Newark evening star and Newark advertiser., 1914-07-18
UNCLE SAM SAYS
DRAG THE ROADS

The road drag is the simplest ana
least expensive contrivance yet de-
vised for maintaining earth roads,
according to the experts in the United
States Department of Agriculture
who are cooperating with State and
county authorities in work for bet
ter roads.
Properly used. the drag gives the
needed crown to the road. smootnes
out ruts and other Irregularities.
spreads out puddles of water, thereby
accelerating the drying Of the road
and makes the surface more or less
mpervious to water by smearing over
the so-called pores in the eartny ma
terial. The cost of operation depends,
of course, upon local conditions and
the thoroughness with wnich the
work is done. 1t is safe to say. how
ever. that it is less expensive than
any other efficient system of upkeep..
Farmers Bulletin No 597, of the
Department of Agriculture, dis
cusses, under the title of 1.-The Road
Drag and How 1t Is Used,' the best
methods of maintaining earth roads
in good condition by this simple de-
vice. In this bulletin. which has just
been published, the department
points out that of more than 100000
miles of public roads in the United
States, only about 100000 miles have
been given hard surface 1t is true,
of course, that a large part of the
remaining mileage consists of roads
that are entirely unimproved and
that on roads of this class the drag
is praci ically useless. There is a
much larger mileage, however, that
has been partially improved, and II
is on roads of this character-road
that have been crowned or drained.
but have not a hard surface-that'
the use of the drag is advocated.
In its simplest form, the road drag
consists of an ordinary log split in
half and the two halves connected
like the uprights of a ladder by
means of cross-sticks or rungs set in.
The log should be about seven or
eight inches in diameter, and from
six to eight feet in length. II is bet
ter to have it of well-seasoned, hard,
tough wood. The two semi-cylindrl-
cal halves of the log form the run
ners of the drag, and are usually
spaced from thirty to thlrty-siN
inches apart. The front ruillef y
always placed with the split surface
of the wood facing forward, but the
rear runner sometimes has its round
ed face in front. This is done IN or
der to increase the smearing action
of the drag as it passes over the
surface of the road. =,
The two runners are not placed dl-
rectly behind each other, out are
offset" as it is called, from tWeiVe
to sixteen inches. This is done pc
cause the drag is drawn over the
road AT an agile sufficient to make the
runners free themselves of the ma
terial which they scrape. The amount
of this angle or skew depends, OF
course. upon the condition of the
road. BY offsetting the runners, II
is possible to make their ends follow
approximately the same line on the
road, which they would not 90 II tney
were set directly behind each other
and the drag drawn at an angle with
the road.
In order to provide standing room
for the man. it is usual to nall tive
boards down upon the rungs parallel
10 the runners. Standing upon these,
a skillful driver will bear his weight
in such a way as to aid materially
in the successful operation of the
drag.
The drag is drawn by chain
which should be about eight feet long.
This can be fastened by eye-bolts to
each end of the front runner, or one
end of the chain can pass through
hole at thet discharge end of the front
runner, and the other end be looped
over the rung at the cutting end OF
the runner. 1t is important that the
hitching link should be so designed
that its position can be changed
readily. It is also desirable to pro-
vide a metal cutting edge for the
front runner. This can be made from
a strip of iron or steel. and old
wagon tires have frequently proved
satisfactory.
The cost of such drag varies from
50 to perhaps $40 or $12. This prac-
tically insignificant outlay will secure
an implement that will be of great
service to the community for at least
three or four years The fact cam
not be overlooked. however, that
skill in the use Of the drag is indis-
pensable.