ILLINOIS STATE DAIRYMEN'S ASSOCIATION. 207 



lations as well. "How to keep the bojs on the farm" is a 

 question often asked but seldom satisfactorily answered. A 

 little let up of the daily drudgery of the dairy work, a little 

 shorter and more regular hours, then with good roads and time 

 to use them, to enjoy the social pleasures of life, an important 

 factor in the solution of the problem shall have been attained. 

 We all have social natures in farm life; no one thing adds so 

 much to the opportunities for their enjoyment as the condition 

 of the roads. Good roads enable the dairyman at all seasons 

 of the year to attend entertainments, attend church, to visit 

 friends, and in many other ways relieve the monotony of farm 

 life. A more practical application of the funds annually 

 raised for road purposes would in a short time so improve the 

 roads that they would be comparatively good at all seasons of 

 the year, and unexcelled the much larger part of the time. 



Electric railroads can be built at as little, if not less ex- 

 pense, in most parts of the State, than permanent hard roads. 

 Electric roads would return a constant revenue, while paved or 

 stone roads would require continual expense in repairs. When 

 electric roads run by the dairyman's door, nearly all the ad- 

 vantages of city life, and all the advantages of country life 

 are his. He could have his milk delivered to station or fac- 

 tory without the necessity of driving there over poor roads, 

 or when the mercury was 25 degrees below zero. Electric 

 roads would improve the isolation of farm life by connecting 

 the dairyman with the outside world and make farm life pre- 

 ferable to city life. We believe the time is not far distant 

 when electric lines of road will begin to reach out in the coun- 

 try from the larger cities and villages, and that they are des- 

 tined to play an active part in determining the great road 

 question. 



WHY SHOULD DAIRYMEN IIS^SIST ON BETTER ROADS? 



Prize Essay. 



A. B. HOSTETTER, MT. CARROLL. 



Dairymen should insist on better roads : Because they are 

 obliged to use them the year round ; because the pleasure and 

 profits of dairying are materially affected by the condition of 



