Sistersville daily oil review. [volume] (Sistersville, W. Va.) 1902-1905, 1903-11-28
DIAGRAM OF THE RING DRAG.

fat sides to the front; B, strong oak or
hedge bars, the ends Of which are wedg-
ed in two inch auger holes bored through
the logs or slabs; dotted line. chains or
, strong wire; D, Dl, d., rings to con-
meet double tree clevis Hitch at Dl and
stand at c, on a plank laid on the cross
bars for ordinary work. or hitch at D2
and stand at for ditch cleaning or to
make the drag throw more dirt to the
left To move dirt to the right reverse
position of driver and last hitch II
working a clay road put iron, old wagon
tire or something Of the sort on lower
edge Of drag at the end OF six months;
for softer soil at the end OF twelve
months.l
our meeting. Another Is asking for
road meeting this year says last years
meeting did more for the betterment Of
the roads than anything in the history
of the community.
"The drag Is not intended to replace
the road machine nor will road drag
ging do away with the necessity or
macadamzing the main thoroughtares
as soon as we can be educated to see
the wisdom Of spending little money
each year in crushing, spreading and
rolling stone. The drag seems to be the
connecting link between the old and
the new. 1t keeps the old mud road in
the finest possible condition.
"The operation is extremely simple
I merely go over the stretch Of road
with drag after every rain or wet
spell. The land is rolling prairie, part
of the soil is black and part of 1t Is
yellow clay. The drag is made by
splitting q log, placing the two pieces
on edge about thirty inches apart, with
the fat sides both facing in the same
direction. and pinning them together.
The lower edge of the front piece ls
protected with iron. An old wagon
tire will dc. The log should be ten or
twelve inches thick and about nine feet
long. A chain or heavy wire is fasten-
ed a foot or eighteen inches from each
end by which to haul it. A team IS
hitched 80 that the drag will move the
dirt toward the center Of the road. The
hitch Is next in Importance to the time
at which the dragging Is done. The
right time is just as the road dries
after q rain or when it is thawed Oh
top during the winter and spring. Ii
should he dragged every time it rains
"Of course a smooth surface for trav-
ell is thus produced, but more valua-
BILE result is that the road will shed the
next rain instead of absorbing 1t. This
Is the reason why the road should be
dragged after every rain-sO that 1t al
ways will be ready for the next. The
way to make a good dirt road is to
keep it so that the next rain will not
20 into it, This means dragging about
once month on an average. drag
from my own front gate to my neigh
bOr'S front gate. half mile, taking
about twenty minutes. | don't make
very many trips to town before l have
RECLAIMED the time | expended in drag
ging, to say nothing of the gain to my
neighbors and to the general public.
This method is very simple. as !
have said, but to one who is familiar
with the ordinary dirt road under all
conditions of season and weather the
results are little short of marvellous
Teams pass here 1T sweeping trot
when other roads are almost impass2-
BILE. When other roads are in such n
condition that loaded teams must be-
rested every few rods the same loads
hre moved over this road at free
walk and without resting.
This half mile stretch of road is
high in the center and very hard. Drag
ging every time not only makes IT
smooth for travel, but distributes the
travel all over the road, packing II
evenly instead Of merely under the
tires and under the hoops in parallel
beaten paths. This increases the abili-
~ Of the road surface to shed water.
Dragging every time 1t rains spreads
a thin layer of moist dirt over a moist
surface. and travel packs and pounds
it together, every dragging adding JUST
q little soil and the whole being thor
oughly amalGamated and consolidated
After years Of spreading and hacking
I have q road on which anything less
than weeks wet weather makes lit
tie impression. In the spring, when
the ground thaws and unkept roads are
SD muddy and spongy that we say the
bottom has fallen out this road re-
mains in fair condition"