The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1905-07-21
GOOD ROADS. from 1st

point of the wire as to give the drag
slant of about forty-fve degrees in
the direction required to force the
earth that it would gather from the
side of the road up into the center.
We had just had a soaking rain and
the earth was in plastic condition.
| had driven this drag but n few rods
when / was fully aware that it was
serving at least the initial purpose for
which it was intended-that of leveling
down the wheel rut and pushing the
surplus dirt into the center OF the road.
At my neighbours gate, toward town,
| I turned around and took the other
side of the road back to my home.
The result was simply astonishing.
More rain fell upon this road, but it
'ran eff like water from ducks
back" From that time forward, after
every rain or wet spell, | dragged
the half mile of road covered by my
original experiment.
| At the end of three months the road
was better than when it had been drag
ged for three weeks, and at the end of
three years it was immen sely improved
over its condition at the end of the
first years work. l studied the result
of each step in my experiment and
finally learned that three elements are
required to make perfect earth road,
and that the lack of any one of them
is fatal to the result. To be perfect
an earth road must be at one and the
same time oval, hard and smooth. All
of these indispensa are required by
the use Of split-log drag in any soil
that [ have ever come in contact with
and have worked in the various
kinds Of clay soil, in the gumbo of the
swampy lowlands and in the black
mud of the prairies.
Observ alton of my experiment
taught me that two weeks of rain
would not put this bit of road in bad
condition at time when the highway
at either end of it was impossible for
wagon. Of course it was plain that
the reason the road was not bad was
that there was no mud in it. But why
mud would not collect in it was not
clear to me until / was taught my les
son by the very humble means of the
hog wallow. One day | chanced to
notice that water was standing in one
of these wallOws long after the ground
all about ii had become dry Probab
ly ! had many times before observed
this fact but not until now had it oc-
cured to me to inquire into its
cause Examining the edges Of the
wallow, [ was impressed with the fact
that it was almost as hard as piece
of earthenware. Clearly this was be-
cause the wallowing of the hogs had
mixed or "puddled" the earth and the
water together, forming kind of ce-
ment which dried into hard and
practically waterproof surface,
This original half-mile of road was
dragged steadily for four years before
| had single active recruit in my new
crusade. At first my neighbors poked
good natured fun at me, probably be-
cause the thing was so new and SO alb
surdly simple-and perhaps, also,
because | did the work without pay
or any expectation Of it. Road-mak-
ing in the country, it may be well to-
explain, is not generally followed as
q fashionable philanthropy or a pop
ular diversion.
Gradually, however, this little
stretch of dragged road began to force
itself upon the attention of the COM
munity. From one source and another
began to hear of the observations
which it provoked-and some of them
were quite as amusing as they were
agreeable. One day physician of a
81 was driving down your way the
other night to see patient. As usual,
when | have anything on my mind,
my eyes were fixed on the dashboard
of the buggy, and [ was deep in study
over an especially perplexing case.
You know how rough the roads have
been, lately-to ride over them is
simply to be jolted from one side of
1.-THE buggy to the other unless you let
your horse go as walk, which ply
sician cannot always do. Well, | was
rattling and threshing along over the
clods at a trot, when suddenly | strait
ened up, aroused by the impression
that something had gone wrong with
the running gear OF the buggy. But
the trouble was with the road, | had
simply, struck your little stretch of
dragged road, and the buggy skim
med over it as smoothly as sleigh
runs over packed snow
Everywhere the rallying-cry of this
movement is: "From your own front
gate to your neighbours front gate to-
ward town Thus, the thing always
starts with the farmers own self-in-
terest, but leads him directly beyond
his own line-fence to the place where
he finds himself working for the gen.
eral good of the community.
From the outset of this work, so
} many questions have poured in upon
me indicating points concerning which
the public is prone to go astray in it's
understanding OF how to build and
use the split-log drag that have pre-
pared the following road-dragging
scatechism' as covering, with fair
completeness, the main working facts
/ Would it not be better to pillow the
road before dragging?
i No. Flowing gives soft founda-
ton. Flowing the middle of the road
is relic Of old dump-scraper days.
u What do you do when there are deep
ruts in the road?
Drag them. If you drag them
when the surface is quite loose and
4, soft, you will be surprised how soon
the ruts disappear.
j How do you get the dirt in the center
Of the road?
i BY hauling the drag slantwise with
the end that is toward the center of the
road little to the rear of the other
end.