hauling, it does not appear that the average cost is not about the usual price for hiring in that community. . . . Values of products and costs of hauling. The average costs per 100 pounds for hauling products from farms to shipping points vary in a number of instances roughly with the relative values of the articles hauled, the more valuable product being hauled often at greater cost than the less valuable product. Corn, wheat, oats, hay, and potatoes were TABLE 1.-AVERAGE COSTS OF HAULING PRODUCTS FROM FARMS TO SHIPPING POINTS: TOTALS FOR STATES REPRESENTED. a Kentucky only. b Average for six States only. c Iowa only. hauled at costs ranging from 7 to 9 cents per 100 pounds, cotton 16 cents, and wool 44 cents per 100 pounds. Tobacco and hogs, however, cost only 10 cents per 100 pounds to be hauled from farms. The difference in cost of hauling between one product and another is largely due to the relative distance traversed and the relative size of load taken. It will pay to produce cotton farther away from local shipping points than grain, and 150 miles is not too far to haul wool from ranches to railroad stations. Hogs being produced generally where grain is also a surplus crop, the prevailing distances and methods of hauling for the cheaper products would affect the cost of hauling the higher-priced commodity. Hauling cotton and wool. [Of the detailed comment (Bulletin, pages 14-34) upon the various crops in the different States, only a part regarding cotton and wool is here given.] As in the case of nearly all other farm products, cotton is generally hauled to local shipping points by the farmers themselves, and hiring such work done is the exception. Owing to its high value, cotton may be transported profitably in much smaller loads and for longer distances than a less valuable article, as grain or hay. It is noted that the average load of cotton weighs about one-half as much as the average load of wheat in the United States, but a load of cotton, at prices prevailing in October, 1906, was worth more than four average loads of wheat. For the United States the average cost of hauling cotton from farms to shipping points is about 80 cents per bale, and the average load is a fraction more than three bales. Onehorse carts and wagons and ox carts are found more serviceable in hauling the main crops in the cotton region than in the grain country, and their use helps to account for the small average loads. It is of interest to see that one of the smallest average loads of cotton for any State or Territory is in Florida, where about one-half the crop consists of Sea Island cotton, a variety much more valuable than the rest of the cotton produced in the United States. The average cost of hauling wool to shipping points is high on account of the great distances traversed, the average for the United States being 39.8 miles, and the distance in at least one county whose returns enter into the averages was 150 miles. Hauling over these long routes is usually done by freight wagons, owned and driven by persons other than the producers of the wool, and the rates actually paid for hauling are used in these instances as the cost of wagon transportation from farm or ranch to shipping point. The large number of actual rates paid entering into the average cost of hauling wool in the United States makes this figure (44 cents per 100 pounds) appear to be one of the most accurate of the average costs determined. The value of an average load of wool ranges from $500 to $900 and allows for a high cost to get it to the shipping point, and even the cost of 71 cents per 100 pounds for the county reported in Arizona and the five counties in Oregon is not too large in proportion to the value of the load. . . . The farmers' longest hauls. The conditions of hauling from farms over the longest routes reported for each product are given in Tables 23 to 40.1 While there may be longer hauls for farming communities in the United States in the cases of some or all the crops mentioned in these tables, the instances as reported here serve to illustrate extreme costs of wagon transportation. It is not to be supposed that all or any considerable number of these great costs of hauling permit the products in question to be sold profitably at prices which would prevail in a large commercial center. Potatoes hauled 70 miles over Colorado roads at a cost of 84 cents per bushel, as given in Table 23, could be sold only at some local market where prices were far above those in most parts of the United States; and the corn, rye, and vegetables carried over the Georgia mountains from the extreme northern part of the State down to Gainesville, a distance of some 60 miles, do not represent a considerable portion of the general supply of those products in Georgia, and their extensive production under such great costs of delivery is out of question. By taking on the same load with grain or vegetables a considerable amount of poultry, eggs, and butter, a farmer can 1 [Only Table 23 is here reproduced, in which is indicated the one longest haul reported for each of the crops mentioned.-ED.] make his long trip to town pay, so that the total cost of hauling the load falls but slightly upon the less valuable part of it. A half-ton load of produce taken from farm to local market or shipping point at a cost of $16 might easily contain, in addition to several bushels of grain or potatoes, enough poultry, butter, and eggs to make the total value of the load from $30 to $50. TABLE 23.-COSTS OF HAULING PRODUCTS IN THE UNITED STATES FROM MOST REMOTE FARMS TO SHIPPING POINTS, AS REPORTED. Methods of hauling. In the North Central States much of the grain hauled from farms is taken in bulk, and the size of load is determined by the capacity of the wagon box. Additional sides and end pieces are put on when it is desired to haul larger loads, especially when such a light grain as oats is taken. When a farmer intends to load a car with grain, and it is necessary to haul from ten to twenty wagonloads within a day or so, he often will be helped by a number of neighbors. He in turn will aid them when they haul. Cost per pounds. 100 It is a common practice to haul wheat and other small grain direct from thrasher to car. The grain is loaded as rapidly as thrashed and each wagon in turn is driven to the shipping point, where a wagon dump is often used for unloading the grain. This dump is a platform, on which a loaded wagon is driven, the end gate of the wagon box removed, and the parts of the platform upon which the hind wheels of the wagon rest are lowered so that the grain falls into a space below. It may be received into a bin under the platform for temporary storage, or may be conveyed immediately by mechanical means to cars or up to bins in an elevator. Corn also, in some places, is handled in a similar way, the wagons receiving their loads from the machine on the farm as the corn is being shelled. The use of large wagons with broad tires and teams of four, five, and six horses enables farmers of certain parts of the United States, notably in the hill country of Maryland and the adjoining counties in Pennsylvania, to carry their products to shipping points and local markets in loads of two or more tons each. Since one of these large wagons holds at least twice as much as an average two-horse wagon, one driver performs with the larger outfit twice as much service as he can with the smaller one. Where wages are high the economy in the use of the four-horse wagon is considerable. The general use in the far West of regular freight wagons owned and driven by persons other than the owner of the products carried has already been mentioned. . . . In order that one driver may take charge of a large amount of freight, two or more wagons are often coupled together and the entire train is drawn by a number of horses, mules, or ponies. The loads taken by a freight wagon, with its trailers, are said to weigh at times as much as seven tons, and as many as twelve or fourteen horses are sometimes used in one team. Since the freight wagon carries goods also on its return trip, |