The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1908-07-10
Z Good Roads. Z
Care of Earth Roads.

40 SopoDiS Vi SOhSliu CtiuS SOOu TOdQS
as those of any country of the Old
World, they have not been as Loyalty
supported as the men of those coun.
tries in maintaining the highways at.
ter completion, and the deplorable
state of many hundred thousand
miles of road is thus accounted for.
County and township officials may at
the outset stand the expense of hav-
ing road built, but they strenuously
object when asked to provide funds
to rebuild the road that has been al.
lowed to go to ruin
1t is important that farmers learn
of the benefits to be derived from
good earth roads; that county boards
be impressed with the need of a pro.
per maintenance of the same, and
that road builders and overseers
learn how best to care for the roads
in their charge.
The persistent and powerful enc.
mics of earth roads are water and
narrow tires, and the constant effort
of the men in charge of the roads
should be to guard against their de-
structive effects and remedy all dam
age as quickly as possible The sim
pie implements which have been found
to be of greatest assistance in this
work are the pillow, the drag-scraper,
the wheel-scraper, the road-grader
and the split-log drag.
With sandy soil and subsoil of
clay, or clay and gravel, deep plow-
ing so as to raise and mix the clay
with the surface soil and sand will
prove beneficial. The combination
forms sand-clay road at a trifiing
expense.
On the other hand, if the road be
entirely of sand mistake will be
made if it is plowed unless clay can
be added. Such blowing would mere
ly deepen the sand, and at the same
time break up the small amount of
hard surface material which may
have formed. If the subsoil is clay
and the surface scant in sand or gra-
vel, blowing should not be resorted
to, as it would result in a clay sur
face rather than one of sand or gra.
vel.
A road foreman must know not
only what to pillow and what not to
pillow, but how and when to pillow. If
the road is of the kind which accord
ing to the above instructions should
be plowed over its entire width the
best method is to run the first furrow
in the middle of the road and work
out to the sides, thus forming a
crown. Results from such blowing
are greatest in the spring or early
summer.
In bitches pillow can be used to
good advantage, but should be fol-
lowed by scraper or grader. To
make wide, deep bitches nothing bet
ter than the ordinary drag-scraper
has yet been devised For hauls I'M
der 100 feet, or in making fills it
is especially serviceable. 1t is a mis-
take, however, to attempt to handle
long-haul material with this scraper,
as the wheel scraper is better adapted
to such work. For hauls of more
than 500 feet wagon should be
used
The machine most generally used
in road work is the grader or road
machine. This machine is especially
useful in smoothing and browning
the road and in opening bitches. A
clay subsoil under a thin coating of
soil should not be disturbed with
grader. 1t is also a mistake to use
grader Unfortunately and to pull
material from bitches upon a sand
clay road.
Not infrequently turf. soil and slit
from ditch bottoms are piled in the
middle of the road in a ridge, making
mudholes a certainty. 1t is impor-
tant in using grader to avoid build
ing up the road too much at one
time. A road gradually built up by
frequent use of the grader will last
better than if completed at one oper-
alton.
The split log drag should be used
to fill in ruts and smooth the road
when not too badly washed.-From
United States Bureau of Public
Roads.