Bryan daily eagle and pilot. [volume] (Bryan, Tex.) 1909-1918, 1914-02-02
SPRING THE PROPER TIME TO
WORK ROADS. N ~
BY the United States Department OF
4t Agriculture.

mistake to put of working roads until
August or September, according to
road experts Of the United States De-
partment of Agriculture. The roads
should be worked when the soil Is
damp so as to make the soil bake
when 1t dries out. II the roads are
worked when they are dry, II takes
more power to draw the machine and
besides dry earth and dust retain
moisture and quickly rut after rains,
The use of clods, sods weeds or vege-
table 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 sum-
mer when the surface is baked dry
and hard, they are not only difficult
to work, but the work is unsatisfao-
tory 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 road machine in the spring while
the soil is soft and damp, the surface
Is more easily shaped and soon packs
down into 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 year after
crops are laid by. Because of its sim.
plicity, efficiency and cheapness, the
| split-log drag or some similar device
Is destined to come into more and
more general use. With the drag
properly built and its use well under.
stood, the maintenance Of earth and
gravel roads becomes simple and in.
| expensive matter Care should be
taken to make the log so light that
one man can lift 1t with ease, as a
light drag can be drawn by two me-
dunn sized horses and responds more
readily to various methods Of hitching
and the shifting position of the opera
tor than heavier one. The best ma
terial 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 II plowed
wet, so the road will bake IL the drag
is used on II when It is wet. II the
roadway is full of holes or badly rut.
ted 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 suit
able power and operator will do the
work of many men with picks and
/ shovels, and in addition will do il bet
ter II the road is composed OF fine
clay or soil II will sometimes pay to
resurface it with top soil from an ad-
jacent field which has sand or gravel
mixed with it. This method, called the
top soil method" is now in successful
use in Clark County, Georgia,
Storm water should be disposed Of
quickly before it has had time to pene-
trate deeply into the surface of the
road. This can be done by giving the
road a crown or slope from the center
to the sides. For an earth road which
is "a feet wide the center should be
not less than six inches nor more than
IL inches higher than the outer edges
of the shoulder. The narrow road
which is high in the middle will be.
come rutted almost as quickly as one
which is too fiat, for the reason that
! on a narrow road all the traffic is
forced to use only 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 roadway. These
ruts and shoulders can be entirely
eliminated with the road machine or
split log drag,
The width of the earth road will de-
pend on the traffic. AS a rule, % or
80 feet from ditch to ditch is sufficient
If the road is properly crowned. Or
dinarily the only bitches needed are
those made with the road machine,
which are wide and shallow. Deep,
narrow bitches wash rapidly, especial
vi on steep slopes. The earth road
should not be loosened, dug up or
plowed up any more than is absolutely
necessary. 1t should be gradually
raised, not lowered; hardened nor