Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1905-08-25
THE new ROAD MAKING
How the Split Log Drag
Made Good Roads
in Iowa

r, c. Coob, q resident of Iowa, in
reply to the Dry Goods Reporter for q
description of the make and workings
of the new.fangled road making ma.
chine. wrote as follows:
The farmers of our county, our city
street commissioners. and many of
our citizens are using the new method
with splendid results. In fact, we
have stretches of country roads in our
county varying in length from one
half to four miles in length, that are
better than our city asphalt paving.
and We have q first class job. This is
the first season that the method has
been in use. Our farmers are becom-
Ing interested. and We hope by anoth.
or year to have the roads of our coun-
try in FIRST class condition.
A good earth road must be hard,
smooth and oval. The ola method of
working tie road with the big four
wheeled road grader makes the road
oval, smooth on the sides only, soft
and spongy in the center. The grader
pushes the soft, loose dirt to the cen.
ter Of the road This absorbs the
water from the first rain. Travel cuts
it up. 1t drys full of ruts and very
rough, in worse condition than it was
before the grader was used.
The new method-dIaggjng with q
King drag after rain-makes the road
smooth, it dries hard and is oval. Use
the drag after each hard rain while
the surface dirt is in q padded ccndi.
tion. The drag will smear the soft
mud over the top Of the road bed in a
layer; with sunshine, wind and
travel, this layer will become hard.
Another dragging will put on another
and make the road still harder,
smoother and more imrervious to
rain. In year or two a surface is put
OF road that can hardly be torn up
with pick. The. more travel, the
harder the road. With the old method,
when the grader is used, the more
rain and travel, the deeper the ruts
and the rougher the road. The drag
WORKS rs we'll on the hills as on the
low ground, as we'll in clay soil as in
black earth.
The expense of running the four
wheeled grader is from nine to twelve
dollars day. It takes from three to
four men and six to eight horses The
grader can only be used when the
roads are dry. a time when farmers
have work to do on the farm. With
the King drag the best results are had
when it is too wet to work on the
farm. From one half to one hour 9
work after rain will keep one halt
mile Of road in splendid condition.
Hitch to the drag so that it will pull
at angle of forty-6ve degrees Drive
slow. Ride, don't walk. You can
change the position of the drag by
changing your position on the drag.
Don t try to move too much dirt.
The secret Of success is to do little
often. Don't pillow before dragging
blowing gives soft foundation.
Never mind the ruts. Go ahead and
drag they will disappear.
Don't let the children ride on the
drag; it might hit snag and turn
over. Use the drag to keep the barn
yard clean of COBB and all refuse. 1t
can be used for a stone boat. It
makes splendid tool to grade the
lawn with. In fact, if farmer will
take time to make q drag and use 1T
he will wonder how he ever got along
without 1t. AEy man or boy can make
1t in less than two hours.
Split an eight foot log twelve inches
in diameter in halves. bore three two
iuch holes in each half, one at each
end and one on the middle; join the
halves, eplit sides forward, with good
strong braces about three feet long,
wedge them in securely.
Miss Elizabeth Brick returned to St.
Cloud Friday, accompanied by Miss
Emily WINNER. who will visit there.
VIM. Sturgeon arrived last week for
a visit. He has been playing with the
Renville team.
Conductor J. NJ. Smith, who was
injured in the accident at Brsinerd.
resumed his run this Week.
Thu n30nosad nan fnral ronfa Hos