The Republican journal., 1892-04-07

are bestowed in the management of the
other departments OF government, and
every farmer living on the long line OF
that splendid roadway is happy and indie
pendent in the consciousness that he Is
every day and every way in touch with
the great world of business and society.
1t may be interesting for you to know
that the exact difference in power re-
uuired to move a given load over different
kinds OF road surface has been deter
mined many times. and so often verified
as to be well settled. From these expert
ments you may know that on the smooth
surface of Macadam road one horse will
haul twice the load that the same horse
could haul on the best dirt road. and from
five to ten times as much as can be haul
ed by single horse when the dirt road is
covered with soft mud and ruts From
this you will understand that the value
even of a dirt road depends very largely
upon its condition and the care with
which it is kept i'll good repair.
And right here. | must say to you, that
the great destroyers of the common earth
roads are water and narrow wheel tires
In the first place. these roads are. as a
rule. wretchedly drained, OF in many
cases not drained at all. If deep side
ditch could be maintained on each side OF
the ordinary ditch road and kept clear 50
as to receive and carry off the running
water, the quality of the road would be
improved. in most cases 100 per cent.
/ This is a point which farmers seem to
meagerly understand. OF, at all events,
one which they rarely put to practical
use. Water has no place in any road
good or bad. 1t is more hurtful than any
other agent of destruction. 1t should be
carried off and out OF every road as soon
as it falls if possible. Now. as to wheel
tires. let me remind YOU that you said a
little while ago that road was good
enough for your purpose whenever the
mud would roll and pack under the wheel :;
and by this | understand that you look
upon your wheel as Il roller SO it is.
Every road becomes smooth by the appli-
cation of a roller, and this smoothing
process is fastened or retarded by the
quality of the roller itself. If you have
wheel tire l 1-2 inches wide, like those
upon your farm wagon, every time you go
down the road with ton of produce.
your wagon wheels sink into the soft mud,
form ruts and tend to keep the road in
rough condition. Your 1-2 inch roll
err will not profitably exert it's rolling
dry. A wider wheel tire would serve
your purpose much better; and if the
farmers of your county would use wheel
tires 3 or inches wide, as are used
abroad, your dirt road would be rolled
into passable condition in half the time
that is now required to accomplish this
result
Next to water, nothing is SO destructive
of good road surface as heavy vehicle
running on narrow wheels. It has been
proven over and over again that wheels
with IL inch tires cause only one-half
the wear on a road that results from the
use of wheels with 1-2 inch tires. 1t
used to be the rule in England to make
the tire inch wide for every 500 pounds
of load or vehicle; that is, if the vehicle
and load weighed tons, 4-inch tires
would be used, but it was not found
profitable to increase the width much be-
yond 1-2 inches, except in cases where
wagons were used without springs, when
they were sometimes made as wide as 6
inches.