Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1905-09-15
Tht Split z !! 7 LOG DRAG
Some More Useful In
formation from tho
Inventor

D. Ward King, who has become ia.
nous az the inventor of the split-log
drag, recently had an interesting srti-
Gle in the Saturday Evening Post on
''Spreadng the Gospel of Good
Roads, At the conclusion of his arti-
Gle Mr.. King has the following to say
From the outset of this work, 20
many questions have poured In upon
me Indicating points concerning
which the public is prone to go astray
in its understanding of how to build
and use the split-log drag that have
prepared the following road. dragging
''catechiem' a. covering with fair
completeness, the main working facts
in the problem:
Would it not be better to plow the
road before draggingi
No. Flowing gives q soft founda-
tioD- Flowing the middle of the road
is relic of the old dump.scraper
days.
What do you do when there are deep
ruts in the roadf
Drag them. If you drag when the
surface is quite loose and soft. you
will be surprised how soon the ruts
disappear.
How do you get the dirt to the mid
die Of the road?
By hauling the drag slantwise with
the end that is toward the center Of
the road a little to the rear Of the
other end.
But suppose the road is too narrow 7
First drag the wheel tracks. After
three or four rains or wet spells, pillow
shallow furrow just outside the
dragged part. Spread this over the
road with drag. Only pillow one fur
row. You may pillow another farrow
after widen the road two feet.
How many horses do you use?
Two, generally three if it is just as
handy; four when breaking colts-a
good solid team in the center and q
colt on each side; two men on one
drag-one to drive, the other to con-
troll the colts.
How do you drain the road?
If the earth is pushed in the middle
of tie road continuously, the road will
drain itself.
Why not make the drag oat Of
plank?
You can. and do good work. But
the split log is the best. The plank
drag is not SO stiff.
Why not make the drag of heavy
sawed timber?
Because drags so made have ten
dency to slip over the bumps.
Don't YOU grade up the road frst2
No. The grading is done with the
drag. gradually. By so doing, the road
is solid all the time and is built on q
solid foundation.
What does it cost to drag a mile of
road yearf
The cost is variously estimated at
from one to three dollars
How do you keep the drag from
lodging around sidewaysr
By not loading it too heavily. If 8
drag lodges around the earth you are
moving it is because it is overloaded.
Will the dragged road stand heavy
hauling.
Yes and No. A dragged road will
stand more heavy hauling than an un-
dragged road, but not 50 much as q
macadamized or well.kept gravel
road3
Will a drag help sand.road2
A sand road is a very different pro-
position from the black soil, clay or
gumbo. An entirely different method
must be adopted. Three things may be
done to sand road to make it better.
First, keep it wet second, haul clay
on it; third, sprinkle it with crude
oil, as they do in California and in
some parts Of Southern Kansas and
Texas. The drag will be beneficial in
keeping the SAND ROAD perfectly fat so
| that it will absorb moisture and re-
tain it long time.
To this catechism I would add the
following Don't :" Don't drive too
fast. Don't walk; get on the drag and
ride. Don't be particular about ma
terial; almost any log will do. Don t
try to drag with only one piece; use
two