8 BULLETIN 386, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
similar information was also obtained from the cities, boroughs, and 
other municipalities. This shows a total mileage of 20,445. 
New Jersey has an area of 7,414 square miles of land and 710 
square miles of water, making an average of 2.72 miles of roads per 
square mile of area. The State is divided into three belts — the 
northwestern or hilly country, from which trainloads of dairy prod- 
ucts enter the large cities each day; the central, or marl belt, from 
which comes the name " Garden State"; and the southern, the flat 
sandy region formerly considered the pine barrens, though by the 
introduction of drainage and overhead irrigation in late years it has 
become a rich farming and trucking region. As this section is near 
the large cities of New York and Philadelphia, it has excellent 
markets. 
Few people not residing close to the large cities will realize the 
additional cost, not only of construction but of maintenance, which 
is required to keep in repair roads carrying a traffic of, say, 2,000 
vehicles or 6,000 tons daily. They wonder that a State as small as 
New Jersey should have so large a mileage of roads, constructed and 
maintained at so great an expense. This is explained by the fact 
that it lies between New York and Philadelphia, the two largest 
cities on the Atlantic seaboard, and is composed largely of suburban 
homes and manufacturing districts contiguous to these cities. New 
Jersey itself contains several large manufacturing cities. 
In 1914, according to State registration, there was an average of 1 
automobile for every 40 population and 6 automobiles for every 
mile of road. This heavy traffic is a severe tax on the roads, and it 
will, therefore, be seen that the cost of maintenance is necessarily 
large. Also, there are a number of motor-vehicle manufacturing 
concerns in New Jersey. When it is taken into consideration that 
every new vehicle must be tried out on the roads, it will be seen that 
this is an additional tax on their ability to sustain the traffic. This 
is especially true of the heavy motor trucks. 
Some of the manufacturing cities of North Jersey are connected by 
roads constructed over the tide marshes. These roads have been 
under construction for a period of 100 years or more. The first step 
was to form corduroy out of the logs and branches of trees. Later 
planking was resorted to, and in recent years from 4 to 6 feet of 
earth and cinders have been filled in on top. Owing to the fact that 
these are practically pontoon roads, much of the material sinks below 
the surface of the water, or shoves out to the sides, so that perhaps 3 
yards must be furnished for an apparent gain of 1 yard of fill. Upon 
this fill are constructed the most expensive types of pavement. 
Some of these roads are now so solid that they are carrying two lines 
of street cars, wide carriageways, and sidewalks. 
