The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1914-06-30
DRAGGING EARTH ROADS.
Simplest and Cheapest Way to Main
tain Certain Hiehroads.

Washington, d. c., June 29.-The
road drag is the simplest and least
expensive contrivance yet devised for
maintaining earth roads, according to
the experts in the U. S. Department
of Agriculture, who are cooperating
with state and county authorities in
| work for better roads.
Properly used, the drag gives the
needed crown to the road, smoothes
out ruts and other irregularities,
spreads out puddles of water, thereby
| accelerating the drying of the road,
and makes the surface more or less
impervious to water by smearing over
the so-called pores in the earthly ma
terial. The cost of operation depends
OF course, upon local conditions and
the thoroughness with which the work
is done. 1t is safe to say, however,
that it is less expensive than any 9th
er efficient system of upkeep.
Farmers Bulletin No. 597, of the
Department of Agriculture, discusses
under the title of "The Road Drag
and How it is Used" the best methods
of maintaining earth roads in good
condition by this simple device. 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 a hard surface. 1t is true, of
course, that a large part of the re-
naming mileage consists of roads
that are entirely unimproved, and
that on roads of this class the drag
is practically useless. There is a
much larger mileage however, that
has been partially improved, and it
is on roads of this haracter-roads
that have been crowned or drained,
but have not 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 uprigh:s of a ladder by means
of cross sticks or rungs set in. The
log should be about Z or inches in
diameter, and from 6 TO feet in
width. 1t is better to have it of
well-seasoned, hard, tough wood. The
two semi-cylindrical halves of the log
form the runners of the drag, and
are usually spaced from 30 to Sc inch
es apart. The front runner is always
placed with the split surface of the
wood facing forward, but the rear
runner sometimes has it's rounded
face in front. This is done in order
to increase the smearing action of
the drag as it passes over the sur
face of the road.
The two runners are not placed
directly behind each other, but are
"offset" as it is called, from II to 16
inches. This is done because the drag
is drawn over the road at an angle
sufficient to make the runners free
themselves of the material which they
scrape. The amount of this angle
or skew depends, OF course, upon the
condition of the road. By offsetting
the runners, it is possible to make
their ends follow approximately the
same line on the road, which they
would not do if they 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, 1t is usual to nail two
boards down upon the rungs paral-
lei to the runners. Standing upon
these, a skillful driver will bear his
weight in such a way as to aid ma
terially in the successful operation of
the drag.
The drag is drawn by chain which