Morris tribune., 1895-03-06
FARM AND GARDEN.
RoAps IN VIRGINIA..
bIr. ID. q. Nourse Tells How They Might
he IMPROVED

hIr. ID. q. Nourse Tells How They Might
BE Improved.
Mr.. d. o. Nourse, the agriculturist
and farm superintendent of Virginia
experiment station, has just published
a bulletin relating to the roads of that
state-''if," as he says, s'the tracks over
which we are obliged to travel may be
dignified by the name of roads"-in
which he makes a strong plea for plac-
ing the building and repair of earth
roads in the hands of persons who
understand how to do such work in ac-
cordance with correct principles. What
is wanted is an engineeror overseer for
each county, to be paid regular salary,
who would, if a man of honor, be
jealous of his reputation, and good
roads would be the result. Such an
officer could, in few years, by keeping
sufficient number of teams and en-
ploying men used to the work who
would be becoming better workmen
year by year, build up department
that would be credit to the commun-
ity. 1t is no wonder that roads are
poor when contracts are let to persons
who hardly know a good road from a
bad one-for it is just as necessary to
know how to build highway as it is
to build railroad. A few fundamental
principles in the building and mainten-
ance of earth roads are given.
l. A common error is that of at
tempting to repair without first re-
moving the cause of the trouble. Drain
age must be first attended to, as it is
simply impossible to make a road bed
to stand if the drainage is bad. 'We
have seen on one of the most travelled
roads the water run for half mile in
the wheel end horse tracks, when per-
haps the taking out OF stump or one
blast of rock would remove all OBJ
structions and allow good cutters"
Water must be kept out of the road at
all hazards and this must first, last and
always be by the conduits at each side.
2. Water never runs up hill. Often
the cutters are sufficiently good in
every respect except that the slope is
in the wrong direction. The eye is not
always a true evidence of slope of
ground, as the topography of the land
may be such that the fall is more APP
parent than real Apply the test of
the simple level
8. A safe rule is to place bridges or
culverts wherever there is depres-
sion in the road; and unless the water
may be conveyed to fields on each side,
d culvert must be made in the lowest
spot, carrying the water across the
road.
4. Whenever mud hole is formed
in an earth road, it should never be
filed with lot of stones, as this is al |
most certain to make two mud holes
instead of one. First remove the mud |
and water from the puddle, and then |
take earth as nearly of the same nature
as the roadbed as possible and pound
this into the hole firmly, SO that wheels
may pass over it at once without sink
ing into it. It should be filed some
what higher than surrounding portions
to allow for settling.
5. Give the road bed the proper slope.
Never allow it to be too fat, or lower
in the middle than at the sides. A Sec
ton of road should, if cut transversely, |
present an arc in shape, sloping from I
the center to each side. This, of course,
is to prevent water from standing on
the surface.
6. Do not make roads too wide or
too narrow. If too wide they become
very expensive to keep in repair, and
if too narrow the cutters become OBJ
structed from wagons running into
them. In general these rules apply with
equal force to earth or rock roads, as, if |
a rock road is to be made, these princi-
pies must first be carried out. The idea
may appear absurdly simple, but there
are thousands of instances in which !
they are utterly disregarded in road
building and repairs and hence are the
more necessary. American Agricul-
turist.