The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1911-09-14
PINE STRAW SURFACER
|Straw-Surfaced Roads Being
Advocated in Florida.

JACKSONVILLE. Sept. l4.-Pine
straw. heretofore regarded as q nuis-
ance and burned by the acre, is COM
ing to the front as road surfacer in
Florida counties that are for one rea-
son or another unable to make imme-
date expenditures necessary to pro-
vide sandclay roads. Automobiles
who are familiar with them are in
ciined to favor straw-surfaced roads.
if they are well kept. over highways
made of clay.
The announcement that Jackson
vile would be the southern terminus
of the 1911 Glidden automobile tour
electrified all the counties of the state
into remarkable activity. Counties
which have been very backward in
the construction of highways became
active. 1t requires time to pass bond
issues, negotiate them and build roads.
All sections of the state desired to
have highways open for side trips for
the Glidden tourists.
The necessity for quick action set
road enthusiasts and county engineers
to looking about for something that
would make a temporary surfaceing
and could be handler without delay.
Experiments were begun with pine
comes a nuisance when it accumulates
about large lumber mills.
Tests are being made at several
points in the state, and some sections
have been SO well Convinced of the
value of straw, that highways are be-
ing built OF it as rapidly as possible,
st. Augustine motorists and the good
roads organization OF st. Johns county
are backing proposition to finish GER
tain sections of the John Anderson
highway from Jacksonville with straw
surfacing. This is trip that will be
made by practically every tourist who
makes the Glidden rum.
At Mt. Dora experiments with pine
straw have been very satisfactory. II
the roadbed is properly smoossed up
and leveled as it should De before 1t is
strawed, rains and a little packing
make surface that is far ahead of a
poorly kept clay road At least, as a
temporary surfacing, pine straw has
not an equal. The cost of road build.
ing by this method varies from SIS to
$50 a mile, according to the original
condition of the roadbed.
VOlusia and Palm Beach are coun.
ties which have experimental con
siderably with pine straw in road
building, and it is stated that they are
proving satisfactory. Lake county has
1O7 miles of straw road that has been
tested 1t is found that where roads
are used pretty regularly by all class
es of vehicles it is necessary to re
straw the surface about once a year
The most pleasant roads to travel oyel
| in Lake county during wet weather
are the straw roads. The estimated
average cost of maintaining good pine
straw roads has been fixed at $50 9
year a mile.
| 1t is necessary to protect pine straw
roads against fire by sand bulwarks
but this same precaution must be TAX
en- against the destruction of sawdus1
roads, Sawdust has not proved sc
satisfactory as straw, particularly tina,
from the regular cut of lumber. The
waste from shingle mills is more or
the order of excelsior and gives better
results. The less fibrous saWdust il
blown away by the winds. The sane
barrier problem is one OF the small
difficulties, however, of pine straw
road construction. In most sections i
lis only necessary to clear away thu
required space and wait.