Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1890-03-29

the spring, ana also an occasional
honipg after heavy rains, or whenever
from any cause tho surface becomes
rough. One machine would be sufficient
for a large district, and the times, meth
ods and terms Of the work can bo ar.
ranged on n satisfactory and permanent
basis after few years experience. I'm.
der ordinary conditions fair road can
be maintained throughout the season
with simply this occasional passage Of
the road homo over It. Tho cost would
be very small compared with present
methods. or course these machines are
only suitable where the road is built up
with the ordinary soil or subsoil Of the
district, or with perhaps moro or less
gravel or small stones in certain sections
This, however, Is the ordinary structure
OF all our country roads, and hence this
treatment will be quite generally appli.
cable"
In the same work is printed treatise
by Mr.. Clemens Hcrschcl, which treats
Of the kindred subject Of road repairs e.
follows:
"After road has been properly rolled,
and the surface made compact and
smooth, it should always be maintain cd
in that condition, no matter how great Is
the amount of travel on 1t. "A stitch in
time saves nine, here rs well az else
where. The tendency IL TO produce ruts;
these gather water; this soaks into the
road bed and spoils the whole. Tho
problem can bc put In this way: To have
n good road IL Is necessary that there 10
no dust or mud on the same, and that
there be no ruts; therefore, remove the
dust and mud as fast as they are formed
and Gil up the ruts as fast as they are
made. Tho whole matter Is here in
nutshell 1t may be thought, at the first
view, that this Is too expensive a system.
its principal beauty lies, however, in
the fact that 1t costs less per
mile Of road kept one year than
the pcrnicious system Of annual or
semi-annual repairs, as can be shown
and proved. The above two rules
sweep off the mud and dust MS fast as
they are formed, and fill up the ruts and
bad places with new materials as fast as
they appcar-are all that Is necessary to
bc carried out in order that there be con-
tinually good road. Without continual
repairs there can he no such thing as
constantly good road-a proposition that
cannot too often he repeated. BY repair
ing road annually, or twice year, 1t
matters not which, the result is, strictly
speaking, good road Mt no time during
the whole year. The road Is wretchcd
just after repairs; it becomes passable
after awhile, and deteriorates from that
day forward until it is again made
wretchc,l and SO on nd iniinitum, ac-
cording TO the present only too common
ly followed system. BY the other meth
cd Is offered us II road as smooth as
floor, year in and year out. and, let 1t
not be forgotten, at less expense"
The following, from w. I. G. Ward
well, Of the Rhode Island board Of ngri-
culture, states the farmers view: There
can be but ono view taken in regard to
the advantage Of good country roads,
not only TO the farmer but to the whole
state, in the increased value OF property.
Why the farmers, paying their propor-
ton Of the taxes, deriving no benefit
from any fire service, having no police
protection, still submit to the miserable
country roads without a vigorous pro-
test, is beyond my comprehension.