Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1882-01-11

One who is beginning to see the folly
of building stone walls to get nd of the
stones, asks what he can do with the
stones if they are not laid up into fences.
Almost all rocky land needs draining,
or it lies very near to lands that do need
it. Some writers object to the use of
stones far drains. but having had
pretty long experience with stone drains
we do not hesitate to recommend their
judicious use. The bitches should tie
dug from three to four feet deep, the
deeper the better, and the stones pack
ed in as solid and closely as possible,
the smaller ones being used to level off
the top. The main point is to have the
top layer of stones so fine as to keep tine
soil from being washed in and filing up
the water course. A great many rocks
which are too large to handle easily, can
be sunk where they are, cheaper than
they can be disposed of in any other
way. Sinking rocks raises the level Of
the land while digging them out lowers
it unless soil is carted in for filling the
holes left by the removal of the stones.
Sometimes it is advisable to dig large
hole in some low spot, and then fill it
nearly full of boulders, such as can be
drawn from short distance. A hcle
ready dug, can be made twice rs large,
much easier than a new hole can be dug
of the same size, On a side hill, the
digging should generally he done below
the rock to be sunk, as it can be moved
down easier than up the hill.
There are a great many holes in muck
swamps where the muck has been carted
out for use in the yards and stables,
which, if filed with stones and then
covered over with little of the muck,
would make the very best of land for
cultivation. The stones may be drawn
on to the ice in winter, and left to sink
into their places when the ice thaws in
spring. 1t will be necessary to have the
stones te be hauled lie on blocks, boards
or small small SHINES, to prevent free
zing to the earth in winter. A great
many stones of all sizes could be used to
the best advantage in the public high
ways. If the walls which now line both
sides of many of our highways, had
been put in the middle of the road for
a track, the roads would not be blocked
by snow in winter, nor rendered impass-
able in spring when the frost is coming
out. At first thought, one might think
that paving a country road with stones
would be visionary idea. but if the
labor expended in building the two
walls had been used in placing the
stones in the line of travel, it might not
have been much slower work. Two
walls, each four and half feet high,
laid in the middle of the road and cover
ed with gravel, would make track that
would be solid and passable at all sea-
Sons. In low places, as at the foot of
hills, which need to have the grade
changed, great many stones may often
I've disposed of
Crushed stone is also now used ex-
tensively for repairing old, and making
new roads. Strong machines are now
made, which will crush stones aim ost
as large as a man can lift. and as fast
as hungry hogs will eat sweet apples.
The street commissioners in some of cur
cities are now buying cobble stones.
such as the farmers in the vicinity pick
from their fields, and are paying so cts.
ton for them at the crusher. This
price pays well for carting when the
distance is not too great. Many farmers
would do well to make permanent cart
roads over their farms, by digging out
the loan and filling in with stones. and
then covering again with loan or gravel.
We do not pay sufficient attention to
roads, either public or private.