MONEY FOR REPAIRS

Roads have to be kept in repair after they are constructed.  By 1914 money was needed for this purpose.  The farmers objected to further increase of the tax rate, so it was decided to charge tolls for the use of the improved highways—­5 cents for a single horse and vehicle, 10 cents for two horses and a buggy, 15 cents for two horses and a wagon, 25 cents for four horses and a wagon, and from 20 cents to 35 cents for automobiles.  More money than was needed was raised in this way in the first month, and the tolls were therefore reduced one half.  One advantage to the county of the toll system was that automobilists and others from other districts, counties, and states would contribute to the upkeep of the roads.

EFFECT OF IMPROVEMENTS ON LAND VALUES

On the roads selected for improvement there were 35 farms including 5518 acres.  In 1910, the average value of these farms, including buildings, was $14 per acre, and seldom did any one want to buy land in the neighborhood.  But within two years after the road improvement seven of the 35 farms had been sold, and a large part of another, as shown in the following: 

In the next two or three years a number of other farms were sold at similar increased prices, and some farms that had been abandoned were reoccupied.  Large areas of land were cultivated for the first time since the Civil War.  The farmers were, however, most interested for the time being in their timber wealth, and between 1909 and 1913 the shipments of forest products from Fredericksburg increased 78.2 per cent.

THE AVERAGE HAUL

Before the improvement of the roads, the average weight of load for a two-horse team in the winter and spring, when the roads were bad, was about 1200 pounds; when the roads were dry, about 2400 pounds.  The cost for hauling at this rate averaged, for the year round, about 30 cents per ton per mile.  After the roads were improved, the average load the year round was 4000 pounds, and the cost for hauling only 15 cents per ton per mile.

Investigate and report on: 

Results of road improvement in others of the eight counties referred to on page 248 (see Bulletin 393, 1916, Department of Agriculture).

Procure or make a map of your county showing road improvement.  Is your county well provided with improved roads?

Do the cities and towns in your county contribute to the improvement of the country roads?

Do the people of the rural districts of your county contribute to the improvement of the streets of the cities and towns?

Bond issues in your county for road improvement.  Meaning of “bond issues.”

Tax rate in your county for road improvement.

How is road improvement managed in your county?