The Farmville herald. [volume] (Farmville, Va.) 1890-1934, 1900-06-08
THOROUGH DRAINAGE
This l. the First and Fundamental
Requisite OF All Good Roads.
Hard or soft.

Evidences abound in every part OF
the country that people Of an occupa-
tions and pursuits are considering care
fully the results TO be obtained by hav-
ing highways hard and firm for travel
az an seasons of the year A farmer in
Kansas states the case truly when he
SAYS that "there is no one that oppre-
ciates good roads more than does the
farmer" and hc states that last spring
they had enough experience with bad
roads 20 SET anybody thinking Re says;
eve can't go 90 town or anywhere else
tin b. gets TO be a grounding case:
then we hitch up and drag through,
the mud rolling mp over The wheels and
making great burrows in the roads.
Then, when the spring rains come, the
water runs down the hills i'm those fur
rows md washes out great bitches in
the middle of the road. Then. there is
Just about enough road work done 10
patch them up, only TO be repeated
again next year. Why, we can't go TO
church ON Sunday without being afraid
of getting stuck in the mud or pulling
a single-tree In two, OF something else
of the kind"
Such experience is common 20 every
farming district and to each section
I'm the land where ordinary country
roads" exist. The only remedy is 10
improve the roads by a thorough sys-
TEN OF maintenance, no matter wheth-
er they are continued as dirt" roads
or whether gravel. shell, stone or other
substance be laid upon them to inn
prove them. 1t is often thought. but
most mistakenly. that If a road is
macadamized, It will need little or no
care. at least for a number Of years.
There is no worse error. Every road
or street. no matter how constructed
or laid, requires constant watching in
order TO keep ii at its best and get the
maximum results from il. This not only
secures the highest efficiency. but the
greatest economy Of service. Coun-
try roads can be immensely improved
by having them cared for constantly
by experts. and hiring competent per-
sons to attend TO them. instead of de- i
pending on the worn-out. inefficient.
extravagant and unbusinesslike plan /
of working out" road taxes.
In order to have better roads than
now exist, II is by no means necessary +
TO expend thousands of dollars in maxi /
ing substantial stone surfaces. Such.
of course, are the most satisfactory and
useful when circumstances permit of
their construction; but there are hosts
Of places and localities and sparsely set
tied districts in which they are not
practicable. on account of the expense,
nor actually a necessity. on account of
The relatively limited amount of travel.
In such places. and under such circum-
stances, il is quite possible to get along
without them, and actually to do very
well by improving the common earth
'oads and insiituting a scientific sys-
em Of maintenance for them.
In order 10 get good results from
common country roads they, as a rule.
'equire TO be thoroughly graded and
Trained; for If they are not kept free
If water at all times. it is absolutely
lseless'to expect that they can be made
ecent. The first and fundamental re-
.uisite Of good roads is thorough drain
ge, and this means both surface drain
&c and subdrainage. There must be
uitable cutters on both sides of the
DAD; water must be carried away from
he road and prevented absolutely from
enctrating under it, and the surface
must be kept smooth and even, so that
ain will Immediately run off into the
utters.
After this is provided for. a system
maintenance must be established
hereby some one man, or q few men,
i'll be constantly employed in going
yer the roads, filing up holes and de-
ressions, removing stones, clearing
utters, and doing the thousand and
ne things which are a daily necessity
roads are 10 be kept good. This, Of
1urse, means that working out" road
,Xes must be done away with forever.
nd business-like money system
iopted in its stead. This is a neces-
Try preliminary TO decent roads. and ,
nee putinto operation is more econom- /
al. efficient and satisfactory than the
d way, and II properly combined
it'll a suitable system Of road main
nance, viii, in short time. i'm =
ensely improve the roads Of the dis, Il
let in which it is employed.-Country {
entleman. o.