The weekly register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909, 1882-08-23
Nealness IN the migIlway.

/ az hAAN
The country highway is the con-
Meeting link of the American farm
ers. 1t binds the farms together in
stead Of separating them, and fur
nishes the means by which neigh
borhood may be unit in the nation.
The common road" is a common in
terest, and is the common express
ion Of common life. Along 1t the
stranger passes, and from it he gains
lasting and very accurate impress
ions Of those who make it what it is.
liza highway was for travel ard moth
ing more, and travel was simply the
getting from one place to another,
then a good road bed Of the shortest
length between connected points
wrlld meet the full demands Of
country road. But people travel
largely for pleasure, and when the
going is duty, they desire to mix
US much comfort with the commiss.
ion as is possible. The roadside is
the constantly changing paporama
of all who pass along any highway.
The writer knows of two equally
good roads, so far as the road.bed is
concerned, at equal distances from
village. One is kept clean, not ex-
pensively so, the grass is cut and it
well pays the owners of the land for
their work. The other common road
has halffnished bitches along the
side, which bristle with Canada this
tie and other vile weeds. The fences
are hedge-rows Of filth, and propaga
ting beds for nosious plants that
each year seed down the whole neigh
borhood with expensive pests. The
farmers along this portion of the
highway have, with one accord, tut
ned the road into a common "slop-
JAR" into which they throw every
thing that is not fit to be seen.
The farmers along the well-kept
highway have no better farms than
their slip-shod neighbors on the 9th
er side of the village, they, perhaps,
do not make any more money. But
there are some things in which they
are vastly superior. They live on
higher plane, and therefore a com
parison is difficult to make, and not
at all necessary. The well-kept road
gets all the pleasure driving; no one
thinks Of going into the unkempt
district except on business. The ii
ldy road is double and mutual com.
fort to those who desire to take Il
pleasant drive and to the farmers
who dwell along the highway. Moth
ing enlivens the common life of the
farmer and his family like the sight
Of frequent vehicles upon the high
way.
The difference in the cost of keep
ing two extremes o: country road is
in favor of the one that is neat and
pleasing TO the eye. There is an in.
crease OF hay and a great saving of
labor in weed killing. The roadside
that is left to itself and not moved
yields only weeds. The value Of
the farms, though the same at the
outset, are widely different now
Though the fertility Of the acres
may not be far from tie same, the
well-kept land is always saleabie at
a good price, while the shiftless far
mer must seek buyer for his land.
The rows of maple and elm trees
that were planted along the good road
fifteen years ago cost but a trihe at
the time, but are now so valuable
that to cut them down would be an
objectionable sin. They pay good
interest in the shade and beauty
which they afford, while at the same
time the work of wood.making is
going on.