Clarke courier. [volume] (Berryville, Va.) 1869-1997, 1902-05-21

ROAD MAcHINE PREPARING IsETH ROAD.
Cr grader. u viii du .lc work Of thir-
~ or more men when thc conditions
arc such as 20 give the machine half
chance. Ii costs lut rpr hundred
dollars. Will save thousands makes a
better road than is commonly made bv
manual labor. needs hut tcv repairs
ond rarely gets out of order. More
over. il cuts ort thc roots from the
wotdy patches along the roadside and
forms Hutcr which receives and car
res oH the surface water aul if faith
fully employed will more than pay for
itself En- a single season
Then. tco. lu the matter OF Gravel and
Ston" fcw hours exploration In most
ueiShhorhoads VIII hriu- Go is-ht plenty
of material thot is vastly superior Tor
roadmaNH- purposes 90 THAT found i'm
the lines OF thc adjacent r.adways.
Most of this mater@l has rested in its
original bed for ages and is substantial
~ worthless for amy purr .t aside from
the work OF the ioaGm:l,cr. If gravel.
IL should Ice clean. sharp and gritty.
and lf not naturally Of t..s quality it
should be c!eaucd as fully as possible
10y passing il through cheap screen
with moderately coarse mcshcs.
Before being put i'm the road. unless
the original soil is Of a dry. sandy or
porous nature. a line Of three inch
draintile should be laid beneath the
roadway and about four roct deep il
possible, FOR. although this is not com-
moaly regarded as necessary according
10 the established American practice it
adds vastly to the permancncc OF the
roadway and inSures It's dryncSs at
times when the gravel would otherwise
disappear in The soft mud beneath.
Where stone OF fair quality can be
easily obtained. a macadam road is
neither very costly nor very difficult
OF construction. Ii is common notion
among farmers that the construction of
road on the macadam plan is Il COM
plcated. difficult and expensive under
taking. Nothing could be further from
the truth. \ few intelligent farmers.
equipped with few hundred dollars
worth OF machinery. can make a mac
adam road rs permanent and efficient
rs could be desired.
The same engine that drives steam
thraSher will operate stone crusher
and stone cruShers are becoming not
only popular. but Indispensable TO the
roadmakiug outfit of every intelligent
rural community. Great quantities Of
neid stone can be selected from among
the harder bOwlGcrS which lie SO abun-
dainty upon the surface i'm many of
our counties. and il each farmer who
now works ont his road tax i'm the old
fashioned way would contribute few
dollars 10 the purchase of Il cruSher
and give II little of his time to the haul
Ing of stone 10 the town stone heap he
would be- both amazed and gratiiied ut
the speed with which the stone breaker
would convert those bowldcrs into
great heaps of road metal. ripe and
ready for place in the improved road
way.
\ practical attempt at this kind OF
Improvement in towns where the
wealth of the community is not sudi-
cient TO warrant expensive work under
the direction OF an engineer will lead
10 the most salutary results and by an
object lesson prove 20 the users of pub
lie highways that the biggest tax ever
imposed upon the rural population of
the country has been the tax Of the
mud road.