The weekly register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909, 1906-02-21


planks or any other light wood.
Where a post or telephone pole
Or log is used, it should be SPLIT in
two, SO as to make two halves the
length of the post. These should
be placed on edge thirty
inches apart. held together with
iron rods or pinned together Sc
curely with soma hard wos d. Five
feet of the front piece, at the right
hand side looking toward the team,
should be faced with a piece of
iron or steel, which should not
project more than one-eighth OF
one quarter inoh at most below the
edge. Attach a log ohain, and
hitoh team of heavy. slow moving
horses to this in suoh a way as to
give the drag an angle of forty five
degrees, put on couple of boards
ON the GROSS pieces. and get on
on yourself You are then ready
| lfor business - - -.
Begin in front Of your own house.
Go to your neighbor's gate in the
direction of town. Do this when
the roads are muddy Pass along
one rut on going one way. and
come back along the other. Then
do it again. and quit for that day.
What have you done3 Yoo have
filled mp the ruts. smoothed down
the rough places, allowed the
water to run off into the ditch, in
which, as stated above, there must
be sufficient fall to carry it on.
You have allowed the sun to shine
On this smooth road and the winds
to blow over it, with the result
that it will dry cf twenty-four
hours before piece of similar
road not treated. Teams passing
over it will compact it, roughing
it up some of course. Wait till
the next rain, and when the road
begins to dry, go over it again; and
so on after every rain during the
summer season, and especially dur
ing the fall and during the spring
when the surface of the road has
been frozen and thaws off to a
depth of half an inoh. This is all
there is to the read drag.
No man will believe how effec-
tive it is until he tries it, nor will
he fully appreciate Its efficiency
until he tries it year after year.
There are some things however,
which it will not do. It will not
make a good road out of sand. for
the reason that sand does not make
stiff mud; neither will it make a
good road where the soil is peaty
and does not have clay enough to
pack it together. 1t will net work
among stones or stumps, nor will
it work effectively where the roads
are covered with grass. It will,
however, prevent grass from grow
ing in the road bed.
We speak in this not from theory
but from good deal of observa-
tion and experience. A little over q
year ago we became thoroughly
convinced of the efficiency of this
drag, which, by the way, is not a
thing newly discovered. 1t was
used in certain counties in New
York state in 1887. It was tried in
northwestern Iowa twenty years
ago, but failed because the roads
had net been graded up nor the
grass removed. We persuaded the
North western Railroad Company
in Iowa, which has lines through
the very muddiest portions of the
state, to start special train, visit
some fifteen counties, make a drag
on the spot, and give demonstra-
ton of its efficiency. So thorough
~ converted were it's superinten-
dents and other officials, as well as
the supervisors of the various coun-
ties, that there are now thousands
IF farmers using this drsg Where
sver it has been used according to
directions the result has been bet
Ter roads thu the most enthusias-
,io farmers ever dreamed to be
within human possibility.
The philosophy of it is exceed.
rugly simple, and in harmony with
the theories OF all good road build
.rs, no matter what the material
lsed. All road engineers agree
nat the first thing is drainage, the
second grading. They further
5ree that the road bed should
ave the minimum of vegetable