ECONOMIC SURVEYS OF COUNTY HIGHWAY IMPROVEMENT. ils 
with few buyers even at those figures. Most of the agricultural 
products which the farms in the county were capable of producing 
were brought in by rail from the outside, and thus steadily the bal- 
ance of trade was rising against the county. Its greatest source of 
wealth—namely, timber and crossties—could not be utilized to the 
best advantage because the roads for many months in the year were 
almost impassable. The economic studies to ascertain the relative 
benefits and burdens of the road improvement in the county were 
begun in 1910 and continued annually thereafter up through 1915. 
A significant incident on the first inspection trip, March, 1910, occurred 
~ within a half mile of Fredericksburg, when the horses broke a sin- 
gletree in their attempt to pull the light surrey, with its two passen- 
gers and driver through the deep, heavy, clay mud. (See PI. III, 
fie) 
While it seemed apparent at the outset that the building of a sys- 
tem of improved roads would be highly beneficial to the county, it 
remained to be seen whether the financial outlay involved would be 
heavier than the corresponding benefits received and whether good 
management and sound economy would be practiced, so as to get 
the greatest possible results for the outlay of funds. Only by deter- 
mination of these questions could the example of Spotsylvania 
County be made useful to other communities which should find it 
necessary to deal with the subject of road improvement. As the 
investigations were begun before any initial steps were taken in the 
matter of management or construction, 1t was practicable to record 
year by year the story of Spotsylvania’s good-roads progress and 
the economic results of the project. 
It might be well to mention that Spotsylvania County is located 
about 45 miles north of Richmond and has an area of 401 square 
miles. The principal products are timber and crossties, although 
the farms produce some bright tobacco, hay, potatoes, truck, small 
fruits, etc., and since the roads have been improved there has been 
some development of the dairy and poultry industries. There are 
no large manufacturing industries and no cities except Fredericks- 
burg, which had a population in 1910 of 5,874 out of a total popula- 
tion for the county of 15,809. Primarily the problem was to provide. 
a system of roads which, while used for hauling the forest products, 
eradually would develop the agricultural resources of the county. 
HOW THE IMPROVEMENT WAS FINANCED. 
Owing to the fact that under the Virginia law cities are not taxable 
for county purposes, Fredericksburg, the only city in Spotsylvania 
County, could not be reached for a proportionate share of the pro- 
posed outlay. There were four districts in the county, but only 
two, namely, Courtland and Chancellor, actively took up the move- 
