The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1913-12-16


bia, Camden, and other more distant |
points
Mr.. Tufts Good Roads Leader
Leonard Tufts is the u md
sponsor of good roads in :. !
but the movement has gone far
yOnd him now. It has aroused the en-
thuSiaSm Of the people, and good road
building has become an epidemic.
AS has been said, this movement
commenced at Pinehurst. in section
Of the country that had been regarded
as too sterile to be fit for any purpose.
yet here the people managed to find
this means to build good roads.
When it was seen how useful a good
road IS the people issued bonds to
get money to build more roads. and
they soon found that they stand to
pay a tax sufficient to meet the in
terest on the bonds and to accumu-
late sinking fund ample to retire the
bonds when they become due.
When this thing once became ap-
parent the idea Of building good roads
spread. until all over the sand-fill
country are good road, and it is doubt
full If another place in the world has
such good roads, covering as many
miles, and built for so little money.
If it is true that this sandy section
is not so fertile by nature as some
| other places it is also true that
| ture has given it two enormous ad
vantages in the matter of road build
ing. The sandy land is easily drained,
| and drainage is an essential feature
| in maintaining a road. Mud is the
| hereditary enemy of good road and
mud is simply surplus water.
In sandy land surplus water is car
| ried away without much effort. Ditch
| es formed by the roadside as the
scraper shapes up the road bed serve
all the purposes of drainage in the
sand-hill country. Dragging the roads
after rain keeps the surface round
ed so that surface water runs away,
and leaves the road hard a. smooth.
A sand-hill road is maintained for
from five to fifteen dollars a mile a
lyear.
Sand Clay Roads Best.
Nothing has ever been found that
makes a better road than a mixture
OF sand and clay. 1t is not affected
by wet weather or by dry weather
Frost is never deep enough in the
grounu in this section to permit it te
heave the roads ar d destroy them as
in the case in the clay regions. Tha,
removes another costly enemy OF
roads which prevails in many places
But the big advantage found here
is the original cost of road. The
customary estimate is about three
hundred dollars for a>nile Of finished
. road. Sometimes it will overrun
little, and sometimes fall short Of tina
, sum.
Grading in the sandy country is no
expensive. After the road has beer
located 1t is grubbed, the stump
t burned out or blown out with dyna
I mite, after which a furrOW is plOwet
on each side Of the road to outline tn
t bitches. Then read machine draw
I by six mules is dragged in the fur
rows, throwing the dirt from the sid
3 to the middle. rounding up a bed 70
8 the road. On top Of the grade is pu
about six inches of clay, taken. from
s beds found all along the line Of roa
( throughout the sand hill country.
e should be understood that the sand
K hills are not exactly sand hills bu
rather hills Of sand and clay in vary
d ing proportions. and it is hard to fin
9 section SO sandy that clay is no
t abundant enough TO make good road
: at a small cost.
: Movement Spreads Rapidly.
r This good roads movement ha
e swept over this section at Wonderfl
e rate. 1t is observed that while oppo
e sition is often met when a good roa
l. is first proposed in a community. ths
/ opposition is lost sight of when tn
e first bit of road is made. and at ono
9. the cry is for more roads rather tha
It against the expenditure of money.
d Possibly no better part of the Stat
= could have been chosen to make tn
n experiment than right here in Moor
x county where the taxable values hay
e until lately been low. Recently
y change has taken place, and II is ger
SIS orally accepted that much OF the pro.
perity that has come this way
e. the result of better roads. Pople h
II come looking for land invariably irsi
W that if they buy they want land O
n, the clay roads. and the price of proI
"a eTty All over the pinehurst road ma