The Blackfoot optimist. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1907-1918, 1914-02-05

cording to road experts Of the u S.
department of agriculture The
roads should be worked when the soil
is damp SO as to make the soil bake
when it dries. If the roads are work
ed when they are dry, it takes more
power to draw the machine and be-
sides dry earth and dust retain mois-
ture and quickly rut after rains. The
use Of clods, sods, weeds or vegeta-
BILE matter in building earth roads
should be avoided because they also
retain moisture.
II the working of the roads is de-
ferred until the latter part of the
summer when the surface is baked
dry and hard, they are not only diff
cult to work, but the work is unsatis-
factory when DONE Earth which
loose and dry will remain dusty as
long as the dry weather lasts, and
then turn to mud as the rains begin.
BY using the road machine in the
spring while the soil is soft and damp,
the surface is more easily shaped and
soon packs down into a dry hard
crust which is less liable to become
dusty in summer and muddy in win
ter.
Repairs to roads should be made
when needed and not once a year
after crops are laid by. Because of
its simplicity, efficiency, and cheap
ness the split-log drag or some SINH
lar device is destined to come into
more and more general use. With
the drag properly built and it's use
well understood, the maintenance of
earth and agr4ysl roads- become. q sim.
pie and Inexpensive matteE#gaG Care
should be taken to make the log SO
light that one man can lift it with
ease as light drag can be drawn by
two medium sized horses and responds
more readily to various methods of
hitching and the shifting position Of
the operator than heavier one. The
best material for the drag is dry
cedar log, though elm, walnut. box
elder or soft maple are excellent. Oak.
hickory or ash are too heavy. The
log should be from seven to ten feet
long, and from eight to ten inches in
diameter. 1t should be split carefully
as near the center as possible and
the heaviest and 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 it when
it Is wet. If the roadway is full of
hole Is or badly rutted the drag should
be used once when the road is soft
and slushy.
The earth road can best be crowned
and ditched with a road machine and
not with picks and ,shovels, scoops,
and plows. 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
better. If the road is composed of
fine clay or soil it will sometimes pay
to resurface it with top soil from an
adjacent field, which has sand or
gravel mixed with it. This method,
called the top soil method" is now
in successful use in Clarke county.
Georgia
Storm water should be disposed Of
quickly before it has had time to
penetrate deeply into the surface of
the road. This can be done by giving
the road crown or slope from the
center to the sides. For an earth
road which is "a feet wide the CEN
ter should be not less than inches
nor more than IL inches higher than
the outer edges of the shoulder. The
narrow road which is high in the mid
die will become rutted almost as
quickly as one which is too flat, for
the reason that on a narrow road all
the traffic is forced. to use only a
narrow strip. Shoulders are often
formed on both sides of the road,
which prevents storm water from
flowing into the side bitches, retaining
it in the ruts and softening the road
way These ruts and shoulders can
be entirely eliminated with the road
machine or split-log drag.
The width of the earth road will
depend on the traffic. AS rule, %
or 30 feet from ditch is sufficient if
the road is properly crowned. Ordi-
narily the only bitches needed are
those made with the road machine
which are wide and shallow. Deep
narrow bitches wash rapidly, espe
cially on steep slopes. The earth road
should not be loosened, dug up, or
plowed up any more than is absol-
Ltely necessary. 1t should be grad
Tally raised, not lowered hardened.
nor softened