Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1911-06-02


large extent takes the place o. a ioil
er. II roller can be had this alsc
should be used, and used Immediately
after a rain. But good road can
be had without a roller, if II Is taken
care of and looked after during the
first year, and the best implement tc
do this is with a split log drag, using
1.-THE same as on an earth road. Ruts
VIII form along the wagon track and
where the horses go, but dragging
OF the surface will fiji these and in
short time a compact, smooth road
way will result. A better road can be
built in one year if this Plan is fol
lowed than can be built in three years
by the old Plan. and the read will be
smoother and will serve a better pur
pose.
Do not fosgst ttct .he most inpor
tant part of road builo 3 drainage
and that five or six inches Of gravel
On a Wen drained road wi give bet
ter results than twice this material
upon road that is impcrfeoly drain.
cd.
When the writer was attending the
great international Meeting Of Road
Engineers in Paris, 1893, ore oi the
delegates asked an eminent FIencl
engineer how soon after the read was
built he commenced to make rcpa IRIS.
His answer was: "The next day."
If any place I'd stitch in time saves
nine" it certainly VIII do so On the
highway The srlan9id roads o.
Europe are looked alter BY an attend
ant who goes over them every week,
and as soon as break appears, the
necessary repair is made. IL this
country the practice has been to build
an expensive road or pave q street at
high cost, and DO nothing With it an.
til it becomes impossible.
When any township has Won grad
ed and thoroughly drained It's high
ways the question OF good roads is
half solved, but only half. A sMooth
hard wearing surface must b. put up
on the same, especially upon Jhe main
highways. Where the state aid plan
IS followed the expense is rot a bnr
Gen to anyone and tie benefits ere
many and shared in by ALL
We sometimes hear the statement
made by those who are trying to find
objections to the building of hard
roads, that an earth road is much
pleasanter to drive upon anl easier
for the horses, and therefore the adj
vantages Of good road are in some
degree Offset by the fact that an
earth road at certain seasons is the
better of the two.
The writer has always advocated,
that where it is practical, ii would be
well to leave a smooth earth road
alongside of the stone or gravel road,
so that the drivers might choose be
tween the two. When the weather is
fine and the earth road is smooth, the
drivers will usually take that in pref
erence to the hard road. This save
wearing the hard road, ara thus it
serves double purpose. LIT a heavy
rain descend and everybody takes the
hard road. The difference is the i'm
proved highway is good 365 days in
the year, and the other road is good
and bad by turns. Having them side
by side, which can easily be done
without additional expense, tie people
have the choice
There is another feature Of the per-
manent road that should net be lost
sight of. In the busy season while
the crops are being planted, some
times a heavy rain Will fall so that
the fields are too wet to work With
good roads the farmer can make
trip to town, do the necessary en-
rands, haul off load of grain or hogs
and keep his farm hands employed.
If the roads are unimproved, he can
neither work the farm nor travel the
highways.
Every road overseer, and in fact ev-
cry farmer, should send to tie state
engineer of his state, and to the Office
of Public Roads at Washing on, and
have his name put upon the mailing
list, SO that the bulletins and circu-
lars, of which scores are published ev-
cry year, upon road building ar main
tenance, road drainage, and sugges-
tons that grow out Of the experience
of road building can be folio ed up
and adopted by them. II this were
done it would stop an enormous
amount Of money that every year is
wasted upon the highways by i'll
si.neo and misdirected effort.