Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1914-03-17
Soils Containing Lille yege.
tstlon Natter beStter
Highways !
Spring Best Tine fsr Work,
Ground Too Hard i, AIT.
+. uma 0ODthS

Washington, March "ls- ENoil'
differ for agricultural purposes. &
they differ FOR roads, says tie roiaddil
expert Of the department Of 1afgsriiic;ul
ture. Clay or soil of fine texture us
ually make MOOR. roads, especially il
they contain much vegetable matter
The coarser soils, however, g, which
contain some SAND or gravel, will Of
ten make very satisfactory roads fol
light traffic, provided they are kept
in proper repair.
II the road is composed of the! clay
or soil, it will sometimes pay to re
surface it with top soil from aR;adja'
cent field which has sand orrgravel
mixed with it. This method, called
the top.soil method, is now I'm sue.
cessful use in Virginia, North Caro-.
lima and Georgia, and probably other
states. ,ra @sa.a.3i. 4. III,
The earth road Can best be;'cr0wn-
ed and ditchedT with asroad machine,
and not with picks and 'sfovels,
scoops and plows. One road machine
with a suitable power and operator
will do the work of many men with
picks and shovels and do it better.
. When Soil 10 Damp. u
The road machine should be aused
when the soil is damp SO as to- make
the soil bake when it dries outs Fit
IL worked dry it takes more power to
draw the machine, and, besides; dry
earth and dust retain moisture and
quickly cut after rains. The Use OF
clods, sods, weeds Of vegetable mat.
Ter in building roads should baeYevoid.:
ed. because they. also retain m0it
|ture. & az t
1t is a great mistake to pit the
working of the earth OF ,intils August
Or September. The surface is then
baked dry and hard. It is not aonly
difficult to work, but it II unsatisfac-
tory work when done. Earth which
is loose and dry will remain dusty %
long as the dry weather lasts and
then turn to mud as soon as the rains
begin: BY. usiigithes road machine tn
the spring of the year while the soil
is soft and damp. the surface 10 more
easily shaped aud soon packs down
into q dry hard crust, which Useless Il.
able to become dusty In summer or
muddy in: winter f@ -:
Storm water should be disposed
Of quickly before It has had time to
penitrate deeply into the surface.
This can be-; done by giving the road
a crown or slope from the center to
the sides. For all earth rcadS when
2 feet wide, the center should be1n0t
less than 8 inches nor more than u
inches higher, than the outer edges
Of the shoulders. A narrow road
which is too high in the middle, will
become rutted almost as quickly az
one wich is too flat. for the reason
that on the narrow road all the traffic
is forced to use only q narrow'strip.
Shoulders are often formed on both
sides OF the road which prevent, storm
water from flowing into side bitches.
retaining 1t n 1.-THE ruts and softsning
the roadway. These ruts3 and should
ers can be entirely. eliminated with
the road machine or split-log drag.
Ordinarily the only bitches. need.
ed are those made with the road ma
chine, which are wide and shallow.
Deep, narrow bitches wash rapidly,
especially on steep slopes, which II
another good reason for Decreasing
the steeness Of the grades. II is, dii.
ficult to maintain an earth road, or
any kind Of road" for that matter, on
! steep grade.
The width OF the earth road will
depend on the traffic. As q 'rOle, a5
to 30 feet from ditch to ditch 10 sum.
cient Of the road is properly crowned.
A road that Is narrower than p feet
is difficult to maintain for the above
stated reas0n--that on narrowsroads
the teams are more apt to track than