TRANSPORTATION AND STORAGE FACILITIES 587 



to leave a profit are obtained, otherwise not. With lower ocean 

 transportation and refrigeration rates a considerable increase could 

 be made with profit, as the fruit can now be placed on the London 

 market within fifteen to seventeen days from the tree in California. 



184. LOWERING THE COST OF TEAM HAULING 1 

 BY FRANK ANDREWS 



An inquiry just completed by the Bureau of Crop Estimates shows 

 an average distance from market of 6.5 miles for the farms of the 

 United States, while those farthest away from market (excluding of 

 course the rarer instances) average 8.7 miles. It requires about 

 one-half day for the average farmer to make a round trip with wagon 

 from farm to market and back, and averages nearly two-thirds of a 

 day for the farmers who are farthest from market. The figures by 

 states show that the longer hauls are generally in the cotton states 

 and in the Rocky Mountain region. 



In 1906 a similar investigation was made. Those figures are not 

 strictly comparable with those for 1915, but it is evident that wagon 

 hauls are shorter than they were nine years ago. In 1906 the average 

 haul from farm to shipping point was, for wheat, 9 . 4 miles; corn, 7.4; 

 oats, 7.3; potatoes, 8.2; and cotton, 1 1 . 8 miles; each of these staple 

 crops was hauled a longer distance in 1906 than the general average 

 haul in 1915 (6.5 miles). It is noted also that the average number of 

 round trips per day for all farm-to-market hauls was 2 . i in 1915. In 

 1906 the average number of round trips per day for hauling wheat 

 was 1.2; for corn, 1.7; and for cotton, i . o. 



Railroad building during the past nine years has brought some 

 farms nearer to shipping points and markets, and has helped to 

 shorten the average distance hauled and to increase the average 

 number of trips per day. During the seven years following 1906 

 more than 32,000 miles of new railroad were built, and several thou- 

 sand more miles have been added since 1913, so that there are at least 

 15 per cent more miles of steam railroads in the United States now 

 than in 1906. In addition to this new mileage of steam railroads, the 

 hauls of some farmers have no doubt been shortened by new freight- 

 carrying electric railroads. 



The time required in hauling is an element in the cost of producing 

 and marketing crops. From the farmer's point of view it is an element 



1 Adapted from "The Agricultural Outlook, April 23, 1915," Farmers' Bulle- 

 tin 672, pp. 11-13. 



