The Nevada County picayune., 1914-04-17
The King Road Drag.

and hard, they are not only difficult 10 work. but the work is unsatisfac- Fory when done. Earth which Is loose and dry will remain dusty as long as the dry weather lasts, and then turn 10 mud as the rains begin. By using the road machine in the spring while he soil is soft and damp. the surface IS more easily shaped and soon packs iown into dry hard crust which is less liable to become dusty in sum tner and muddy in winter
 Repairs to roads should be made when needed and not once year after crops are laid by, Because of It's simplicity. efficiency and cheap oess. the split-l0g drag or some sim! liar device is destined to come into nore and more general use. With the drag properly built aud -its use we'll understood, the maintenance Of earth and gravel roads becomes a sim ole and inexpensive matter. Care should be taken to make the log go light that one man can lift 1t with ease, as light drag can be drawn by two medium sized horses and re spends more readily 10 various meth ods of hitching and the shifting posi- tion Of the operator than a heavier one. The best material for the drag ls a dry cedar log, shou2h elm, wal aut. box elder or soft maple are eA cellent. Oak, hickory or ash are too heavy The log should be from seven 10 ten feet long, and from eight tu ten inches in diameter It should be split carefully as near the center as possible and the heaviest aud best slab chosen for the front When the soil is moist. but not sticky. the drag does the best work As the soil In the field will bake If plowed wet. so the road will bake if the drag is used on 1t when il is wet If the roadway Is full of holes or badly rutted the drag should be used once when th" road is soft and slushy
 The earth road can best he crown od and ditched with a road machine and not with picks and sho els. scoops, and blows One road machine with a suitable power and operator will do the work of many men with picks and shovels. and in addition will do it bet ter. If the road is composed of fine clay or soil 1t will sometimes pay to resurface It with top soil from an ad Iacent field which has sand or gravel mixed with it. This method, called the top soil method" is now in sue cessful use in Clarke county. Georgia
 Storm water should be disposed of quickly before 1t has had time to pene trate deeply Into the surface of the road This can be done by giving the road s crown or slope from the cen ter to the sides. For an earth road which is A feet wide the center sbould be not less than six inohe' nor moro than 13 inches higher thar the outer edges of the shoulder. Th' narrow road which is high In the mid de will become rutted almost s' quickly as one which Is too flat. fo the reason that on narrow road al the traffic is forced to use only ns' row strip. Shoulders are ofte formed on both sides of the roa
 which prevents storm water fro
 flowing into the side ditches, retai
 ine 1t in the ruts and softening th laa4way The g ms ..a. h'g'et
 can be entirely eliminated with Il
 road machine or split-log drag
 lhs width of the earth road "
 de end on the trafflc As rule. {" or 90 feet from ditch to ditch suf lent If the road is proper
 ero" ned. Ordinarily the only ditch
 nee sd are those made with the TO.
 tna nine which are wide and shallo
 De41 narrow ditches wash rapidly. (
 pe ally on steep slopes. The ear
 fcad should not be loosened dug T.
 or u!, eG- up any more than is abs
 Su4eiy necessary.