OREGON FARMER 115 



of our rural dwellers are located in a comparatively small section 

 of the state. This means a still greater sparsity of population over 

 most of our rural area. 



These facts about our population must be constantly borne in 

 mind as we proceed to treat the other factors which enter into the 

 make-up of our rural life. 



Communication and Transportation. 



At the foundation of the systems of communication and trans- 

 r station of any country lies its public highways. This is a fact 

 which has as yet taken hold of the people in but a very small per- 

 centage of our American states. At this very moment the Chicago 

 newspapers are carrying on a campaign for better roads in Cook 

 County. Cartoonists are depicting horses mired, and vehicles 

 up the axles in mud. We assure the truck gardener from around 

 Chicago, that if he should cast his lot with us on the Pacific Coast he 

 will be able to find some pieces of road in Oregon just as bad as those 

 of Cook County. Should he become very homesick he might drive 

 through one of our worst pieces. He'll have no difficulty in imagining 

 that home and mother are waiting for him at the other end of the 

 haul, as so often happened near Chicago. 



Highway construction in Oregon has its difficulties to contend 

 with. But it also has certain advantages. The hilly nature of the 

 country through the coastal range and other mountainous sections 

 presents the difficulty of steep grades to overcome. On the other 

 hand, the slopes give a natural drainage which prevents the mountain 

 roads from becoming wallowing quagmires such as frequently occur 

 in the valleys and on the plains. Then, too, there are few parts of 

 Oregon which have not fairly easy access to materials for road 

 building. 



The good roads movement is gaining ground in Oregon, as it is 

 in every other state. The chief obstacles to be overcome are, lack 

 of interest in the older sections, and sparseness of population in 

 newer districts. At present, practically all the settlements of the 

 state are reached by public highways of some sort; while many of 

 the more progressive and thickly settled rural communities have 

 macadamized their principal highways. The foremost men in the 

 new rural life movement see the necessity of some unified scheme 

 of highway improvement for the whole state, and are working toward 

 that end. The Oregon Almanac gives the amount spent in highway 

 improvement for the whole state, at approximately $11,754,757 for 

 for the six year period, 1906-1912. 



The map on page 108 shows at a glance the present railway situation 

 in Oregon. As indicated, large areas of the state are still in their 

 stage coach days, while the Willamette Valley is fairly laced with 

 railways. 



The old adage, "it never rains but it pours" is well illustrated here 

 as well as in the northern part of the state. Those sections which 



