Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1890-11-29
THE FARMING WORLD
CHEAP COUNTRY ROADS.
For Places Where Dirt Beds, Open bitches
and Mnnhnn CnlXarts Are lied

= CHEAP COUNTRY ROADS.
, For Places Where Dirt Reds, Open Ditch,
and Wooden Culyerts Arc Used.
Plowboy, Oneida Kan, writes Orang
Judd Farmer: That which will do III
most good among the rural populatio
under existing conditions is a iiscg,
sion of the best ;sa<irii methods c
building and maintaining good dir
reals at least expense / do not az
prove OF the proposed plan of doin,
away with the small road district an,
placing the roads Of = whole township
under the control Of one man. Ii woul,
bring the Office more INTO politics and
Tear ths tendency would be to give tn,
more public roads between the town,
more than their Just share OF attention
Also in time Of high water, when bridge:
are washed oui and prompt action il re-
CURED simultaneously over alarge area,
the work would not be done 50 quickly
as when divided between several SUPER
SlSo.S; neither would the one super
visor feel the personal interest in all
the roads tina. IS taken by the officers
er3er the present system. Let the
small district remain, bu; elect the su-
pervi>o. for a term Of three or five
years 50 he can Q only lay his plans
but have time TO carry them out Let
the wagcs be sufficient to recompense a
good man fer his time and Won. farm
erS vote for such 4 man Irrespective Of
party lines I regret to say that some
Of Us DO too much shirking ard living
in-the-Shade when We 20 on the road 10
'Wo,A." when We ought to at least be
willing 10 do a decent days work TO
have the road smooth and straight.
To maintain good roads good drainage
IS necessary. and When properly con.
Structei the open side ditch is the
most practical and efficient The ex.
pense Of artificial under-drainage pre-
c.udes 4 discussion Of its merits here.
The bitches should not be deeper than
necessary, and should be Of as uniform
as possible, with good outlets
provided in all low places where water
would stand without them. Let the
roadway be Of medium width. rounded
evenly and uniformly from the outside
OF one ditch TO the outside OF the other,
with the center sufficiently elevated TO
carry surplus water into the
bitches For c~ulyertS. stone arches are
course superior TO wood, but we will
have to pass them, along with paving
and WITHDRAWING, for a large part Of
our country. have found boxes made
tTo-inch plank, using oak fol the top,
more satisfactory than sewer pine. BE
careful TO make them sufficiently large,
and put good plank wings at the ends
20 prevent the banks being washed
away. It is not 4 good plan to cover
the plank with earth, as they soon rot
under it. On either side of these cul.
yerts mud holes are sometimes formed.
and II IS a common practice to fill these
with earth taken out near the end of
the cnlyert where it is handy ard soft
easy to pillow. But mud is mighty
poor material TO fill a mud hole with. In
such cases it will pay todraw better ma.
'erial from some distance.
The practice of blowing up the beaten
where it follows the center of the
road should not be followed. Let it
-emain for a solid foundation or which
TO build a new road-bed. In addition to
tho use Of the grader and the small
'crapers, each district should be pro-
7ided with a good steel pillow and be re.
luired to keep it bright and ia good
order, and use it intelligently. The
rocked slovenly blowing often done
,yen where there Is a chance to do nice
straight work, would be disgrace to a
-hinaman with his crooked stick. II
instead Of starting the grades directly
n tho sod, a couple of burrows were
by stakes, for a starter, would il
lot be an advantage? When the road
'lde intended to be worked is in sod, it
be plowed up in the fall, using a
harp pillow and taking narrow burrows,
in case of prairie sod when a
prairie breaker should be used
md the burrows laid fat
There Is another point to which !
wish to call attention. In travelling
me often sees the roadside occupied to
great extent by n~uxious weeds, such
IS cockleburs, thlstles, smartweed, i'm
on ETC., producing seed which will be
catered by wind and water, by rab-
hts, dogs and stock to the lands of
rood, careful farmers often miles dis.
ant Therefore, whenever possible.
he roadside should be left in good
.hape to be run over with a mower and
he weeds cut before they go TO seed.