The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1910-07-21
FOR MAINTENANCE
OF EARTH ROADS
PREVAILING SYSTEM OF REPAIR.
ING EARTH ROADS ONCE A
YEAR WoEFULLY DEFICIENT,
SAYS r. M. DoLVE OF NORTH
DAKOTA A. c.

ANY one who has given the subject
even the most cursory examination will
readily agree that the prevailing sys-
tenn or repairing our earth roads once
; a year Is woefully deficient" says r.
M. Dolve of farm mechanics at the A.
=. Our system of maintenance is at
the bottom Of most of our road trouble
ana 1t is useless to expect better roads
as long as 1t remains in vogue. With
the present system our roads deter
lorate to such an extent that all the
available road funds are required to
put the road back into as good condi-
tlon as 1t was when last repaired In
this way our roads remain at a stand
sui ana no true progress results
In order to make our roads good
the greater part Of the year a system
or continuous maintenance must be
adopted. Many have argued that every
FARMER should keep in repair a certain
| dehhte piece of road near his farm.
out this system, although often pro-
ductlve or a great deal Of good, has
never been entirely successful The
trouble is that the farmer has too much |
important private business to attend |
10 and cannot always give the road his |
attention when the condition of the !
road requires it. Then, too this sys-
tenn is against the tendency of the
times which is for division of labor and !
intense specialization.
The present day farmer is a spe-
cialist in the true sense of the word. /
he no longer concerns himself about !
the making Of his shoes clothing, tools
or other equipment; he no longer wor
Fles about the bringing Of his mail and |
the time Is coming when he should no /
longer bother about the direct mainte- Il
nance or his roads. The farmers mail II
Is brought to his door and he takes H
1t as matter Of fact, stopping to con-
slider the system which brings it there II
only when the mail for some reason or
other fails to appear Likewise the |
ideal system Of road maintenance is
one by which the roads are kept in
repair as automatically, but as surely
as the delivery of the rural mail
one OF the best implements yet de-
Vlsed for repairing roads is the King
split log drag or some modification of
1t which may be made either of wood
or steel. The roads should be dragged
with this implement as soon after a.
rain as possible; when the drag sdeezes L
the water out of the soil leaving a
smooth layer of puddled soil on the
road surface which bakes hard when X
dry and sheds water like a duck" The
erect OF the drag is accumulative in
way very much similar to the appIi-
cation OF paint on a building-for the
Lhlnner the coats and the greater the | h
NUMBER the more lasting is the paint.
every time the drag is used. a new
aver Of puddled soil is smeared on ton
u the previous one until, after several
Iears of the accumulative effect of
lraSglng, road crust consisting of
large number of thin layers of pud-
lied soil is formed that will support
he heaviest traffic without breaking
Up. The drag not only keeps the road
smooth and well crowned, but also r.
Keeps the bitches clean so that. If out
cts are provided for them as there u
hould be, water will run away from y
he roads and the grade thus remains
i'm. - 81
There Is a total Of seventy-two 81
niles of road in township, but usually
ess than thirty-five are Travelled to HI
ny extent. In many townships one
nan and two horses could maintain 49,
ne roads perfectly throughout the n
ummer months~with a road DRAG. In
thers two men and four or six horses
'ould be required to do the work when
should be done. This system of
would not be at all pro-
tbit1ve and it would be found that in
Id townships where the roads are all
eady graded there would be little
Sc for the road grader. About the -.
My repair that would have to be at .
ended to outside of this system would
the building of bridges and culverts To-.
nd this could in time, be almost elm
lated If reinforced concrete were used -.
their construction wherever posi-
e" 80 81