The record-union., 1893-09-02
SECOND TO NONE.
Germany's Country Roads Among
the Best.
In Saxony the Highways are Lined
With Fruit Trees Streets Paved
With Beaten Asphalt, Which Has
Replaced Both Stone and Wood.

. OOSs'
With Beaten Asphalt, Which Has
Replaced Both Stone and Wood.
Saxony, if we may credit the unquali-
/ fed and enthusiastic assertion of Consul
Merritt Of Chemnitz, has without doubt
the finest system of roads in the world"
/ The kingdom, as is we'll known, is
densely populated. Two centuries ago
the Saxon roads were built with wood,
1 like our American corduroy roads. In
l1ol very progressive road law was en-
acted, which, among other provisions,
recognized the right of an owner to COM
| pensaUion whose land was taken to widen
a road, provided he had TO give up more
than $50 much as could be seeded with
two pecks of Dresden measure" The
roads Of to-day have a rock substructure
OF broken stone carefully placed by hand
on the smoothed and graded roadbed.
I The rule, says the New ork Sun, is to
/ select stones OF nearly equal size
and place them tightly against each
! other, each with its largest plain surface
/ downward, to prevent its working loose.
Small fragments ill the intervening
.
ranmed down. Then comes the super
structure. Of small broken stone, as
nearly cublcal as possible, and from the
size Of hens egg to that of walnut, de-
pending on the material. The road is
/ then soaked with water, rolled, and
finally covered with gravel, which is also
/ rolled. The average OF general repairs in
| State roads is but once lnseleven or
! twelve years, on account of the continu-
GUS local repairs. Great care is taken in
scraping off mud and removing dust
/ from these country roads.
But il is the trees on the roads OF Sax
ony that most strike and please the
American. They make long avenues,
stretching for miles, and are Well-Selected
and carefully kept In the year 1890 the
sum Of $50, 622 marks was obtained from
| the fruit grown on the State roads of Sax
ony alone, and the income from trees
! on country roatls was greater.
UTILITY AND BEAUTY COMBINED.
The objects in planting trees are said to
1 be primarily to make the road more dis
cernible at night and after snowdrifts;
and, secondarily, to afford pleasure and
comfort to waytarers. Hardy fruit trees
are chosen, 50 that when in bloom the
! roads are particularly charming; but for
I est trees are substituted where fruit can
not easily be grown, or where, as in very
populous places or near villages, the fruit
might be stolen and perhaps damage also
/ done to the trees thereby. When apple
| trees are planted, varieties having long
stems and lofty tops' are chosen. by pref
erence. Among timber trees, ash and
maple are favOrites, with wild cherry At a
| distance from villages. When other rea-
/ sons do not demand closer planting
| apple, pear and sweet cherry trees are
| put thirty to forty yards apart, and sour
cherry trees and plums from seven to
nine yards. The holes for fruit trees
: u trnr1 t-
four and half feet wide, and five feet
/ when the soil IS inferior, the depth being
two 10 three feet. When dry weather
prevails the tree "holIows'' should be
covered with moss, inverted sod, or SINH
! lar su distances.
10 protect young trees against rabbits
! and hares III winter, or other damages,
the stems should be tied up with thorns,
/ straw or reeds. Wire should be used for
this purpose. TO protect the trees against
! insects and to prevent the bursting OF the
! bark in winter, the stems of the fruit
trees should in the fall of the year be
whitewashed or covered with a mixture
| of lime and OK blood, compost, clay, or
! similar substance. A straw or moss
covering is considered a good protection
against the drying out of young trees
that are especially exposed to the sun and
wind"
This is taking good deal of trouble for
roadside trees, but it is well repaid. One
special reason, it should be explained
! why roadside trees are a necessity in
/ SaxOny is that there are very few fences
( or hedges in that kingdom, either along
| the roads or even dividing the fields.
/ Consul Merritt says broadly that "none
of the roads in SaNony are fenced. With
| the exception of a few picl<eted Enclosures
there are no fenced grounds in all Saxo
! The charming appearance of this king
| dom owes much OF its beauty to the fact
I4I. 80, I alT ii ~
| nils crested with dark pine forests, and
/ its fruitful plains are not disiigured by
| fences OF any kind" The question natu-
rally arises as to how it is with the un-
/ fenced railways, and on that point this
explanation is given.
Crossings on the level are guarded by
| descending barriers, even in the places
remote from towns and villages. Only
| Oh such railways as are narrow gauge
and called ''secundar' railroads is it Dos
sible to find level crossings which are un-
guarded by employees hired and paid by
the railroads. In such places warning
signs and the locomotive bell guard the
traveller on the turnpike. On all wagon
roads where steep, abrupt embankments
! endanger passengers or teams of horses, q
| barricade Is usually built Of stone posts
! connected with heavy angle iron bolted
! nrmly into place"
RULES FOR BICYCLE RIDERS.
| 1t further appears that Wheelmen or
/ bicyclists must provide lamps for their
! wheels; keep to the right; carry a metal
! shield on the front of the wheel with
name and address engraved on it: keep
OF the foOtpaths; ring a bell when APP
preaching anyone, and in some cases aD-
stain from riding side by side. When
riding in files given distance must in
! tervene between them and those who
precede them. Wheelmen, as such. paw
! no taxes. On some State roads heavily
laden vehicles are required to have GER
1 tain minimum width of tire. while
wagons having botheads or screws pro-
trudIng from the tire, or having tires with
| a rounded surface, are not permitted to
| enter the road at all. Drivers Of heavily
| loaded wagons pursuing a track already
worn must drive on different part Of the
road when so directed by any OF the road
| employees.
The city streets of Saxony are now
| paved largely with beaten asphalt as
/ Consul Palmer writes instead of stone.
and II has replaced wood, which was not
/ up to expectations. In suburban streets.
where there are only detached residences
! or villas, macadaming is preferred. The
paving stones used, besides the beaten
asphalt, which comes from Val de France.
] SeysseI and Sicily, are greenstone,
/ quartz-porphyry, syenite granite, arti-
! 11cIal STONES from copper slags, and small
| broken pieces OF basalt. There is the
same general system OF rock substructurer
and ra a t,Y1 ,,ct1,,t,v- r1a,la -,