The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1911-11-04

my eAVVIhSHCS tWAt AlWi0bt every " uVsc
in tho southeast where the coil Is sand
that these pockets are found. In
many places the sand IL only foot
Or two deep ana ia some places only
six or right inches deep.
Our tn6thOd In this section IL TO
build roads only when the farmers
have nothing for their teams to do.
We pay 1z4-1 centS per cubic yard
for the gravel and clay delivered on
the road. The packets are near enough
together, NO the haul ID seldom, r'sore
than one-f0urth Of 4 mile. The farm.
ers work as mach Of tie time as they.
can, and besides getting enough to
pay for their teams feed aud a small
wage for themselves during idle time,
they get 4 food road In their vicin-
ity. OF course 2 Is cents is a very
cheap price, nut eur. r0ads do not av-
emge tn cost oyAr 1850 per mile.
BtLldins View Roads.
On s foot road d yard Of clay
viii spread an ae6rAfe OF six inches
deep and will cover the width OF the
road and one and one fifth yards
Iengthwise. This viii take 400 cubiE
yards of clay and for hauling would
amount to $lA3- With q good lot OF
ten days to clay mile. A foreman
and one man a. helper can spread
this as fast ~ II 10 hauled. Two good
mules and plough ~ needed In TIL
clay pit TO loosen up tho clay so those
hauling can load more readily: this
Will amount to about $50 per mile,
SO outside Of grading and clearing
the total cost OF = Is foot road would
not be over s133. the most OF our
roads here have been IL feet roads,
ana, OF course, this reduces the cost
q - =
contours around the hills instead OF
making cuts and nils which are 80 ex-
pensive.
views ms TO rnHinteHHluF- * {nan ana
pair of mules can drag ten miles
OF road a day. That ID he can drag
one side or the road for ten milea.
and then turn back ana drag the other
side back To whAEe he started, This
makes the cost In this section for each
dragging less than 80 Der cent per
mbe. A a rule it il not necessary
To 40 this oftener than fifteen times q
yesr. This means that 1t would cost
about $3.50 a year for dragging a mile
of foad. The rest Of the money Is
spent In cutting back the bushes. keeps
ing the bitches clear. and where there
= gravel handy. putting the pure
gravel OH top OF the road, which i'm
beds itself. through the traffic, into
the surface and makea the .oad Of {.
very much more permanent nature.
by the chamber officials.
Spread 1Dlrt Quickly.
1T Is essential in building a road
to spread the dirt as soon as it isl
dumped as 1t is the only way to get
an even surface. and Il Is better still
TO dump on light platform and
spread it from the platform. IL the
piles Of dirt are left in the road and
spread by a road machine afterwards
the surface Of the road will always re
wayy.
The ideal way is 10 employ a man
with a pair OF heavy mules for twelve
months in the year and lie. him 60
from place to place boarding at dif-
ferenr houses, ana in this way he
should be able to maintain a hundred
miles OF road. 1t has been my ex-
perience, and that OF everyone think,
that it is impractical to divide the
road in small sections, giyin~ each
section To a farmer to drag and at
tend to, tor whereas this seems to be
the natural and economical way to1
handle it. practice has shown that tiia
only time that the roads are attended
To is when the farmer has nothing else
to do and at that time the road Is
very apt TO bc in such condition as 10
make it undesirable to do any work
upon it
GotSi Roads and PotAtBea.
State Geologist w. o. Hotchkiss.
of Wisconsin. tells how one farmer
OF that state became believer In
good roads. Tits man had = thous-
and bushels Of potatoes in the cellar
which he was holding for a good price.
An offer Of % cents came In March.
but, AS he expressed It, the roads were
SO bad that the only way he, could
get to town was by telephone. OF
course, the roads finally dried ont. and
then he secured 80 cents q bushel for
his potatoes. Hence. rightly, he as
sumed that bad roads had cost him
over $500, and he likewise
figured that IL all the main roads
In the county had been. Improved his
share would not have been - mNoh
as the loss on his crop of potatoes. Mr..
Hotchkiss sums UP the situation worry
concisely In this sentence Good roads
beneflt US at every turn. and bad roads
are an extravaganza that no people
can AFFORD"