Herald and tribune. [volume] (Jonesborough, Tenn.) 1869-current, 1893-04-13
THE HOME AND FARM.

ihoro ID no luVerebC IN the United
States that has suffered SO much as
that of the roads. The roads of this
country have not kept pace with the
other improvements, and anything
that will encourage and stimulate the
people to the necessity of not only bet
ter paving in the cities but of more
substantial country roads, will con-
tribute q great deal to the earning pow
or of our people.-Hon. James Kerr,
Clerk of the House of Representatives,
in Memorial to Congress on Road Ex-
hibit at Worlds Columbian EXPOSE
ton.
ABOUT COUNTY ROADS.
The roadbed through a wet and
swampy country, and where the sur
face Of the land on either side is high.
er than the surface of theroad, will be-
come wet from the moisture which
soaks up from the bottom, the source
of the water on each side being higher
than the road. Such roads will in the
spring and other wet weather become
impossible. The only way to drain
such a road is longitudinally, with
three inch drain pipes running the en-
tire length of the road to be drained,
one line of tile beneath the middle of
the road, and beneath each side; it
should be of the porous cheap tile. such
as that used in some sections for sub
soil irrigation, which will freely ad-
init the water, the larger the pores the
better. This will carry off all the wa
ter, and the air passing through the
tiles will keep the road dry. Then se-
lect the clay from the sub soil for the
road; this clay should be as free from
organic matter as possible, should be
dry and compact, ground fine, and put
on in thin layers and rolled as hard as
possible; in this respect our common
road rollers are very defective in their
operation; while they level and COM
press the surface they do not allow the
air and moisture to escape; they fail to
pack the dirt firmly and make the road
solid and hard.
This can only be done with a roller
constructed on the principle Of the
tempering wheel used in old time brick
yards, which roller should be made
with narrow steel tires with spaces be-
tween. A heavy roller constructed on
this plan would make the road hard
and smooth. Notice how the bottoms
o fponds are made watertight by the
trampling of hogs, cattle and other an
imals having split hoofs. This could
not be done by the hoofs of horses and
mules, they having solid feet compress
the surface and leave the clay undis-
turbed a few inches below, as our com-
mon road rollers do. The road .must
be kneaded, ground and packed from
the bottom upward in layers 80 thin
that the roller will penetrate to the
bottom. of each, expelling all the air
and moisture. To keep the surface of
the road dry and hard, it should have
crown enough to make the transverse
grade greater than the longitudinal
grade, which would run most of the
water to the side bitches. If the water
be allowed to run down the road con-
stantly increasing in volume and veloc-
ity, it will wash away the best of
roads.
Where the road is very steep trans
verse ridges would assist in turning
the water to the sides. Keeping the
roads in repair should be the duty of
competent men, who should devote
their whole time to it. Roads, can be
made only in warm weather, and after
every hard rain this kneading roller
should be applied to harden and
pack them; the summer wind and SUN
would evaporate all the organic matter
and moisture, and the roads would not
heave in the spring when the frost
leaves the ground; notice the soil in a
dry hard bank where air and moisture
do not penetrate, no heaving there. /
am inclined to the belief that roads
should follow the natural lay Of the
country, rather than the direct lines
that necessitate deep cuts. / write this
not as q mature plan, but as a sugges-
ton, to call out the opinions and the
results Of the observations of others
Jno. O. Render, in Rural World.
DAIRY PARADOX.
Thunder has no effect upon milk be-
yond this, that during thundery wealth
or the atmospheric conditions are ex-
ceedingly favorable for the develop
ment Of the germs of ferment that
make milk sour, and their active null
duplication hastens the destruction of
the milk, writes John Gould in the
Country Gentleman. But so far as
thunder doing the damage by the jar
ring Of milk the effect would be the
same as If one should cause the milk to
be agitated slightly, and NO more.
Milk that 10 cooled down to forty five
degrees, a point too cold for the germs
Of ferment 10 reproduce themselves,
will not be affected by thunder altho'
exposed to the air, and I should be
pleased to hear Of q case of milk being
made thunder sour" that was in a
deep cold cellar.