The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1893-03-10
HOW TO OBTAIN GOOD ROADS.
Where Good Material Is Abundant Great
Expense Is Not Necessary.

""''' Noou Es ADuuuuUN OTSht l
Expense Is Not Necessary.
So much has been said about the diff
Guilty of making good country roads
without involving a great outlay of
money that it seems rather presuming
to take a contrary view of the subject,
but think the matter has been much
exaggerated, and that in any part of the |
country where clay, hardpan, gravel or |
disintegrated rock can be found it is |
quite easy to get excellent roads at com |
paratively little expense. speak from
some practical experience acquired in |
roadmaking in very wild and hilly re-
gion Of northern New Jersey, where we
are accustomed to work out our taxes
on 10 or more miles Of public highway,
and by adopting the following system
we have found it easy to keep the roads
in such good condition that they can bo
driven over at all times with speed, com
fort and pleasure.
The proper time to begin work or re-
pairs is in the early spring, just after
the frost comes out of the ground-as
soon as the roads have thoroughly settled
and dried out. Where the road is old,
with a good, solid bed, the first thing to
be done is to cover it all over with
light dressing of gravelly material, and
when possible finish it off with top
, coating OF hardpan, but avoid putting II
! on too thickly, lest the going become
heavy, ms it is slow to dry out. Loan is
worse than useless, because 1t never
packs properly and makes mud.
Care must be taken to raise the road
up toward the center and give 1t a
slight elevation at the crown, but only
just enough to shed the water on either
side into the cutters. On lovel
straight road the crown should only bo
slightly convex, for rounding up a mar
row road In the middle is Objectionable,
insomuch as it has the immediate effect
Of forcing wheels of vehicles to run al
ways in the same line and wear away
the new material into deep ruts, that
quickly become water courses for the
wash OF the next rain and assist the
rapid destruction Of the road by pre-
venting the water from reaching the
cutters.
As fast as the new material can be
laid on it should be very carefully raked
over to remove all the large stones and
as many Of the smaller ones as possible,
for where this precaution Is neglected
until the stuff packs down hard, which
happens in few days, the stones be-
come 80 firmly embedded that they are
not only difficult to remove, but soon
xIn ,n,l 20 ~, h,,, nd
bumps, and later in the season, during
tho dry weather, they work up continu-
ally and become source of annoyance
and danger.
The cutters should then be carefully
cleaned by removing from them all de.
posits of mud, decayed leaves or branches
which have collected there during the
winter months Never allow this STUFF!
to be heedlessly thrown along the edges
of the gutter or on the banks above
them, for the first rains will surely wash
all back to its old place, and the worl
has to be done over again.
Another practical reason in favor OF
keeping the cutters free just after tho
roads are first repaired is that when thC
heavy spring and summer showers have
washed away the greater portiontof The
good, new coating it is at once caught
and retained in the cutters, ready to bt
used the first time the road needs patch
ing, when man or two can quickly pu
, it in first class order by simply shovel
ing back the material into its old place
again and then ralSing it over.
In the early spring, while the grave
= or hardpan is still sticky or heavy, th'
! process Of drying out and packing down
can be greatly accelerated by keepin!
I some one raking over the road to leve
: off and smooth down the ruts as fast a
they are made by the cutting in Of th'
, wheels, instead of allowing them to wea
down deeper and deeper, and to furnisl
q sure channels for the wash of water
which adds to the difficulty and expens
of repairing.
This method is quicker, easier and ia
more economical than rolling, which re
uuires pair of horses, and it is surpris
ing how great u distance smart worke
can get over and put in perfect orde
= during day. By repeating this rakinl
once or twice, according to the condition
of the road and the amount Of trave
upon it, the surface will pack dow
quite as hard and even as that Of a parl
road.
Whenever a mud puddle appears, ow
} ing to some slight depression, in plac
70 shaded by trees or shadows OF hill
8 that the sun loses its power, 1t shoul
never be left to dry out slowly, day afte
day giving the wheels chance to Gu
into it more deeply, but as soon as discov
cred CARLOAD of good, dry gravel shoul
1t at once be dumped into it, then rake
e off, tamped down and perhaps rerake
II until it packs hard and smooth.-Sara
| Coopar Hayitt in Harner'g