206 ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 



miles further to the western side of the great Chinese empire, 

 2,500 miles across Afghanistan, Persia and Turkey in Asia to 

 Constantinople. Thence across Europe, the Atlantic ocean, 

 by way of New York, back to DeKalb. By the time we have 

 one line built, instead of four, the magnitude of the under- 

 taking will have begun to dawn upon our minds. The esti- 

 mates made by those who have given the good road question 

 much thought and study, place the cost of construction of good 

 roads at from |5,000 an |10,000 per mile. At the lower figure 

 it would cost the State of Illinois |500,000,000 for its 100,000 

 miles of road. At the same rate, allowing two miles of road 

 to the section, the cost per acre would be |15.62. If the tax to 

 build such roads were levied on the land adjoining, and ex- 

 tended over a period of thirty years, it would cost every dairy- 

 man with 160 acres of land upwards of |80 per year additional 

 tax from what he now pays. As the average dairyman is not 

 making |80 per year clear profit in his business, it is apparent 

 that good roads under such conditions could be of no value to 

 him, in a financial way, at least. 



That good roads, without being burdened with the exces- 

 sive tax for making them, would be of great value, none will 

 question. There are nearly as many miles traveled every day 

 by the dairymen of Illinois, as there are miles of road in the 

 State. In hauling milk to railway trains for shipment to 

 cities, hauling milk to creameries, cheese and condensing fac- 

 tories, and feed to mills and farms, 50,000 will not cover 

 tories, and feed to mills and farms, and 50,000 will not cover 

 the number of miles traveled daily by the dairymen of Illinois. 

 Let a person travel 1,000 miles over muddy roads, then another 

 1,000 over hard, smooth roads, and he would have a keen appre- 

 ciation of the value of one over the other. When the dairy- 

 men of Illinois travel, daily, fifty times the distance over 

 muddy roads, the time alone that would be saved by good 

 roads, figured in dollars and cents, would amount to many 

 hundred dollars. Other important items are the wear and 

 tear on horses, wagons, harness and cans, to say nothing of 

 the wear on the dairyman's good nature. So the good road 

 question appeals more strongly to the dairyman than to any 

 other class, and would to him be of almost inestimable value, 

 not only in a financial sense, but in his social and religious re- 



