144 INTENSIVE FARMING 



ing table grapes from western New York points 

 to the large cities of the East are the same 

 to-day that they were in 1880. The ratio which 

 transportation bore to the net return in 1880 

 was 5 per cent. In 1900 this ratio had changed 

 so that the rate of transportation which had 

 not been changed represented over 40 per cent, 

 of the net return. This state of affairs has 

 come about through a change in price for the 

 commodity. 



Freight rates are assessed on the basis of 

 tonnage or a mileage charge and are usually 

 expressed in terms of ton mile. This arbitrary 

 basis may furnish a simple and satisfactory 

 basis of computation for the railroads, but it 

 takes no account of value, or time required in 

 transit Farm products vary greatly in trans- 

 portation requirements. The staple commodi- 

 ties, such as hay, grains, sugar beets, etc., can 

 be handled on a slow schedule, but perishable 

 products and live stock must be transported 

 with the greatest dispatch and on fast sched- 

 ules. It is obvious that time is an important 

 element in this problem, but up to the present 

 our transportation agencies have not given due 

 regard to it. In some of the European coun- 

 tries the time factor is given due weight in fix- 

 ing charges. 



