The Cape Girardeau Democrat. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1876-1909, 1896-05-30
FARM N GARDEN,
An Important Subject InstructiveIy Treat
ed by an Oregon Man.

Good roads are being practically AMI
scientifically considered by the Oregon
Road club. OF Portland, Ore. 1t r~ecently
issued a bulletin in which y. i. Chase,
member OF the club. gives some inter
esting points on Highway Location"
The following lines are aiken from his
paper:
To locate a wagon road properly is 4
work requiring 10 little thought and
careful consideration. To weigh ali the
conditions, giving TO each its proper
Importance, and finally 20 makca loca-
ton i'll which conditions are balanced.
requires much time and thought. and
cannot be lone in 4 day. To be sure. il
Is easy enough to say THAI a road over
which 4 team can haul 4 Ton is better
than a road en- which hail Il ton Is 4
limit. But. maybe the people who are
to use the road have more horsepower
and time TO spare than money. Again.
the traffic Of a district may he light, 50
that IL is cheaper, both at present and il:
tie long run, TO endure The inconveni-
ence OF steep grades than 10 reduce
them.
al ALt lENulF tfNclJlEL.stLl OF Il
district must lie considered. \ traff.r
OF 20 ons 4 day now may grow to 200
tens The loss caused by steep grades
might he unimportInt TO the losers IL
Il first case. but serious in the latter.
To express it differently. what does
grade cost the users? Or what effect
has grade On the traffic? What would
it be worth to the users % 4 roaG to have
alighter grade? How far would you ne
justified i'll spending money 70 20
around a hill 10 avoid going over it?
All other things heIn" equal. the farm
line is the place for IKE road. In the
middle west, especially i'll the prairie
states, the section Inc vas generally a.
good as any other. but IN the hill cous-
tries the locator ought net to he re-
Guirod TO locate on i division lire. s;E-
ply because it is some one farm line.
in the study Of grades. the direction
OF the heaviest traffic should ne con~;I-
cred. Most OF our market towns are in
the !owlanGs. while producing district,
are higher up. Obviously, Il hill down
which a load must pass is not 50 objeC-
ti0ma0ie as one which a load must as
cend- You would not spend 20 much
money nor use % much distance to -.
luce 4 grade which IS gown for The
O of the traffic. as you would Tor IN
which must be assembled by the loaded
teams. OF course. the subject OF direC-
tor of traffic cannot be considered as
closely as in railroad work, but it ought
not TO be lost sight of.
Enough undulation liz a road for good
drainage is desirable. hut heavy un-
dulGtion causes more loss of horsepower
and waste of time than any other one
mistake of The road locator. To go UD
n hill just to go down again ought 10 Ike
avoided, yet hat is what we are doing
on most of our hill roads.
The locator, when laying out roads
connecting places az different attitudes.
should endeavor not to lose grade. that
is, when the grade has been brought
down to the desired level. keep it there:
or. if it has reached the desired altitude.
do not go down again.
We ought to be willing TO make con
siderable distance 10 avoid making an
upgrade in the direction of heaviest
traffic sleeper than five per cent. Grades
up to ten and twelve feet in one hun
dred are not uncommon in mountain
districts, but they are bad for any light
traffic. Keep your long grade lines ne
low five per cent. if possible, or, if the
rlust be sleeper. break the line occa-
siOnaliy with u short distance of easier
grade.
1t sometimes occurs that 4 valley road
miles long. has one or two bad hills in
its way. This is the place to spcrG
Your money to reduce grade. either b,
digging down or going around. for Jhis
one hill determines the hauling ca
pacitv of your teams. which might haul
two tons over the miles OF nearly level
valley road. and but half 4 ton over the
hill. ~ road leading from one town 70
another. or from Il denseiv populated
district 20 market or through manufac-
turing districts. ought to have lover
grades than simple nei%-,orhood roads.
The traffic determines whetheri il Will
ray 10 go around a hill or over it. If i;
is a poor road, those who use it must
suffer for il, either by hauling more
loads or increasing horsepower. Avoid
Gcad-leyel roads unless theE can he Wei
drained. Avoid swamPs. if possible. Ii
is very expensive 10 build Z good road
through Il marsh, and expensive 20 main ,
tain.
do rot lose sight of the drainage cues
ton. 1t is easy enough to drain where
grades are. but dead-Ievel valley roads
are 100 often Z lItiie earth taroNn W
between TWO long frog ponds. Drain
these off. if possible, for. depend upon
il. drainage Is the soul Of good road.
Avoid crossing streams. Whenever pos
sible. Bridges add muck 20 the cost OF
q read.
IN general. keep your grades as iow AZ
you can consistently with the purposes
for which the ROAD IS buiit. and The
ability of the people 10 pay for WORK.
not forgetting that the better the ICca-
ton. the less it will cost 10 build and
maintain the road.
Some persons think that the day OF
the road horse is about ended, and the
roads should be located and built 10
suit some sort OF motor. do not share
the belief. The morse Will be with uSa