The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1908-03-24
HINTS ON ROAD WORK.
U. 5. Office Of Public Roads Tells How to
Make and Maintain Model Earth
Road.

While American road builders are as
capable OF constructing good roads as
those Of any country of the old world.
they have not been as Loyalty supported
as the men Of those countries in main
tanning the highways after completion,
and the depIorable state Of many hun
bred Thousand miles OF road Is thus
accounted for. County and township
officials may at the outset stand the
expense Of having road built, but they
strenuousiy object when asked to pro-
vide funds to rebuild the road that has
been allowed to 80 to ruin.
Il i important that farmers learn Of
the benefits 10 Be derived from good
earth roads, that county boards be inn
pressed with the need Of d proper main
tenance 81 the same, and that road
builders and oyerseers learn how best to
care for the roads In their charge.
The persistent and powerful enemies
Of earth roads are water and narrow
ties, @ld the constant effort OF the men
in charge OF the roads should be to
guard against their destructive effects
and remedy all damage as quickly as
possible The simple implements which
have been found to be OF greatest assist
ance in this work are the plow, the drag
scraper, the wheel scraper. the road
grader, and the split log drag.
With a sandy sol and a subsoil of
clay, or clay and gravel. deep blowing
50 as to raise and mix the clay with
the surface soil and sand will prove
beneficial The combination forms a
sand-elay road ut tritling expense.
On the other hand, If the road be entirely
Of sand, a mistake will be made ii ii Is
.plowed. unless clay can be added Such
blowing would merely deepen the sand.
and at the same time break mp the small
amount Of hard surface material which
may have formed If the subsoil il
clay and the surface scant in sand 81
gravel blowing should not be resorted
to. as IT would result in d clay surface
rather than one Of sand or gravel 4
road foreman must know not only what
to plow and what not to plow but
how and when 60 plow. II the road Is
of the kind which according 10 the
above instructions should be plowed over
its whole width, the best method Is to
run the first furrow ii 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 followed by a
scraper on grader. 70 make wide, deep
bitches, nothing better than the ordi
nary drag scraper has yet been devised
For hauls under 100 feet, Of tn making
~Rlls7 it il especially servieeable. 1t
il mistake, however, to attempt to
handle long haul material with this
scraper, as the wheel scraper Il better
adapted 70 such work For hanls Of
more than 800 feet, wagon should be
used.
The machine most generally used ii
road work Is the grader, or road ma
chine. This machine is especially use
full in smoothing and browning The road
and in opening bitches. A clay subsoil
under thin coating of soil should not
be disturbed with a grader. It Is also
a mistake to use a grader indiserimi
nately and 10 pull material from bitches
upon sand-clay road Not infrequent
~ turf, soil aud silt from ditch bot
toms are piled in the middle OF the road
in ridge, making mudholes a certain-
ty. It is important in using grader
to avoid building 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 al one opera
tion. The foreman frequently thinks
his road must be high IN the first in
stance He piles up material from TO-
inches to a foot in depth, only to learn.
with the arrival Of the first rain. that
lie has furnished the material Tor as
many inches 81 mud All material
should be brought up IN thin layers,
each layer well puddled and firmly
packed by roller or traffic before the
next is added. A common mistake is
to crown too high with the road machine
on narrow road.
The split log drag should be used to
ill ia ruts and smooth the road when
not too badly washed. The drag pos
sesses great merit and is 50 simple in
construction and operation that every
farmer should have one A special arti-
Gle will be published later telling how
~ make and usc the drag.