The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1900-08-30
Agriculture.
Gan Eo.ps lSp Pan

lie ten states 10 qaesiion krcp via
they are falling about. They had ID
vot.i iosds, end uou they have ~, .
lessi they ate consttuetibsl the best IL
lfsi smonR these Is Msssteb utelts, ~
seeond. Ne~ Jsref.
II will t. msiter OF news 10 nauy 4
learn lhst the United States soverpmen
has gone inio the rosd qae,tie
10 the mos, energetic aud the
oush msnptr imaginable aud hsvins
through the department OF agriculture
siuoiei what constitutes . good road sol
Why good roads are needed. has gone 4
work 10 spread the Information and tescl
the people. II has experiment station
10 every state 10 the Union, where le,sseD
10 rosdmsking are taught Hundreds o
pamphlets showing Iost bow good road
10 constructed snd how 1t may be preserved
have been published by the government
aud may be hid Tor the asking. Obieci
lessons 10 road building are given snpua
ly in every state 10 the Uniop, when II
scme worst sections quarter or hall q
even . mile Of excellent roadway is cor
shuoted, aud The people shown how ard
why it ought to be done. These object
lsttont. begun in 1894. have doue more
than anything else to start the great move
ment which is now furlhuring The cen
stfuctiop Of perfect roads the land over
The government In these exhibitions
ordinarily constructs three specimen
rosds-a modern mscsdsm, Q sand aud 90
ordinary dirt road. When these roads
ere Completed. q heavy farm wagon. load
ed with produce. is drawn over each oil
them, and the amount OF force required
to haul II is determined by the use OF q
trackometer. This instrument is 80 con
structed ss TO accurately register every
pound the horses pull st every stage Of
The haul 10 plain view OF those 10 its vicIn
ity. 1t is made clear by these expert
ments that u tenn harnessed 10 the ordin
airy way is subject, under the best condi
tions, to continual jerking motion, which
must, on even the smootbest country
road, greatly increase its fatigue On a
dirt road in bad condition this Jerking be
comes a succession OF heavy blows trans
mtted to the team by m cans OF the collar.
They are cruelly painful, bruising the
shoulders, harassing and torturing the
animals, constantly lessening their value
as well as directly decreasing the amount
Of the load that it is possible to haul.
During one OF these experiments .
team OF small mules readily drew IL
bales Of cotton on heavy SIudebaker
wagon up q 10 per cent grade Of the mac
adam road. the trackometer indicatipg q
I ull OF 900 pounds. The same ;eom
#as stalled completely in going down a 6
per cent grade Of the sund road after pull
jpgtb indicator to l. 900 pounds. Nine
bsles OF cotton were removed before the
load cohlj be again pm 10 cotton. The
RIVER &c n,cj 10 stn'Gfe ST ali upot ID
lut,oa' ei'b VII II h.'n load
lu addition TO III lessen iL,ie are
many ofbets leeulnl, q minister 4. Tius
tie government Las fh3'cgttphs iskrf |
showio. the tx.cl process Of proper ROAD
building. which it ,r.lb!s al ftirs. t1pos |
sitious and meetings Of Ill kiLds sbcFr |
GOOD roads can be properly talked over. |
lndeed the agricultural department is
great believer IN photographs. and no OPP
portunity Is lost to fash convincing pic
lure before the eyes OF the unbelievsr
The picture OF Q road before and after il |
has been improved 10 one OF the most
common kind. That OF rse unable to
pull even o light load on q bad road, yet |
heavy one on good road. is al
10 common. Thus the great work is fur
hfred.
Another part OF this government move
nent, says a writer in Pesrson's Magazine,
5 that OF advocating the building OF steel
rack wagon roads, which ia 40 entirely
lew scheme. bat which has proved won
lerful high~ay idea. Briefly, it is sys
EN- OF laying vide steel rails upon ordin
ny highways. The road thus lsid con
lists Of two parallel lines Of stsel plates or
,,ta .,cht IL alma ;1a Liza - n . ~ nj a,a,t |
distance apart to r ceive the wheels OF
ebicies OF ttsndsrd yusse. These platee,
Z tracks. bsve tlgh,ly q. ward project
ne hsnge on the inner edge, so rs TO pre-
eat the wheels Of ordinary vehicles from
ssily lesviog the track. At The same
Ime the f,uges, being only one hall incb
Ugh. ste not OF rise sniii 3ieut TO pre-
ent vehicles from leaving the track for
be purpose OF passing other vehicles
henever the driver so desires, These
Ieel tracks are not supported by wooden
ross ties or longiiudiusl stringers OF sDy
ind, but are made solid In the road by
snpes projecting both downward and
utwsrd, which are em bedded 10 the con
rete OF the rosdbed.
One OF the experiments made by the
overnmeDt consisted Of having . heavy
'Ad Of II tons drawn BY 20 hors
over 8 common read, which Icy along
de the steel track road, and then having
lie same load drawn BY one horse 90 the
eel track road. This load was 70 time.
10 weight OF the s1imsi aud vs eai y
owed with light harness.