Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1908-03-07
ROAD DRAGGING COST
Why King System Is Cheapest
as Well as Best.
1T BECOMES MERELY A CHORE
Ey Quitting a Lie Earlier a Farmer
Can Easily Renew His Boulevard.
Proof of Winter Drasengs Value.
Comparison of Cost.

Proof of Winter Draseines Value.
Comparison of Cost.
Copyright. 1907. by d. Ward King.l
| The cost of putting the King system
In operation is a matter which must
/ have consideration. Cost always is
| important,
When one first hears about road
! dragging he feels certain a mistake or
! an exaggcration Is somewhere snugly
! concealed, and an active brain spends
n certain period searching for It's hid
| ing place Convinced at last of the
drag's achievements as a wonder
worker, the same brain asks, What
is the eXpense?" and again is skeptical
when the answer comes, The cost of
the new system is many times less
than the cost of the old system"
For the farmer who drags the half
mile or mile, as may be, from his
own front gate to his neighbor's front
gate toward town." there is no eX-
renSe account With the drag in the
road at the front gate, he quits a little
!
the condition of the road soil decides,
| bitches to the drag and renews his
boulevard. 1t becomes merely Il chore.
A neighbor Of mine says, After fell
low once gets into the fashion of drag
gng it sticks to him like bad habit"
For myself have been riding a drag
since the spring of 1896.
In the fall can take a team from a
| corn wagon at the crib and drag my
half mile stretch before the corn is un-
| loaded. and in the winter months most
| farmers can find an abundance of lei
sure in which to drag, and the operation
! possibly is of as much benefit in the
winter as 1t IS in the summer In this
latitude mcar the Missouri-Iowa line)
we find two conditions of the road In
winter when dragging is remarkably
! effective. one Cf tlcSc special COndi-
! tionS is when q ROY %h and frozen road
is thawed an inch or more In depth
at about o'c!",% in the afternoon.
Another fovorab!e opportunity IS at
the close of warm spell when the
wind changes to the north ard the
mud begins to stiffeu with the chill.
If the mud is dragged just before a
| freeze the road of course remains
smooth until another thaw, and the
difference between such a road and
one which was permitted to "freeZe up
rough is as marked rs the difference
between deep mud and a dry road.
On the one you can skim along at any
speed; on the other you must move at
a snal'S pace. with the horses gingcrly
picking their steps and the vehicle
bouncing around as If you were riding
over a fresh blast in a rock quarry.
Let me offer two paragraphs from
the Record. Hampton, Ia, the first
showing the skepticism often met the
other confeSsing a radical change Of
opinion and furnishing proof of the
value of dragging in the winter
months The writer addressed good
roads meeting at Hampton Nov. 2S,
1905. Under date Nov. % in the course
of an extended report of the meeting
the Record said:
1T is to be regretted that there was
no split log drag at hand that he could
make satisfactory demonstration
with, the one available not being in
accordance with the requirements, and
the attempt to show Its workings We're
of little or no benefit"
| But In the issue for Dec. the Rec
ord admits the lnaccuracy of its first
impression In the following graph,
the kernel of which is found in the
last sentence Of the quotation:
The King drag that we have here
In town is being used today on our
streets, and If we had teams enough
and drags enough Hampton would
have good roads within the city limits
tomorrow. whereas for n week they
have been practically impossible for
the reason that the ground froze up n
week ago last night, leaving the roads
all cut up. And suppose that every
man in the county had had a King
drag. costing about 50, and had drag
ged the road in front of his premises
once over and back a week ago Tues
day, the afternoon that Mr. King spoke
at the courthouse, we would have had
good roads ever since. This is demon
strated by the fact that wherever on
our streets the drag was used that aft
eTHOOu mas Deen SlUOOln lTdcK ever
since"
So much for the value in the winter
of the winter dragging.
But winter dragging prepares the
way for lessening the cost of spring
and summer dragging, because If the
roadway has this winter preparation
1t will generally dry off and be ready
to drag before the adjoining fields dry
out and are fit to be plowed or cultl-
waited. And so another series of leisure
hours is provided for making good
roads without money.
| would rather drag half mile of
road for year than water three horses
for year.
If should try to strike balance for
the twelve months, it would be some
thing like this:
DEBIT.
CREDIT.
Comfort ard pleasure OF my
own family. Observation-Disclosures. $500
Time saved. cd........................ 1000
Saving In wear and tear........ 500
Satisfaction Observation-Disclosures. 1000
Benefit to neighbors and gen
eral pubic. OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES. 5000
5000