24 BULLETIN 393^ TJ. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGEICULTURE. 



It was noticed that many teamsters were accustomed to loading 

 1,000 feet or more of lumber on narrow- tired wagons, which resulted 

 in considerable damage to the roads, especially in wet weather. . To 

 prevent this damage the county supervisors passed an ordinance 

 limiting loads of lumber to 1,000 feet, or 4,000 pounds, on wide-tired 

 vehicles, and to 600 feet on narrow-tired wagons. As a result of this 

 ordinance most of the teamsters have provided themselves with wide- 

 tired vehicles, 3-inch tires for 2-horse vehicles and 4 to 6 inch tires 

 for 4-horse vehicles. Since the roads have been improved drivers 

 frequently hitch two wagons together and use 4-horse teams, hauling 

 1,000 feet on each wagon if equipped with wide tires, or 600 feet on 

 each wagon if equipped with narrow tires. On account of the ordi- 

 nance hmiting the weight of loads, it was difficult to secure from the 

 drivers exact information on this subject. As a matter of fact, many 

 of the teamsters hauled more than the law allows, and several of 

 them have been indicted for violating the ordinance. 



It was found that on the improved roads some wagons carried 

 manure, hay, or merchandise on the return trip. For instance, on 

 this inspection trip it was observed that one lumb,er team, on retum- 

 mg home 3 J miles, carried 1^ tons of manure. Another 2-horse lum- 

 ber team returned with a 2,300-pound load, 3^ miles. Still another 

 team was seen making the 12-mLle home trip with 1 ton of hay. 

 Heavy hauling is now done on these roads all the year round, but 

 before the roads were improved it was impossible to do heavy haul- 

 ing at all at certain seasons of the year; the roads were simply impass- 

 able, except for hght vehicles and those who traveled on horseback. 

 Where teams are enabled to travel both ways loaded the cost per 

 ton-mile is lowered about one-half. 



The inspection made between April 2 and 12, 1913, showed that 

 traffic conditions had further improved, and instances were repeatedly 

 met with showing that the improved roads had materially bettered 

 marketing conditions. 



The character of products hauled, weight of loads, distance hauled, 

 and cost per ton-mile of a portion of the traffic noted during the 1913 

 inspection is shown in Table 6. . 



