New Ulm review., 1913-09-03

under the driveway become filled with
leaves or rubbish and the water car can
no longer run away. II the drive
ways that stop the ditch water were
rebuilt so that no pipes were neces-
sary and the ditch could Be left open,
much trouble from surface water
would Be stopped.
Sometimes 4 road runs across low
ground or through . swamp whore
the road cannot be drained BY side
bitches alone. II the road were built
higher like ! railroad embankment
across such low land and made with
. crown, it would b dry and hard.
Sometimes ! road passes through
what IS called Z cut. This Is > place
where the earth has been dug out
30 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 ~
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 underdrainage is .
trench to 60 along under the side
drain and about 8 feet deep and .
foot and 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 filled with loose stones
the ground water, instead Of soaking
into the roadway, will stop among
the stones and flow down the hill
through the pipe.
To keep a road smooth and crown
ed the best method is to drag it with
a road drag. A road drag is made
easily with two halves of log which
has been split. The log should be
about or 8 inches in thickness and
about 6 or 8 feet long. The two
halves of the log are set feet apart
with the smooth faces forward and
upright. They are then fastened to-
gether with braces set in holes bored
through the log. A pair of horses
may be used to drag the road and
are hitched to a chain fastened to the
front half of the log. The road drag
should move forward so that it slants
across the road in such q way that
a small amount of earth will slide
past the smooth face of the log to-
ward the center of the road, thus
forming the crown. The edges of
the logs will smooth out the ruts.
The best way to drag is to begin at
the side ditch and 60 up one side of
the road, and then down the other.
In the next trip the drag should be
started a little nearer. the center and
the last trip over the road the drag
may work close to the center itself.
Small ridges of earth will be thrown
in the horse track and smeared by
the round side of the log smoothly
over the road. The smearing of the
earth by the drag is called "pud-
ding" and it tends to make the sur
face of the road smooth and water
tight after the sun comes out. The
road is always dragged after it has
rained and not when it is dry. A
good, strong pair of horses with a
we'll drag can drag about 3 or
miles in a day, and it is the best
way to maintain good roads. In ev-
cry county some farmer along each
4 miles of road should own a drag
and drag the road when it rains. He
would always find the road in good
condition when he goes to market.
Owing to the fact that many rural
schools were closed at the time when
the prize maintenance essay was an
nounced by Director Logan Waller
Page of the Office Of Public Roads,
it has been decided to extend the
limit for receiving the essays to Oc-
.ober Is, 1913. In addition to the
gold medal given as first prize, two
silver medals will be given as sec
md and third prizes. If child who
las submitted one essay previous to
he issue of this notice should care
o try again, he is at liberty to do so,
'ut he must be pupil of a rural
school. There is some misunder-
standing in regard to the subject of
he essay. The idea is to set the
hildren thinking how to better their
'arth roads with the material they