The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1892-05-13
DEER CREEK FARMERS CLUB.
Road Improvement.


to Battle Swamp, in Cecil county. The barn is
the largest in the county, with stabling for 80
head of cattle, besides horses, &C., and comfort
able shedding in a warm and sheltered barn
yard. 1t is so by 60 feet in size and was built
in 1851.
Mr. ID. G.. Wharton Smith, President of the
club, was i'm the chair, with Mr.. X. Harris Arch
err Secretary Others present were Messrs.
James w. Hanna, James +. Kcnly, John
Moores, VIM. d. Lee, E. p. Moores, Robert +.
Hanna. Bennett ii. Barnes, John B. Wysong,
s. B. Hanna, Geo. R. Stephenson, William
Stephenson, F. w. Baker and E. c. Hopkins of
Lee.
Messrs. John Moores. James +. Kenly and
Robert +. Hanna were appointed Il committee
to examine and report upon the condition of
the farm, the buildings and the stock. Their
report was complimentary to Mr.. Hopkins rs Il
farmer. His farm, the committee said, is one
of the finest in the county, and every thing
around him is in first-class condition and on a
very extensive SCALE The barn, besides being
the largest in the county, is conveniently ar
ranged. He has b good stock cattle, some fine
cows and q number of colts, among which is a
very promising one by Almont Chief. His farm
implements are in good condition ana his grass
and wheat look well.
ROAD IMPROVEMENT.
A communication from Mr.. Albert A. Pope,
of Boston, Mass, was read. It was in relation
to providing a separate building ut the Chicago
Exposition for n comprehensive exhibit of road
making and road-making machinery. The cir
cular points out the fact that for visitor to
line five enormous buildings, covering 40
acres, must be trayersed. The club approved
the suggestion of Col. Pope.
From this the discussion naturally drifted to
the road subject, upon which there was great
deal of talk.
WIN. b. Hopkins deprecated the custom of
spending all the appropriation upon the roads
at the time of first mending them. Enough
should be retained by neutrality-suspicious. to pay
tsNIa no do rhn
road the entire year. portion of the road
money should be spent every year in macad-
amizing places that can not be kept passable
otherwise. The Commissioners should appoint
the best men as general road supervisors, and
give the road mending, as far as possible, to
men who are directly interested i'll the roads
they mend.
james w. Hanna said the less loose earth
that is put on the roads the better. He also
thought some money should always be retain
ed for work on the roads throughout the year.
Too much money is wasted by incapable men
and road warrants are given to men who do
not own horse or even shovel to work with
on the roads,
r. Harris Archer thought many men will
work better with borrowed shovel than with
Mr. Hanna also thought the roads would be
more easily kept in order if better laid out.
Edward P. Moores said the Commissioners in
selecting road supervisors should choose those
who attend to their own business well-not men
who wait until the last of May to plant their
corn and work the roads afterwards. Too
dump scraper should not be used on roads.
They dump the earth i'm little piles and make
the road rough. Neither Is road machine nor
Bennett III. Barnes said the first thing i'll re-
pairing road is to open the water courses and
use as little earth as possible on the road bed
| only enough to keep it a little full in the mid
die so the water will get to the side drains
quickly. By this course in time the road will
get a hard surface that will not be cut up SO
easily. Few breaks are needed in any road
| and these should be of half-moon shape, the
| convex part extending up the hill: Water
should never be made TO cross road except
| through a culvert. 1t is waste of time and
money to cover rough, stony places with dirt.
| The stones should be smoothed down with
hammers and levelled up with small broken
stones.
james F. Kenly said that to have good roads
| we must have good supervisors. 1t would be
| well for the county to have in every precinct q
road gang for special work on roads. Getting
familiar with the work they could do it better
than any one else; He was also opposed tg
thought road scrapers were intended to smooth
roads by cutting of the knobs and filling up
! the depressions and not to move all the dirt
upon the roads that can possibly be placed
| there. Good drainage is also essential. When
| mud-hole occurs the water and mud should
be taken out and the hole filled with gravel Oh
some material that will not make mud. 1t is Il
| mistake to shovel the worn-out dirt from the
! cutters into the middle of the road. By plac-
ing as little fresh dirt possible on the road
| bed after a while the soluble part washes Off
| leaving sandy sediment which makes II good
| hard surface. The road from Calvary to Ores
| well has been mended III this way for years and
never gets very muddy. The roads would
| soon become better if less money were spent
| in piling dirt on them and the remainder of the
appropriation used in permanent improve.
ment. Roads, of course. must be kept i'll such
| Il shape that the water will run off quickly. In
| many cases hills might be gradually graded
| down. Building high breaks on hills ncreas.
| es the labor of teams in ascending. 1t would
| be better to dig out Il little above the break
every year. He agreed with Others that the
fiit,u fNf ha IN
| live alongside of them, who would probably
| have more interest than others in keeping them
\ in good order.
| John Moores said three factors enter into the
| maintenance of good dirt roads-good manage
| ment, good money and dry weather. Roads
should be worked at the proper time and we
should not have too much mud throwing
| Drainage is very important A great deal OF
this should be done with blind bitches in the
centre of the road and along the sides. In
many cases, where stone is not convenient
these bitches will be cheaper than turnpiking
! He would recommend that as little mending
| as possible should be done with dirt and Is
| much as possible spent i'll stone or other hard
material. He was opposed to cutting up roads
| in very small sections. When man is found
| qualified to mend roads properly he should be
| given all the road to mend that he will take
| The cost is increased by cutting up the roads
| into small sections, because road supervisors
| are allowed pay for one day to hunt hands and
| for another day to return their accounts This
| alone costs Hartford county about 81 $50 a
| year. Many farmers have not found out that
| four can on dirt road In making turnpike
| the road should be first well drained and grad.
| ed Mr.. Moores insisted that an engineer is
| needed to give proper directions about grading
| and draining roads and the best way of mend.
| ing them. The average farmer is not always
good road mender and money is wasted from
want of knowledge on the subject. Our roads
are miSerably located and improvement could
| be made in this respect.
Il. T. Swartz adverted to the Importance OF
competent supervisors. The appropriation, tc
each is small and good Judgment is required in
| spending it. He thought dump scrapers car
be used to advantage ii the dirt is properly dis
| tributed after being dumped. There is no adj
\ vantage in putting too much dirt on a road.
John Is. WysOng regarded drainage as the
most important point i'll rOad-mending. Some
| farmers object to having water turned into
| their fields from the public road, but if done sc
that the field will not be washed it is valuable
| to grass lands. The practice of farmers clean
/ ing their fence rows and allowing the brush t.
| fall and remain in the side drains should be-
| stopped. In opening side drains much of the
| thrown on the bank. Our system of road
| mending would not be so imperfect if incom.
petent men were not appointed for their votes
| 1t was unfortunate that the State Road Engin
| eer was not appointed. Farmers opposed il
/ without thinking. 1t would be well for the
| county to have force of men constantly en-
plOyed to look after the roads, as railroads do
George X. Stephenson said it is a mistake tC
| do all the mending on roads at once. The care
| of roads should extend throughout the year
After heavy rains the drains should be opened
| the water let out from mud puddles and the
| holes filled up. Sometimes in the spring a mud.
| hole becomes impossible and requires prompt
1 attention. The water and mud should be baled
| out and the sides cut down perpendicularly to
| a depth of several inches and the hole filled
with small stone. He did not, however, advo.
cate this plan of mending mud-holes except
| where it is unavoidable. The trouble is with
! the people. III they would select the best men
4 for county officials, the latter would choose
| good men to mend the roads, We will never
| have better roads until some definite system of
| road mending is established similar to the one
L 81 no ntnc
MIR: stephenson warmly advocated district
| taxation and district supervision of public
roads; If the people. of u district were COM
| PEELED to tax themselves for their roads they
would see that the best results were obtained
| from their money. This system should be sup
plemented by State aid on the main thorough
| fares at least.
Robert +. Hanna said road supervisors should
be taxpayers and persons who use the roads
| should not be too long. A road scraper should
go over the road early in the season, levelling
| up and scraping down the nubs. Then a force
of hands should follow to open the drains. Do
away with most of the breaks. Where the
| water must cross the road put load of broken
| stones. Where hole exists in the road "A few
cart loads of stone is the best way to mend it.
Put as little dirt on the road as possible.
VIM. ID. Lee thought road machines and
dump scrapers are of value on roads if used
with Judgment. Our main thoroughfares
should be permanently improved as rapidly as
| possible. We can't have good dirt roads during
the winter and spring months.
+. c. Hopkins of Lee said dirt thrown on the
road in the fall is an injury and makes mud all
the winter. The money should be spent all the
| manent roads. If we had good practical men
| to mend the roads we would do as well as if we
had an engineer.
George K. Stephenson said he would like to
insist upon the County Commissioners having II
piece of turnpike made under the direction of
competent engineer as an object lesson to
road members. We are wasting money by our
extravagant methods of making trIrnpilxes.
The road ought to be graded and the stone put