River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1897-04-15
FARM AND GARDEN.
ROAD CONSTRUCTION.
before WORK Begun the Probable
Cost ShnuId He CnnaidereG.

before Work - Begun the Probable
Cost should he Considered.
While good roads are greatly to be
desired. voters should carefully con-
slider the cost before authorizing work.
| A New Jersey man writing in an east
ern exchange says: In this township
there are so miles of roads; the usual
appropriation for opening and repair
I ing roads, shoveling snow, etc, is
81 800, or an average of $50 per mile.
Some stretches of road average more
I than $50 per mile, others less. With this
small outlay the majority of the roads
are in much better condition than they
were 25 years ago.
| Farmers, being the one class of tax
/ payer who cannot escape paying the
/ tax for building stone roads, figure as
/ follows: One mile of stone road costs
about $4,000, or sum equal 10 the
assessors list. To build one mile of
stone road would double the tax rate.
/ Or, the interest on the cost of one mile
/ of road would be, at five per cent, $500.
/ Experts estimate the cost of keeping
stone roads in repair at 500 per mile.
/ per year. Such figures are appalling
TO farmers, and they are also confront
/ ed with the fact that the road bonds of
much weather counties than the one
! in question do not find ready purchasers.
AS stone roads are not probable for
/ years to come, improvement by some
| cheaper method should be considered.
/ This good roads problem must be met.
and if 10 can be done without bank
rupting farmers all good citizens
should bid gcdspeed TO the work. One
of the greatest obstacles to better
roads in their present construction is
poor drainage. Stone road builders
never neglect the drainage, even though
they lay stone IL or Is inches deep.
Many pieces of spongy roadbcd may be
made solid by proper drainage. After
drainage is attended to by good side
bitches, and underdrains where needed,
the roadbeds should be rounded, so that
water will not stand in puddles. My
experience in mending roads is that on
dirt road there should be no mixture
of stones with the dirt, as such roads
are always rough and holes will be
gouged out and there is danger of
breaking wagons. besides the discom-
fort of bouncing as one passes along.
1t IL often the case along streams that
gravel can be had for the hauling, and
a coat of this, or shale. on a properly
drained road, will make a solid and
smooth road for several years. Each
township should annually raise rea-
sonable sum, besides the regular road
tax, for permanent improvement. There
are low places in nearly every district
that cannot be properly drained, and
such places should be stoned so as to
make lasting job, and after the stones
are well pounded down they should be
covered with gravel or shale. BY some
such means, our roads would gradually
become better, without excessive taxa
ton, and the work being carried on
simultaneously in all parts of the towns
ship, the cry of taxation without rep
resentation would not be heard, as in
the case of building expensive stone
roads; for in the nature of things I'M
der that system, many men must pay
the excessive taxes all their days and
reap no benefit therefrom.-Journal of
Agriculture.