ROADS 143 



39 cents; and on sandy roads, the cost is as much as 64 cents 

 per ton mile. The average haul for farm products in the 

 United States is about 9 miles. It is estimated by Mr. L. W. 

 Page, director of the United States Office of Public Roads, 

 that if the cost of hauling in the United States could be 

 reduced from 25 cents to 12 cents per ton mile, the annual 

 saving in moving the twelve principal farm crops would 

 amount to $51,000,000. He further estimates that the total 

 amount of freight hauled over country roads in a year 

 reaches 265,000,000 tons, and that the total cost of haul- 

 ing this on the roads approximates $500,000,000. In this case 

 the total saving in reduction of the cost of hauling from 25 

 cents to 12 cents per ton mile would be $250,000,000 annually. 



In this connection, attention is called to the fact that it 

 would not be practical to improve all country roads. Mr. 

 Page estimates that the traffic is such that the cost of hauling 

 freight could be reduced to 15 cents per ton mile if 25 per 

 cent of the roads were improved. He estimates that the 

 total cost of improving this percentage of the total mileage 

 of roads would be $2,000,000,000. 



A striking example of importance of country roads is set 

 forth by the fact that it costs the American farmer 3.06 

 cents more per bushel to haul his wheat crop a distance of 

 9.4 miles to market, than it costs to ship by regular steamship 

 lines from New York to Liverpool, a distance of 3100 miles. 



Influence on Markets. Good roads have a decided 

 influence upon markets in several ways. First, a wider 

 variety of crops may be grown, and marketed at the center 

 from which good roads radiate. This tends to increase about 

 cities the area in which certain crops, such as fruit and 

 truck crops, can be grown. This is also true of dairying, as 

 a dairy farm can be located farther from the city, if good 



