86 BULLETIN 393, U. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 



total of 1,000,000 crates or 40,000 tons. Those four crops — tomatoes, 

 cabbage, celery, and citrus fruits — ^for the season of 1913 comprised 

 about 71,090 tons, to which miscellaneous vegetables and fruits 

 added approximately 10,000 tons, making 81,090 tons of outgoing 

 farm products. The average load on the old sandy roads was about 

 750 pounds for a one-horse team and about 1,500 pounds for a two- 

 horse team, and the rate of wages was about $4.50 to $5 for a two- 

 horse team and driver for a 10-hour day. The average haul over the 

 old roads was approximately 2^ miles, with a maximum of five trips 

 per day, or about 10 ton-miles per day for each two-horse team, 

 wliich made the cost of hauling approximately 45 cents per ton-mile. 

 It was found that 4,800 pounds could easily be drawn by a 2-horse 

 team after the roads were improved. In order to be entirely con- 

 servative, however, the average load on the improved roads is esti- 

 mated at 3,500 pounds, the number of trips per day 5, the same as 

 before the roads were impioved, and the cost per day for team and 

 diiver S4.50, the same as on the unimproved roads; the average haul 

 2^ miles, the same as on the unimproved roads; and with these factors 

 the average cost of hauling by a 2-horse team is about 20 cents per 

 ton-mile, or a saving of approximately 25 cents per ton-mile, as 

 compared with the hauling cost on the old roads. 



Based upon information secured from railroad officials, local 

 business men, and fruit and vegetable growers, it is estimated that 

 about 33J per cent of the outgoing rail shipments, 85 per cent of the 

 outgoing shipments by water, and 20 per cent of the incoming ship- 

 ments pass over the improved roads. On this basis the annual traffic 

 on the improved roads for 1915 was estimated to be 52,117 tons, or 

 130,292 ton-miles. If the saving of 25 cents per ton mile is apphed 

 to this amount it indicates an annual saving of S32,573. As the 

 tonnage increases from year to year the benefit of the improved roads 

 in the way of reducing hauhng costs will be more and more apparent, 

 and there can hardly be a doubt that the investment will prove a 

 profitable one. 



