126 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



appropriations. Vermont has also made an appropriation but I 

 do not know the amount. I quote from a speech by E. W. Perry: 

 "The condition of the roads affects the pocket book of every human 

 being in our land more directly and materially than it is affected 

 by any other cause. The farmer loads an average of a little more 

 than 2000 pounds on his wagon and draws it twelve miles at a cost 

 of S3. This equals 25 cts. a ton a mile. If we can assume that the 

 wagon load is an even 2000 pounds and that cost of hauling will be 

 S2 instead of S3, and if we assume that the 9,404,430 persons in 

 agriculture in this country use half of the products of our farms 

 and that the other 66,568,350 persons use only the other half of 

 these products, the cost of taking these to market would be S196, 

 153,000. 



Many tests have shown that loads may be drawn in wagons over 

 macadam in average condition at a cost only a little more than 

 one-third that of moving like loads over earth roads in ordinary 

 condition. If this is correct, a saving of S130,768,680, might be 

 made in the cost of marketing half our crops of a year, if they could 

 be hauled over macadam rather than over common earth roads. 

 That saving would equal $1.72 apiece for us or much more than all 

 our roadwork for the year costs. Justice to the farmer as well as 

 to the consumer demands that the nation shall spend on its roads 

 as much money each year as it does on its waterways. The roads 

 are used by all and the waterways may easily be monopolized for 

 the great transpprtation interests." 



I give you this abstract from Mr. Perry's address to show you 

 how much we need better roads and how necessary it is for the 

 farmers as well as every other citizen to do all in their power for the 

 enactment of the Currier Good Roads Bill. There is no doubt 

 about the farmers wanting better roads for the report of the Country 

 Life Commission says "that the majority of the letters received from 

 the farmers advocated improved conditions of highways." The 

 Grange, which is the farmers' organization has been a great edu- 

 cating force for the making of more liberal, earnest, and intelligent 

 manhood and womanhood, and it is destined to become a great 

 factor in the future life of our country. It was the Grange that first 

 asked Congress for the appropriation for free rural delivery and 

 we should not be satisfied until the mail is carried to the home of 



