Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1890-03-28
Sarln Copies.

SOME VALUABLE SUGGESTIONS


SOME VALUABLE SUGGESTIONS.
Among the lectures in the farmers
course at the university, Burlington, this
winter, was one on the subject of high
ways by Prof. V. G.. Barbour, the in
structor in civil engineering. 1t contains
many valuable suggestions, as will APP
pear from the following extract:
The roads of a country are a measure
of its civilization, not alone a measure
but a promoter of cilization. Farms in
the neighborhood of cities and larger
towns are more valuable than those
equally productive but more distant. for
the reason that the cost of transportation
of farm products and supplies to and
from the own or railway station is not
so great a burden as for the one more re-
mote. With really good roads this would
be different.
The force necessary to draw a given
load on ii level over "A good broken stone
road is less than one-third of that re-
quired to draw the same load over a com
MOI earth road. besides the increased
comfort of riding ON the former. Good
roads have more than a commercial val
ne. They raise the intellectual tone of
the community by enabling them to go
much more easily to attend church. lect-
ures, concerts and social gatherings at Il
distance. Most of our roads are simply
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are formed of the natural soil covering
of the territory through which they run.
Their condition under travel varies with
the season in a measure, and especially
with the amount of water contained in
the soil.
Except in sandy soil, the surface of
the road is commonly so hard and COM
pact as to resist the action of the feet of
animals, or the bearings of the wheels,
and travel may be carried on with re-
markable ease. But when the material
forming the surface of the road is filled
with water, the adhesion of the particles
to each other is destroyed, and they slide
over each other under the pressure
brought upon them and the whole is
soon reduced to mud. Where the soil is
of clayey nature the depth of mud may
be greatly increased by the action of
frost. TO improve clay roads, then, they
must be drained so that the least possible
water will remain in them. Deep side
bitches are necessary, II the narrower
the roadway the more effective will be
the drainage. So shape the surface that
the water will run of into the side
bitches, the slope III general being about
| in Is. When we have done this, we
have done the best possible for clay
roads. The bitches should be from two
to three feet deep, using the material to
raise the surface of the road above ad-
jacent land. These bitches should be a
foot wide at the bottom and have suffici-
ent slope to their sides to prevent the soil
from slipping into the ditch. While the
portion of the road between the side
bitches should be as narrow as o n
venience of travel will permit, a wide
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kept cleared of trees, bushes and other
vegetation. so hat the sun and wind may
exert their drying powers to the utmost
Sandy roads require different treatment.
They should be narrow, those being best
where the wheels are confined to a single
trackwav. No side bitches, or only
slight ones, are TO be built. Trees,
bushes and grass are to be encouraged,
thus assisting in holding moisture and in
binding together by their roots the grains
of sand. Grass should be permitted to
grow close to the wheel tracks and be-
tween them and the track for horses.
Repairs should not be made by plough
ing them up and sloping their surfaces,
but by filling up the ruts with coal ashes
or gravel. They can be greatly improv-
ed with IA dressing of -four or five inches
of clay. and clay roads by a coating OF
sand or gravel. Vegetable matter, as
shavings, etc, may be used on clay roads
and excelsior has been used to good eff
feet. But the best of earth roads are
generally unfit for use when most need
ed, that is, in the rainy season when
teams cannot be used on a farm. The
surface of a Dad should be hard and
free from mud and dust.
John Loudon McAdam nearly a cen.
fury ago called attention to the fact thai
if smooth rounded stones were used OF
the surface of a road they would no
pack together, but angular pieces crowd,
!, ed together would adhere to each Other
and form IA solid mass. He showed thaI
large pieces of o are more liable to b,
displaced than smaller ones. lie pro
posed, therefore, to cover his roads witt
stone broken into angular pieces, none OF
+ which should exceed two inches il
length, for the reason that a wheel strik
, ing one end of "A larger piece would tenC
, to dislodge the other end. He had thu