The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1914-08-10
MUCH WORK BEING DONE
ON CLAY COUNTY ROADS

The gangs of men throughout the
county have been very busy for the
past weeks on the new and old CLAW
county roads.
Inc DAD crew which has been at
work east Of Glyndon for the past few
weeks mas Just completed a fine piece
OF work on the road from Moorhead to
Detrolt' MINI. The gang has it's tents
strung along the road, which gives tbs
Passeroy an almost correct imitation
OF a German army in camp. The grad
ers are strung along in lines and the
me- are at present preparing ia move
PARTNER on towards Moorhead. IN
IN the lake region a great deal of
work is being. and has been. done on
the roads. Fol- many miles new roads
nave been made through swamp lands.
There are cuts of all kinds and the
men are still on the jobs left yet un-
finished in that region,
1t is a great mistake to mt Off worx-
ing roads until August or September
according 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
1t dries out. If the roads are worked
When they are dry, it takes more pow
|er TO draW the machine and besides
dry earth and dust retain moisture and
quickly rut after rains.
If the working of the roads is defar-
red until the latter part of the sum
mer when the surface lis baked and
ory and hard, they are not only diff
cult to work, but the work is unsatis-
factory when done. Earth which is
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 Q machine in the spring when
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 sum-
mer and muddy in winter.
repairs to roads should be made
when needed and not once a year after
crops are laid by. Because OF It's sim
pl1city, efficiency, and cheapness, the
|split-log drag or some similar device is
destined to come into more and more
general use.
Care should be taken to make the
log SO light n or man can lift 1T
with ease, as a light drag can be drawn
by two medium sized horses and re-
|sponds more readily to various meth
DDS OF hitching and the shifting of po-
sition of the operator than a heavier
one.
The best material for the drag is b
dry cedar log, though elm, walnut, bog
elder or soft maple are excellent. Oak,
hickory or ash are too heavy. The log
should be from sever to ten feet long,
and from eight to ten inches in diame-
ter. It should be split carefully as near
the center rs 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 held will bake If plowed wet,
SO the road will bake If the drag is
used on 1t when 1T is wet. If the road
way Is full OF holes or badly rutted the
drag should be used once when the road
lis soft and slushy.
The earth oad can best be crowned
and ditched with a road machine and
not with picks and shovels, scoops and
,plows. One road machine with g. anit-
able power and operator will do the
work of many men with pick and sflov-
els, and in addition will do it better. If
the road Is composed of hne clay or
soil 1T will sometimes pay I'd resuTface
lit with top soil from an adjacent field.
aAAZ ZANAE 1AA