indeed, been 

 substantial and most progressive. The increase in the 

 volume of traffic carried is shown by the fact that the 

 tonnage during the month of November, 1905, was 

 285, against 89 in the corresponding month of 1904. 

 The experiment made by the North-Eastern Railway 

 Company in putting on the road-motor service has thus 

 had most encouraging results, and it has further shown 

 that such services may serve an extremely useful pur- 

 pose in the case of villages off the beaten track of rail 

 communication, and not having sufficient traffic to 

 warrant the building of a branch line of railway. The 

 road-motor has now established itself as an economical 

 but effective substitute, and other railway companies 

 are adopting it in various parts of the country where 

 conditions analogous to those at Brandsby exist.* 



On the general question as to the role that the road- 

 motor is likely to play in the future development of 

 rural districts, by acting as a connecting-link between 

 the railways and organized agricultural societies, I may 

 quote the following from an article on * The Motor in 

 the Villages : How it may Influence Co-operation,' 



* The Great Western Railway Company run a similar motor 

 service in the Teme Valley (Worcestershire) in connection with a 

 co-operative agricultural association formed there in conjunction 

 with the Agricultural Organization Society, in order to work up and 

 supervise the traffic. The service runs between Henwick Station 

 and the association's depots at Ham Bridge, Stamford Bridge, New 

 Mill Bridge, Shelsley Walsh, and Clifton-on-Teme. The amount 

 of traffic carried has exceeded expectations, and the farmers are 

 greatly benefited by the arrangement. 



