The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1902-04-01

pair when wide tires are used than an
eight or ten inch road Of the same ma
terial on which narrow tires are used.
TREES ALONGSIDE OF ROADS.
Not only should brush and weeds Be
removed from the roadside. but grass
should be sown, trees, planted. and ! +;
side path or walk be prepared for tn
use OF pedestrians, especially women and
children, going to and coming from
church. school,, and places Of business
and amusement. Country roads can be
made far more useful a nd attractive than
they usually are. and this may be Sc
cured by the expenditure of only a small
amount of labor and money. Although
such improvements are not necessary.
they make the surroundings attractive
and inviting, and add to the value OF
property and the pleasure OF the traveller.
III trees are planted alongside the road
they should be far enough back to admit
the vino and sun (hg. So. Most strong
growing trees are apt to extend their
roots under the cutters and even be-
meath the roadway if they are planted too
close to the roadside. Even if they be
planted at a safe distance those varieties
ohoulu DC SelecIeu WHICH Seuu tHtlr TOOtS
downward rather than horizontally. The
most useful and beautiful tree CORE
spending with these requirements is the
chestnut. while certain varieties of the
pear, cherry, and mulberry answer the
same purpose. Where there is no dan
ger of roots damaging the sub-drainage
or the substructure of the road some
other faVOrite varieties would be elms,
rock naples, horSe-chestnuts, beeches,
pines, and cedarS. Climate, variety of
species selected, and good judgment will
determine the distance between such
trees. Elms should be 80 feet apart.
while the less spreading varieties need
not be so far. The trunks should be
trimmed to a considerable height, SO as
to admit the sun and air. Fruit trees are
planted along the roadsides in erman
and Switzerland, while mulberry trees
may be seen along the roads in France,
serving the twofold purpose of food for
silkworms and shade. If some of our
many varieties of useful, fruitful and
beautiful trees were planted along the
roads in this country, and if some means
could be devised for protecting the pro-
duct, enough revenue could be derived
therefrom to pay for the maintenance OF
the road along which they throw their
grateful shade.
COST OF ROADS.
| The Improvement of country roads is
chiefly an ecoonmical question, relating
principally to the waste of effort in haul
ing over bad roads, the saving in money,
time, and energy in hauling over good
ones. the initial cost of improving roads,
and the difference in the cost Of main
tanning good and bad ones. 1t is not
+ necessary To pp10rpa or this Suhipct in
order to convince the average reader
that good roads reduce the resistance to
trafc, and consequently the cost of trans
pOrtatiOn of products and goods to and
from farms and markets is reduced to a
minimum.
J. The initial cost of a road depends upon
the cost of Materials, labor, machinery,
the width and depth to which the ma
terial is to be spread on, and the method
Of construction. All these things vary SO
much in the different States that it is i'm
possible to name the exact amount for
which a mile of a certain kind of road
can be built.
The introduction in recent years of i'm
proved road building machinery has en-
abled the authorities in some OF the
States to build improved stone and gravel
roads quite cheaply. First class single
track stone roads, 8 feet wide, have been
built near Canandaigua, N. Y, for 5000
to 81, goo Per mile. Many excellent gravel
roads have been built in New Jersey for
81 geo to $1,000 per mile. The material
of which they were constructed was
placed on in two layers, each being raked
and thoroughly rolled, and the whole
mass consolidated to a thickness of 8
inches. In the same State macadam
rnaar boy,a haan bIIi1t for 80 600 10 S1 600
per mile, varying in width from 9 to 20
feet and in thickness of material from 4
to u inches. TelfOrd roads II feet wide
and 10 to II inches thick have been built
in New Jersey fer 81 1000 to $4,000 per
mile. Macadam roads have been built at
Bridgeport and Fairfield, Conn, IS to 20
feet wide. for $4,000 to $4,000 per mile.
A telford road 16 feet wide and II inches
thick was built at Fanwood, N. j., for
SO, 500 per mile. Macadam roads have
i. been built in Rhode Island, 16 to 90 feet
wide, for 81, 900 to So 1000 per mile.
Massachusetts roads are costing all
the way from Sc, 900 to SO, COO per mile.
A mile of broken stone road, 10 feet
i. wide, costs in the State of Massachu-
sets about s. 300 per mile, while a mile
of the same width and kind Of road costs
in the State Of New Jersey only 81, 100.
Ihls IS due partly 10 the iacI tndl Tue
topography of Massachusetts is some
what rougher than thaa of New Jersey,
/, necessitating the reduction OF many steep
grades and the building OF expensive re-
tanning walls and bridges, and partly to
the difference in methods OF construction
t and the difference in prices Of materials,
labor, etc.
Doubtless the State of New Jersey Is
building more roads and better ROADS LOT
less money per mile than any otnef
State in the Union. Their roads are now
costing from 20 to 20 cents per square
yard. Where the telford construction IS
used they sometimes cost as much as IS
cents per square yard. The average cost
of all classes of the roads of that State
during the last season was about oU
cents per square yard. The stone was,
~ as q rule snread ON TO a depth OF >