Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1894-09-22
FARM AND GARDEN.
ROAD CONSTRUCTION.
Some Valuable Advice from n Progressive
Ohio Farmer. f'.

Some Valuable Advice from n Progressive
Ohio Farmer. M a
Ihave had great deal of fexperience
In building roads with the modern
road machine, and my experience is
that very wide roadway and n COM
paratively level road, with shallow
bitches at the sides, with just crown
enough to carry off the water after
heavy rains, will keep in shape longer
and not rut as badly, as very high
crowned, narrow pike. A great mis-
take in building and maintaining earth
roads is in putting too much earth in
the road and disturbing soil that
should not be disturbed; but very lit
tie should be taken from the sides to
the center to make good road, and
in a level country, the driveway should
be as wide as possible after leaving,
say, five or six feet. outside the side
bitches next to the fence for a side
walk. These lawns or sidewalks on
each side of the roadway, should not
be wide enough TO drive on and rut
them in muddy weather. If one will
notice in driving through the country,
he will find where earth roads are mar
row, high-crowned pixies, and the
travel is confined to one or two tracks
only, that they are badly rutted in soft
weather, and rough and very unpleas-
ant to drive over at any tirne,s.f
/ have often observed that. where a
road is laid out 80 feet vide, there e-will
be Is or 90 feetsnext to the fences
grown up to weeds and brush, and a
narrow, high-crowned pike in the CEN
ter about 10 to 20 feet wide,withi very
| deep bitches at the sides, so deep that
they stand half full of water which
| does not drain out through the nat
! ural water courses. The result with
such road is that the water perco-
lates through the road bed. softens it.,
| and causes it to rut deeply. Such a
road costs much more to build and to
| maintain than a wide and com para
| lively level road Where roads are
built in this way, they should be wild
ened, and the side bitches put nearer
the fences with the modern road ma
chine. The way to do this, is to COM
mence at the outside, as l have de-
scribed, fill up the old bitches, and re-
| build the road. t....
The greatest drawback to our coun-
| try Is our public highways. 1t costs
more to haul 1000 bushels of wheat 10
miles over mud road, than 1t does to
transport the same from Chicago to
! NewIork, over the most expensive rail
road in the country. Our state prisons,
courthouses, jails and infirmaries, our
school houses and bridges, have been
! built and maintained; but our country
roads have been sadly neglected. What
we want now is money to improve our
| public highways, and a revision of our
existing road laws, whereby we can
! have a superintendent of highways
whose duty it is to attend to the roads
when they should be, and proper tools
to keep them in shape. Every town
ship should be provided with from two
to four reversible road machines, and
at least one heavy roller. If there is a
stone quarry in the township, either
limestone, granite or sandstone, or if
there are plenty of bowlders, there
should be rock crusher, and piece
of stone road should be built each year.
j. d. Olcott, in Rural New Yorker.