The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1911-09-09

large extent takes the place of q roll
or. II roller can be had this also
should be used. and used Immediately
as'er rain. But good road cln
De had without roller, If 1t IS taken
c6Te Of and looked after during the
h'st rear, and the best implement 70
CO THIS IS with split log drag, using
II the same az on an earth road. Puts
Will form along the wagon track and
whefe the horses go, but dragging
On the surface will fl these and in
short time a compact, smooth rc ~
way VIII result A better road caA De
Quilt In one year II this plan Is fol.
lowed than can be built in three years
by the Odd plan. and the road viii be
smoother and will serve q better pur-
pose
10 not forget that the most fmpor-
tant part of road building Is drainage,
and that five or six inches of gravel
ON well drained road will give bet-
Ter results than twice this material
upon tuad that IS imperfectly drain.
ed
When the writer was attending the
great international Meeting of Road
Engineers in Paris, 1908, one of the
delegates asked an eminent French
engineer how soon after the road was
DWlt he commenced to make repairs.
HIS answer was: The next day"
II any place "a stitch in time saves
nine, II certainly will do so on the
highway. The splendid roads of
Europe are looked after by an attend
ant who goes over them every week,
and as soon as q break appears. the
necessary repair Is made In this
country the practice has been to build
an expensive road or pave a street at
high cost, and do nothing with it un.
I'll 1t becomes impaSsabla
When any township has well grad.
ed and thoroughly drained its high.
ways the question Of good roads Is
half solved but only half. A smooth
hard wearing surface must be put up
ON the same, especially upon the main
highways. Where the state aid plan
Is followed the expense Is not bur.
den to anyone and the benefits are
many and shared In by ell.
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 and easier
for the horses, and therefore the ad
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 1t is practical, IL would be
well TO leave q 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 taks that In pref.
erence TO the hard road. This saves
wearing the hard road, and thus it
serves double purpose Let heavy
rain descend and everybody takes the
hard road The difference is the Inn
proved highway is good 865 days IN
the year, and the other road Is good
and bad by turns Having them side
by aide, which can easily be done
without additional expense. the people
have the choice
There Is another feature of the per
manent road that should not be lost
sight Of. In the busy season while
the crops are being planted, some
times a heavy rain will fall, 80 that
the fields are too wet to work With
good roads the farmer can make a
trip TO town, do the necessary er.
rands, haul OF load OF grain or hogs
and keep his farm hands employed.
II the roads are untmprcved, he can
neither work the farm nor travel the
highways.
Every road oVerseer, and In fact ey.
cry farmer, should send To the state
engineer of his state, and to the Office
OF Public Roads at Washington, and
have his name put upon the mailing
list, SO that the bulletins and clrclh
lars, of which scores are published ev.
cry year, upon road building and main.
tenance, road drainage, and sugges.
dons that grow out of the experience
OF road building can be followed 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 III
timed and misdirected effort
Old WncId Casttn o., fh.. GI,6c,,x,