Show WHAT GOOD ROADS SAVE to million ar arr in of the bariner PA riner ra if our common boast that we are a progressive wide awake and ingenious nation ia is well founded what can bo be urged to excuse us tor for adhering to tho the antiquated a nt equated and inefficient methods of malting making and keeping our common roads when we have before us the great economy and splendid results produced by ibe adoption of more intelligent methodi in other countries in many respects WB we have creator need of hard liard surfaced ts roads caa au than 1 liaa either or england oar our rainfall is considerably heavier than theire theirs and our dart roads for weeks at a time are half as deep as they are wide farm traffic la Is suspended and horses are kept in idleness statistics show that there are something over horses and mules or the ho farms of the united states and at a 4 moderate estimate of cents pr rr daiy diy in M the coat ol 01 ftc fc for taca animal animal wo we so t a that it 1 t COAS the I 1 farmers of this country about sl per day for this item alone alono leas than SO 50 per cent of thebe animals would be sufficient to do all the hanlin hauling of farm produce carried on in this count country r y if even the main roads were put in first class condition but not to ho hoy 7 too strongly for the attainment of distant things lot let us suppose that such an improvement pro bo be broj projected acted as would render unnecessary only one eighth of the total number of the draft animals now employed P I 1 OY a this would reduce the entire number by a little over and would effect a saving saying each day of about tons of hay and bushels of oats which reduced to a money value equals per day or about per year add to this the value of the animals 14 M and wo we have a total of caved saved for the first year of course these figures do not represent tho the real loss entailed to our farmers by the use of dirt roads that loss is beyond computation but in whatever way tha the computation is directed and wherever the loss is susceptible of calculation the same sam e startling exhibit is bound to ap pear A recent careful count chows shows over abandoned farms farrus hithe in the fertile and populous state of now jersey engineering magazine |