The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1914-03-05
MAKE BETTER ROADS
Split Log Drags Should Be Used
= When Earth is Damp-A Good
Investment.

1t is a great mistake to put off
working roads until August or Sep
TENDER, according to road experts Of
the United States Department of
Agriculture. The roads should be
worked when the soil is damp to make
the soil bake when it dries out. If the
roads are worked when they are dry,
1T takes more power to draw the mac
hine,s and abesides dry earth and dust
retain moisture and quickly rut after
rains. Thefuse of clods, sods, weeds
or vegetable matter in building earth
roads should be avoided because they
also retain moisture.
IL the working of the roads is de-
ferred until tine latter part of the sum
mer, when the surface is baked dry
and hard, they are not only difficult to
work, but the work is unsatisfactory
when done. Earth which is loose and
dry win remain dusty as long as the
dry weather lasts, and thensturn to
mudsas thexainssbegih. aByInsiag the
road machine in the spring; fwhilesthe
soilsis soft land edampp thegsuKface lis
more easily shaped andasoonI packs
down into a dry hard crust, (which lis
lesssliableito become dusty in summer
andmuddy in winter.
Repairs to roads should be made
when needed and not onceya year after
crops. are laid by. Because Of its sim
plicitY. efficiency and cheapness, the
split-Iog drag or some similar. device
81 destined to come into more and
more general use. With the drag
properly built and its use well under
stood, Z, glaintanence Of earth and
gravel roaa ecomes simple and in
expensive matter. Care shodld be
taken to make the log SO light that
one man can lift it with ease, as a
light drag can be drawn By two med
ium-sized horses and responds more
readily to various methods of hitching
and the shifting position of the OPP
orator than heavier one. The best
material for the drag is a dry cedar
log, though elm, walnut, box-elder or
soft maple are excellent. The log
should be from seven to ten feet long
and from eight. to ten inches in diam-
eter. Is should be split carefully as
near the center as possible and the
heaviest and hes. slab chosen for the
front. When hessoil is moist. but not
sticky, the drag does the best work 1
Z The earth road can best be crowned
and .ditched with a road machine, and
not with picks and shoyels, SCOOPS and
plows. IF the road is composed of
fine clay or soil, it will sometimes pay
to re-surface it by the stop soil meth
cd = using soil from an adjacent field
whichshas sand or gravelsmixed with
it.
Storm water should be disposed of
quickly. This can be done by giving
IIlC IO6u q CIOWA VI oAOpO 1AOkAA NV
center to the sides. For an earth road
which is twenty-four feet wide the
center should be not less than six in
ches nor more than twelve inches
higher than the outer edges of the
shoulder.
The width of the earth road will de-
pend on the traffic. AS a rule, twenty
five or thirty feet from ditch to ditch
is sufficient if the road is properly
crowned. Ordinarily the only bitches
needed are those made with the road
machine, which are wide and shallow.
Deep, narrow bitches wash rapidly,
especially on steep slopes. The earth
road should not be loosened, dug up
or plowed up any more than is abb
solutely necessary 1t should he grad
ually raised, not, lowered u hardened,
not softened. farmers Dispatch.