Rogue River courier. (Grants Pass, Or.) 1886-1927, 1910-06-17
THE KING DRAG
HOW 1T Is BUILT
n Very Useful and Very Important
Invention Used i'm Road
Building.

AN AA''S NAN0 40 0NNAo~NAAN AANNN
attention in many states and is doing
great service on roads wherever
1t has been introduced. This drag
would, without doubt, be of great
service on the roads of Josephine
county and whatever would improve
our roads without great cost is
worthy of attention.
The drag itself is very simple af-
fair. A split log furnishes the best
material, but two planks, two inches
thick, eight inches wide and ten feet
long, will do as we'll. These are
spaced about three feet apart and Sc
cured by three cross pieces.
The rear. plank should be set so
that the end overlaps about foot
and half. The front plank should
be shod with steel cutter for about
half its inner length. Hitch the
team so the drag will be pulled at an
angle of about 45 degrees to the
road
The manner of using the drag is
told best by D. Ward King, of Matt
land, Mo-, whose invention it is.
The formula for building good roads
without money is not complex" said
Mr.. King in one of his recent lee
lures, lin truth, it is so simple that
many persons when they first see 1t
feel positive some important item
has been omitted Here is the COM
plete formula, which is absolutely
certain to work on the average mile
of earth road:
First, build King drag, and
build it according to the speciflca-
tions in the United States King drag
bulletin. Do not attempt to improve
the drag. | spent several years trying
to devise better one and failed.
Second, after the drag is built
hitch two horses to it, attach the
double-tree at a point on the chain
that will compel the drag to follow
the team at an angle of As degrees,
with the left-hand end of the drag
to the rear. Now, at moment when
the surface soil is moist but not
sticky, step on to the drag and drive
toward town with one horse on each
side of the right-hand wheel track.
Drive to your neighbors front gate
and turning there, drive back home
over the other wheel track. That Is
all | ask. You can make another
trip If you have leisure, but the one
trip will answer If the work is prop
erly done. After the next rain or
storm, when the earth in the road
has dried so that 1t will not adhere
to the slabs of the drag, though still
wet enough to pack, make another
trip to your neighbor's front gate
toward town, returning as before
/ Repeat the. operation after four
five or six rains or storms. Probably
after four rains, but certainly after
six rains, followed by careful drag
ging, the center of the strip of road
way that Is reached by the drag will
be found higher than the rest In
other words, four to six dragglngs
/ after four to six rains will produce
q smooth, oval roadbed, with good
drainage Of its surface within the
limits of the dragging. The strip.
however, will be criticized for It's
lack of width; which brings us to the
third step
Third to widen the road use an
ordinary mold board plow and turn
one shallow furrow from each side
toward the center, allowing the plow
TO run just outside the mark made
by the end of the drag. Spread these
furroWs over the surface of the road
with the drag. This operation viii
widen the roadbed two feet and add
a little more to the crown. Follow
ing the next rain or storm repeat the
wing and dragging, ard when YOU
finish the road will be four feet
wider, The plowing may be con-
inued, only plowing one furrow after