Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1898-07-29
SCOTCH ROAD SYSTEM
SPLENDID HIGHWAYS KEPT IN PER-
Feet CONDITION.

All constitution ana KepatrS are Con- |
trolled by skilled Lngineers-No FARM
work on the Boads-Field stones
Gathered and Crushed For Road Metal.
In an address before the Ilion On. Y |
board of trade, Hon. Robert Mackinnon |
gave an account of what he had observ- |
ed abroad, and particularly in Scotland |
In connection with the care and repair |
of roads. He said 81 rode great many
miles over and around the hills through
this exceedingly interesting country.
Scotland does not begin to be as wealthy
a country as the state of New York, but
everywhere through this romantic, billy
country the roads were a Joy to every
one who had the pleasant experience of
travelling over them and knows how
much they add to the idealty and beauty
of the country.
"IIow do they get these results, you
inquire. In the first place, no farmer is
allowed to work on the road. He spends
his time to better advantage, taking care
of his farm. In the next place, no dirt is
put on the road, but dirt is taken of the
the road. In the next place, not a foot
of road is built or repaired under ire
sponsible management, every mile of the
road being under the control of an in
spector, or engineer, as we would call
him in this country.
The keeping of roads is let by con-
tract at public letting The inspector
adveItlses on so many miles of road.
The roads are called by names, such as
the Little Falls road, the Ierkimer road.
or the IliOn road, and every bidder of
courses knows which road he is bidding
on. Every mile or so along these roads
there Is little square place made in the
/ fields adjoining aud open to the road
about - by 20 feet, ana when thes crops
are all taken in and the ground will al
low it the contractor goes into the fields
with a single horse and cart.
II do not remember in all Scotland or
/ England of seeing a farmer conveyance
drawn by more than one horse. One
horse there draws more than two horses
here. because of the condition of the
roads. The contractor picks up all the
cobblestOnes and loose stones in the field
and carries them to this square inclosure.
When the spring comes, they take these
NLOltS anu Uitdk lIltIll llllO CRUSH SlOut
and make what they call road metal. In
the meantime, in the spring of the year,
they see that the cutters at the side of
the road are kept open, that the water is
properly drawn off, that the weeds are
kept cut down, and mud, if any collects
on the road, is scraped of, When the
rainy or wet season comes in the fall of
the year. then the road metal is drawn in
a one horse wagon and put carefully on
the road in places where it is needed, and
it is gradually worn into position by the
travel on the road, so that when the fol
lowing spring comes it is worn into posi-
ton and is as smooth as floor
They are, however, improving on this
system, and they carefully save the dirt
which wears away from the stone upon
the road andi put 1t in piles. Its
composition is like cement. Then in
the fall they put the broken stone on and
cover it with this loose dirt and run a
roller over II and put it in place, which
very materially expedites the repairing
of the roads. All the stone that ! saw
used upon the roads seemed to be {
limestone, something of the character
used in the village of Mohawk, and an
convinced that it is much easier to keel
a smooth and perfect surface out of lime
stone than from the stone around LITTLE
Falls. This stone, however, | think
wears somewhat longer than the lime
stone does. | think sometimes that
little mixture of our hard gneiss rock ant
the limestone would make much bette
road than by simply using our rocl
alone.
1--WE have in this example of the car
of foreign roads the very opposite prin
ciple from that adopted and in vogue il
the state of New York. Our system re
suits in loss to the farmer in more tina
a financial way. 1t is loss TO him sc
cially, spiritually and Intellectually.
largely destroys every comfort of Twin
in the country and is a detriment to hir
in every way. If | did not believe tina
the peple in the country could be better
ed by good roads, | would never hav
had anything to say on the subject