Norwich bulletin., 1911-09-30
f.l @ unE,} "a @ \ 1.-THE FARMERS TALK1
 1 TOfARMERS ,m1
IT IS WE'LL TO WORK AND TO WATCH

(Written Specially for The Bulletin.)
 Somebody once remarked upon how much
 The dunce who has been sent to
 roam
 Excels the dunce who has been kept
 at home"
 You and I. brother, are held by intan- gible but very secure walls of duty prisoners within a limited horizon. We are not allowed to roam, much more than cur Jerseys and our Southdowns
 beyond the pasture bars. Such being our case I, for one, am always inter- ested in reading about things 1 am not allowed personally to observe and in spect- Since I may not wander abroad strange countries for to see.' l can at least find some instruction in reading what is printed about them.
 few things l have read, the past week, Tn western newspapers about the ocings of certain western farrnes have interested me greatly, and I hope will prove suggestive to some others as well, if pass them on. Of course there is much in western farm life which is so different from the condi- uons to which we are accustomed that 1t isn't always either possible or wise to attempt close imitation On the other hand, they certainly do oc- L'~1fDife1iAN In which latter case, it is better judg- ment for us 10 be thankful than to get mad about it.
 For instance, take the matter of roao making. Probably all of you kDoW the history of the "split-los drag, by which thousaa5s of miles - once pad dirt roads in the middle west have been transformed-made ana Kept good roads. The thing was dev1sed by farmer, is used by farm CTS and does not only cheaper but bet ter work than any high-priced iiga- maree ever turned out from any fac tory or foundry. But of course it's Use IS limited 10 dirt roads. There are tlmes when no dirt road is wholly sat isIactory- Permanent and always de- pendable roads are wanted more and more, as traffic increases The farm CTS or Dane county, Wisconsin. found themselves wanting good, solid. stone roads which would navey be eitrer .nuddy or dusty. Here in the east the farmers m lots of counties would like 1 the same thing. One difference that 1 note between the habits of the two | sets IS that, when We want such roads we eithef take it out in wanting. or l else go whimpering to the state and beg it to d. our work for us The Dane county chaps seen, to have feit diflerentIy. At first the big cost of 1 complete Stcne-crusfing outfit scared them. It needed S5,000 to start Wlth. So they hired crusher for a | ie" weeks and built few experiment. | al pieces of road. These trial bits | rroved magnfcently effective mis- 1 sionaries. They proved, even to the 1 oouoters. that it sometimes pays to 1 spend money. This season the farm l ers-who control affairs in this agri- | cultural county-haVe three complete | outfits at work crushing stone and | making roads.
 Now comes in the especisIIy iT1uni- mating part of the story. While thrir county is devoid of lodges ,ud ouar | res, and they have to depend for | thelr supply of stone on the small | noulders and "niggerheads" which | nave been drawn from the fields and piled along the roadside, they are l making road-good load permanent l road, at an average cost of s20nO a ! mile. They dig out a strip foot deep and eight feet wide n the center or the old roadway, aving shoulders i at each side to keep the stone, etc. rom sliding out of place. A layer of | gravel six inches thick is put in. gir- l en the same crown LS the Finished road IS to have, and rolle ] Then cones :, | 1our to five inch layer of ruarse s'one. Toleo and next two-inch layer of | line stone, also rolled Lastly l thin | binder coating of the finest stone 1 and clay is applied. And again rolled. | Where culverts are dsrnanded ther are l made Of concrete. When there is dan- 1 ger Of water settling under the read | ped it is tiled for drainage.
 The average cost per mile including l culverts and tile when needed. is. as have noted, about s2,00O.
 l know of several miles of road re- gently built in neighboring state