The citizen. (Honesdale, Pa.) 1908-1914, 1910-12-28
RoADl,s.@,4:!s::a,1c] }, s. :: ! \
ROADMAklNGSss||
RI r''1S'0T~ ]
IMPORTANCE OF GOOD ROADS.
BY Professor w. C. Palmer, AgrIcul-
tural College, North Dakota.

py TToIeSsoT w. y. Tdlmer, AorlcuI-
turaI College, North Dakota.
The value of good roads is often
not appreciated by the farmers as
much as II should be. OF course the
burden of making the better roads
falls directly on them, which is an
other side to the problem. The aver
age cost of hauling a ton one mile on
the ordinary country roads is 25
cents, while the average price OF haul
ing one ton one mile on the railroads
is three-quarters OF 1 cent. In other
words. the cost of hauling is thirty
three times as much with team and
wagon as with steam. This has been
accomplished by number of factors.
Some of these can be and must be
considered in making good roads, that
is, to have a good hard road bed and
to eliminate grades. The railroads do
not as rule have a grade OF more
than per cent; some OF them have
adopted 2 per cent. as the maximum
grade. Two per cent. would mean q
rise of two feet in 100 feet. This
would not be considered much Of q
grade on the ordinary road, but this
Is the way 1t works out:
A team can exert a pull OF a short
distance OF one-half its weight, but
for ordinary work the load II can pull
should not be over one-tenth the
weight OF the team. For instance q
team weighing 5000 pounds can ex-
ert a pull OF 300 pounds-that Is,
when 1t is to continue the work for,
say, ten hours; while for small
stretch it would be able to exert q
pull of 1900 pounds. This, however.
Is putting forth all the energy of
which they are capable. 1t has also
been found that the pull required to
take a ton over the ordinary roads is
100 pounds. Supposing, then, that
the load is one ton and the wagon
weighs 300 pounds; this would make
total of 1900 pounds, and at the
rate of $50 pounds per ton would
make a total of 264 pounds-a little
less than the team is capable Of haul
ing. In fact, it could very nicely han
die 500 pounds more, which would
bring the pull up to 300 pounds, and
making the load $500 pounds. This,
however, is for the level. AS a grade
is approached this, Of course, will be
increased. A 8 per cent. grade would
increase the draft OF the wagon and
load of $500 pounds by 315 pounds.
bringing it up to 579 pounds, which Is
almost twice what the team can ham
die as regular thing. II the grade
Is increased to 20 per cent, or twenty
feet in a hundred feet, the draft on
this same load would come to lit
tie over 1900 pounds, or the maxi
mum that this team could pull when
exerting its utmost power. Any grade
beyond this would mean that the load
would have to be reduced, and in fact
no team should be required to have to
pull to its maximum capacity. From
this, then, 1t is evident that increas-
ing the grade increases the draft very
fast, and hence grades should be
eliminated as far as 1t Is possible.
On a macadam road team can pull
three times as much on the level as
on a good earth road, but the in
crease in draft upgrade remains the
same as on the earth road so that a
grade would be more Objectionable on
a macadam road than on poor road.
On the level a 3,OOO-pound team could
easily handle four tons, while the
maximum grade that 1t could pull up
with such a load would be a 10 per
cent grade, and even that is more
than should be expected from the
team.
There is very marked tendency
in the west of running roads on the
section lines. This is good where the
land is level, but where there are hills
it is usually advisable to go around
rather than to go over them, at least
where this can be done and thus
avoid a sleeper grade. There is also
this objection to cuts and fills that 1t
brings up a soil that is not good for
roadmaking and one that washes
easily, and the expense of cutting
down hills is usually greater than
would be the cost of buying a right
of-way around the hill and thus avoid
the grade. Railroad engineers will
make considerable curves in the roads
in order to avoid grades, and they
have the problem very carefully
studied out, and they will often make
a detour OF a good many miles in or
der to avoid a grade.
Having to haul the produce from
the farm to the market over poor
road adds to the cost or production,
and again a good road that can be de-
pended on in all seasons brings the
farmers several miles nearer town,
and it also increases the value Of the
land considerably, as the buyer will
pay quite a bit more for land that
he can reach with a good road than
for land that is hard to reach on ac-
count of poor roads. due either to