The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1908-07-16
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ROAD GRADER AT WORK.

earth roads, that county boards be i'm
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 enemies
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 destructive eff
fects and remedy all damage as quickly
as possible. The simple implements
which have been found to be of great
est assistance in this work are the
plow. the drag scFaperr the wheel scrap
er, the road grader and the split log
drag.
With a sandy soil and subsoil of
clay or clay and gravel, deep ploWing.
so as to raise and mix the clay with
the surface soil and sand, will prove
beneficial. The combination forms
sand-clay road at tritling expense.
On the other hand, if the road be en-
tirely of sand mistake will be made
if it is plowed unless clay can be add
ed. Such plowing would merely deep
en- the sand and at the same time break
up the small amount Of hard surface
material which may have formed. II
the subsoil is clay and the surface
scant in sand or gravel, plowing should
not be resorted to. as it would result in
clay surface rather than one of sand
or gravel A road foreman must know
not only what to plOw and what not to
plow. but how and when to pow. If
the road Is of the kind which. accord
ing to the above instructions. should be
plowed over It's whole width. the best
method is to run the first furrow in the
middle of the road and work out to the
sides. thus forming Il crown. Results
from such plowing are greatest in the
spring or early summer.
In bitches q plow can be used to good
advantage. but should be followed by a
scraper or grader TO make wide. deep
bitches nothing better than the ordi-
nary. drag scraper has yet been de-
vised. For hauls under Il hundred feet
Or in making fills it is especially
serviceable 1t is a mistake. however.
to attempt to handle long haul mate
rial with this scraper. US the wheel
scraper is better adapted to such work.
For hauls of more than 800 feet q
wagon should be used
The machine most generally used III
| road work is the grader or road ma
chine This machine is especially use
full in smoothing and crowning the
road and in opening bitches. A clay
subsoil under a thin coating of soil
| should not be disturbed with grader
| 1t is also Il mistake to use Il grader
indiscriminately and to pull material
| from bitches upon a sand-clay road
Not infrequently turf. soil and silt
from ditch bottoms are piled in the
middle Of the road in ridge. making
mudholes certainty. 1t is important
in using grader to avoid building ur
the road too much at one time. \ road
gradually built up by frequent use OF
the grader will last better than if com
pleted at one operation.
The foreman frequently thinks bis
road must be high in the first in
stance He piles up material from
ten inches to foot in depth only Il
learn with the arrival of the first rail-
that he has furnished the material fo
as many inches of mud. All materia
should be brought up in thin layers
each layer we'll puddled and firml.
packed by roller or traffic before th'
next is added. A common mistake il
to crown too high with the road ma
chine on narrow road
The split log drag should be use
to fill In ruts and smooth the roa
when not too badly washed. The dra
possesses great merit and is so simpl
In construction and operation tha
every farmer should have one.