The Yale expositor., 1911-06-22


should be used, and used Immediately
after a rain. But good road can
be had without a roller, II It Is taken
care Of and looked after during the
first year, and the best implement to
do this Is with split log drag, using
1t the same as on an earth road. Ruts
Will form along the wagon track and
where the horses go, but dragging
of the surface will fill 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 road will be
smoother and will serve better pur-
pose.
Do not forget that the most impor-
tant part Of road building is drainage,
and that five or six inches of gravel
on a well drained road will give bet
ter results than twice this material
upon road 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
built he commenced to make repairs.
His answer was: THE next day"
If any place "a stitch in time saves
nine," 1t 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 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-
til 1t becomes impossible.
When any township has we'll 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 a bur-
den to anyone and the benefits are
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 and easier
for the horses, and therefore the ad
vantages of a 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, it would be
we'll 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 saves
wearing the hard road, and thus it
serves a double purpose. Let 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
by side, 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, SO that
the fields are too wet to work. With
good roads the farmer can make a
trip to town, do the necessary err
rands, haul off load Of grain or hogs
and keep his farm hands employed.
II 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 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 circu-
lars, of which scores are published ev-
cry year, upon road building and main
tenance, road drainage, and sugges-
tions that grow out of the experience
of road building can be followed up
and adopted by them. II this were
done 1t would stop an enormous
amount of money that every year is
wasted upon the highways by Ill
ciineo and misdirected effort