The Ottawa free trader., 1851-03-08

Return per DEM. m..,..............Si 81 II
The great loads can be drawn Oh NacadamzcI
roads Cor metal roads, as they are often called
cannot lie called in question, but at the same
time It Is to bc remarked that. on the first con.
structipn at least, tie resistance to the triCtive
power will be greater than on the smooth even.
compact surface o the plank. A period must
even intervene before the metal becomes solid
and those who have at all watched how meal
roads are influenced. admit the necessity of con
stani repairs In and about large towns the
MHcaIamzed avenues have Annually To- be GOV
cred with an entire coat Of metal and the road
to br kept in order. has constantly to be watched
from the day the stone is first placed upon it
Thus, independent Of the difference Of surface Of
the best metal road and Of the ordinary plank
road constant repair. increase the r~istancc
When newly lrd. the resistance for heavy trains
on the latter has been calculated variously Mt in
9S and at ! in 20, while that Of the stone road in
perfect condition is named at | in 81 But
while the plank road Tor nj two wears after il
has been land down retains an equality Of surface,
the stone road is never in such order that So low
\ ratio Of resistance can be received In ordinary
condition, the resistance of in 25 is received
Taking a mean of the two, We may call the av
erag" resistance IT the Macaiam road ~ 46
Torrcapl'nlatc, We have the tw" rcsi,tanc,s
On the plank road in 10.
On tie Macadnm roal in 46
Nor can it be said that this comparison i, much
exaggerated, Even those who dilrr from il SUP
ply data but little less favorable. The compare.
.un even continues as loh roads are worn.
N'r i 1t IN the original cost merely that tho
plank r.al i, superior 10 the Macadalnizcd road
Psr.on.. Who have not cxlminrd the subject, are
ali sal. NIB L.. Al.
think from the mltrrml ,ht it must soon wear
ont. Mr.. King.rurI, however, estimates the origi.
nal cost of u plank road, if lad with the knowl.
edge derived from experience to be only $3.50
per mile; and then computes the rrplir. for :
years ut seventy dollars per mile aud calculates
that, at the end Oi seven wears, the planks, but
not the slecperS, will have To be replaced at a
cost Of Sl2S6 per mile This makes the total
cost, for eight years, SalOO. A Macad,mzcd
road, he says, cost originally $4,000 per mile, and
for repairs, in eight years, sl0i0 more, making
the total Si5iO, or n superiority Of three 10 two
IN favor Of the plank road over the Macadam
Numerous instances are cited, in the book be.
fore u.s. of the dividends made on plank roads and
Of the rise in value Of lands contiguous 20 them.
The facilities Of travel afforded by plank roads
are also dwell upon. 1t is very certain that, in
the great state Of New York, where they have
been most tried, these roads are becoming more
popular daily. Mr.. Kingsford, in separate chnp.
ter, explains summnrIly what plank roads do for
the farmer. We find i. SO comprehensive tha,
wo quote it:
Tho farmer has what he never had before-a
good road every day in the year-,he same in
all seasons Formerly, the spring and fall were
periods, when the avenues to the neighboring city
wera closed to him. On the plank road hc can
select for his Journey, days when he cannot work
on the farm, taking with greater ease, in half the
time, three times what he formerly eond carry
and while residing close TO the road, he sees his
neighbor living five miles OF, bringing two wag.
ons to the panks, and then transferring the con.
tents into the larger and moving Oft with it--hc
can load his single vehicle with the full amount /,
can carry, and proceed onward without delay
His woodlands acquire, intrinsically, value
which they had not before for he can cart suni
ciently in one load to pay him for the expense Of
cartng and cutting, allowing fair value for his
timber His farm increases in value from ten to
ffty per cent, md commands sale from the iac,