Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1905-05-18
KsNss EgAEs METHOD
S ollT Lesi DRAG rs BOTH
SIMPLE: AflsD EEFECTlyE
Farms ELISA ssiysiD:s zip.
tisn CT tho System.

working dirt roads it is not all
in the "drag," but much depends
upon the way inwhich it is used.
The "split-log drag" featured
by d. Ward King, the road ex-
pert, has been frequently de-
scribed. 1t consists of the two
halves of a split log bolstered
together with strong cross bra
ces. If a log is not available,
two planks arc substituted for
the sections of the log, but these
lack the sharp edges and do not
perform as we'll. The driver
rides on the drag" and gives
it weight.
Wallace's Farmer, in arecent
issue, takes up quite extensively
the road implement. 1t says:
"Make your drag at once so
it will be ready. After the first
rain hitch on to your drag SO as
to give it an angle of about for
|ty-fve degrees and go down one
wheel track. The best way is
to go from your own front gate
to the next neighbours front
gate on the way to town, then
turn around and come back on
the other track, smoothing down
the rough places, filling up the
ruts, and throwing a little dirt
to the center of the road. 1t is
better to have the ground quite
muddy and slushy the first time.
1.-TWO horses may not be able to
pull the drag if it is a heav
one, so if necessary put ON the
four-horse evener and hitch up
four) Then stop. You will
have made a smooth passage
way some twelve or fourteen
feet wide, a little higher in the
middle than at the sides, which
will shed water farely we'll.
Then when it dries off partially,
|put on your two horses and go
over it again perhaps that af-
ternoon or the next day then
wait until after the next rain,
and when it is drying off "a lit
tie experience will show you
just when it is right doit again.
! Passing teams in the meantime
will have puddled the earth and
made it so that it is partially
.|lmpervious to water. Teams
will not be obliged for comfort
to follow one track. There will
be no ruts for them to follow
and you will find that they will
beat down and compact the
whole of this twelve or fourteen
feet. Then wait until after the
next rain, and do it again, al
ways throwing a little dirt to
the middle of the road and grad
ually grading up and filling up
amy holes or other uneveness.
"This is a very simple meth
cd so simple that you will not
believe in it until you try it,
You will wonder that you did
mot think of this long ago; that
it never occurred to you that
the tougher the mud the better
road it would make. If you
want to get your road a little
wider, wait until the next rain
and pillow a very shallow furrow
down one side and up the other,
then take your drag and move
this into the middle of the road
and still further build it up.
"A road treated in this way
will shed water off into the
ditch. Water always seeks the
easiest way toward the center
of the earth, and finds it is a
good deal easier to slide off into
the ditch than it is to get down
through, especially through
puddel and almost water proof
earth.
It is then up to you to get it
out of the ditch. This can be
done only by drainage, either
natural or artificial. Bear in
mind that the drag will not take