The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1891-03-13
miscellaneous.
FOR BETTER ROADS.
PROF. HAUPT'S ADDRESS.

Delivered at the Farmers Road Convention
Held in Bel Air, on February 27th.
Concluded from last Week.
HOW MAY THIS RESULT BE SECURED?
Ii the statement of highly respected
authority in matters pertaining TO agriculture
be accepted, quite a large sum might be
husbanded from the farms and applied to the
roads, without increasing the labor of collect.
ing it, or without raising the taxes.
There are writers upon rosd-making who
say that good road can be bnilt of corn
stalks. However this may be, l am not one
of those who have much faith in the direct
application of vegetable substance to road,
for metaling. Yet, in one sense, it is true
that cornstalks will make good road, but
they must first be converted into stone, or be
petrifed by the instrumentaity of that great
staple ofexchange, viz, money.
Professor Henry E. Alvord has recently
stated that in consequence of the wastefu!
method of harvesting, the loss in the
corn crop in this State would pay
the annual taxes on each farm contained
within it's borders. If this be true, it is only
necessary to husband the corn stalks, convert
them into fodder, the fodder into cattle, the
cattle into money and the money into stone,
suitably applied to our roads, and the trans
formation is complete. Then, like the old
woman in Mother Goose, whose pig jumped
over the stile, when everything works in
harmony, we shall be able to reach home be-
fore night, because our roads will become
passable at all seasons.
CONSTRUCTION.
l have laid considerable stress upon the re-
sistances to traffic. for without knowledge of
what they are, and their relative importance,
int IN
them, and for the further reason that it is de-
sirable for every one to take broad view of
this matter, and to understand why it is some
times necessary to 60 across farm instead of
around it, even at the expense of an apparent
injury. This will ultimately become bene-
fit, since it will bring the farm nearer the
market and also reduce the cost OF getting
there with the produce.
Upon the practical methods of building
good roads l do not feel that it is necessary
for me to add much, since the information
may be readily obtained from various publica-
tions, and you have also heard the practical
paper of Mr.. Samuel Downing, one of the
Road Commissioners of Pennsylvania, which
was submitted last year to this Association.
There are few points, however, which 1t
may be we'll to touch upon.
THE ROAD METAL.
NC LuOeb lupOL lOlCAo W buO oCiCIoiOh
of proper material. In general it may be said
that, that material aoiH make the best road co.,
ering so7ich is least affected By temperature,
and pressure. This would exclude
vegetable flores and limit the selection to the
and most durable mineral substances,
as trap rock, granite, syenite and other men,
bers of the siliceous group.
The size and form are also important, and
in these particulars there are many opinions,
but looking back to the experience OF that
most famous road maker, Sir John MacAdam,
we find him limiting the size to six ounce
stones, or those that would pass through II
inch ring in their longest dimension, and OF
angular form. Moreover, he did not screen
and separate the sizes, afterwards laying them
in layers, with the fine screenings on top,
thus adding 10 the weakness Of the structure,
as well as its cost, but, by breaking as speci-
fed. it was impossible but that the greater
part of the stones must be under that size and
that 1.-THE state of disrepair and the amount of
expense varies in pretty exact proportion
10 the size of the material used" whether too
large or too small. The result of his method
of breaking and laying was water-tight,
hard, smooth flooring, the main purpose of
which was not to sustain the load, which was
transmitted to the road-bed below, but 10 pro-
ect the latter from rain.
His observations as to the selection of ap-
propriate materials are as true to-day and
apply with equal force as when he said, in
1919, 1.-THE def cts of the roads appear to pro-
coed principally from the large use Of mix
ture of clay and chalk and otner matters that
imbibe water and are affected by frost"
This same principle of a constant volume
for the material under all physical conditions
applies to earth roads as we'll as TO those of
tn rn in ha coll
ton of location for the roadway. Clay Is
one of the most Objectionable of the earths,
because of it's large ratio of expansion and
absorption, while sand, when cemented
together with water, is one of the best But
sand, when dry, lacks conference, and hence
offers considerable resistance by yielding to
pressure. This may be in part neutraized
by proper admixture of clay and gravel with
the sand. In fact, an excellent water proof
covering can be made of clean gravel, 62 per
cent? sharp sand, 221 per cent, and clay, 15i
per cent. This involves transportation of
materials, but where these ingredients are
found to exist within reasonable distance of
each other it will be expedent to pay the cost
of such an admixture. lfthe gravel be broken
into angular fragments the result will be even
may be obtained no clay should be admitted
for the purpose of binding the metal together.
TIRES.
To prevent rutting the roa1 and to dis
tribute the weight of the load over larger
unit of surface, it should be required that
all heavy draught vehicles should have broad
tires. 1t is true economy for farmers, since
it ia easier for his team and reduces the cost
of repairing the roads. For all such wagons
a tire of not less than four inches in width
should be required. This important require
ment is usually ignored in legislation, and
vet it adds greatly 10 the maintenance of the
surface and reduces the cost of repairs.
DRAINAGE.
There ia not time to treat the subject of
drainage properly, as it is a special problem,
varying with the soils and sites, but it is one
of the fundamental requirements in the main.
tenance of good road-bed that it be thor
oughly drained and the channels for the rapid
escape of water be kept open at all times, but
especially during heavy storms, that the
of the road may not be dissolved
or washed out. 1t is during the storm that
the road-mender can do most effective service
by stopping washouts and opening conduits.
COST.
AS to the cost of construction, it is self
evident that no definite amount can be quoted
for every locality, as the component elements
are too variable, but it may be stated in
general way that the cost per mile for
double track metaled road will range from
81 900 to $40 900 per mile, according to width
and depth.
Mr.. Downing's estimate for mile of
macadam road, Is feet wide and 10 inches
thick, is $2,e45. This would require about
one half cubic yard per lineal foot, at cost
of $1.10 per yard, which is entirely within
reasonable limits, but, allowing slight mar
gin for contingencies and profits, it would be
safer, perhaps, to base an estimate upon
So 900 per mile for 16 foot wide road.
DR.. Bergey believes that good macadam