The Taney County republican. (Forsyth, Mo.) 1895-1992, 1913-06-19

DeuGdtu TIC lOdu anu ulaAS ~ ~ aSA'
that the wheels OF wagons will cut
through the road surface and soon
destroy it.
Sometimes water runs from the land
along the roadside and forms stream
down the wheel tracks or in the middle
where the horses travel. When drive
ways into farm yards are built across
the side bitches they frequently
form channels for water from the farm
yard to run into the road. The pipes
under driveways become filed with
leaves or rubbish and the water can no
longer run away. II the driveways
that stop the ditch water we're rebuilt
so that no pipes we're necessary and
the ditch could be left open, much
trouble from surface water would be
avoided.
Sometimes a road runs across low
ground or through a swamp where the
road cannot be drained by side bitches
alone. II the road were built higher
like a railroad embankment across such
low land and made with a crown, it
would be dry and and hard. Some
times a road passes through what is
called a cut. This is a place where
the earth has been dug out so that the
road can 90 over hill without being
too steep. The water which always
flows quietly under the ground on hill
sides is known as ground water. In
road cuts such water sometimes makes
the road very muddy, and the road
then needs what road builders call
underdrainage. A good kind Of un-
derdrainage is a treuch along the side
drain about three feet deep and a foot
and a half wide. In this trench a pipe
is laid near the bottom and covered
with loose stones no bigger than an
egg. When the trench is completely
filed with loose stones the ground
water, instead OF soaking into the road
way, will stop among the stones and
flow down the hill through the pipe.
To keep road smooth and crowned
the best method is to drag it with a
road drag. A road drag is easily made
with two halves Of log which has been
split. The log should be about 10 or
IS inches in diameter and 6 or 8 feet
long. The two halves OF the log are
set feet apart with the flat sides for
ward and upright, They are then
fastened together with braces set in
holes bored through the log. A chain
is attached to the forward half Of the
log, one end Of the chain near each
end Of the log, and the team is hitched
near the middle Of this chain. The
road drag should move forward so that
it slants across the road in such a way
that a small amount Of earth will slide
past the smooth face Of the log toward
the center Of the road, thus forming
the crown. The edges Of the logs
will smooth out the ruts. The best
way 10 drag is 10 begin at the side
ditch and 90 up one side Of the road
then down the other. In the nex'
trip the drag should be started little
nearer the center and the last trip the
drag may work close to the center
itself. Small ridges OF earth will bt
thrown in the horse tracks and smeareC
by the round side OF the log smoothly
over the road. The smearing Of tht
earth by the drag is called pudding
and it tends to make the surface 0
the road smooth and water-tight ate
the sun comes out. The road shoulC
always be dragged after it has rainet
and not when it is dry. A good pai
Of horses with a well-built drag Cal
> drag about three or four miles Of roa
in day, and it is the best way t
maintain good roads. In every count
some farmer along each four miles {
road should own drag and drag tn
= road when it rains. He would alway
find the road in good condition whe
he goes to market.
~ Missouri wheat fields make Missol
IN rians proud and hopeful. II the lru