The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1920-08-26
C~OCTORiNG ROADS

factory in intermittent and irregular
or necessity il is a sickly failure. But,
regardless OF ones opinions on earth
or hard-surfaced highways. il must be
admitted that for many years the dirt
road viii constitute q large part Of
our total highway mileage. Hence, il
is the part of common sense to know
best how to treat the troubles of this
Invalid at our door that we may not
suffer unnecessarily from its chronic
ailments.
According 10 NJ. w. Watson. a
noted road specialist. in an article in
Capper's Farmer. the mud hole is the
most improperly treated dirt road
trouble. Nine times out of ten the
average road nurse dumps the hole
fun Of rocks. That treatment cures
the one mud hole all right, but it
makes two new mud holes. one az
each end OF the old hole. Never try
to cure a mud hole by filling it with
rock or gravel, but seek the cause
OF the trouble, which usually is in
a seepy, springy soil or in the fact
that a low place in the road and poor
drainage cause water to collect there.
Drain the mud hole. let ii dry out and
then patch il. not with rock or gravel,
but with earth, the same material that
constitutes the rest Of the road. lamp !
the dirt in solid and smooth, level
r-i.h fhn -auf 90 tkA wood If th@--i
are loose stones in the mud hole, they
should be covered for at least one
foot-two feet is better-with earth.
Stones will work to the top and ruin
the road if not buried deep.
We have all had the thrill of driv-
ing owe a good earth road, dry and
smooth, and we have wondered why
anyone would wish to spend money
for ha~rd-surfaced highways. Then we
have been overtaken by rain and have
found our beautiful boulevards con-
verted into a sticky, slick, dangerous
mass. This condition cannot be en-
tirely prevented in an earth road. but
il can be bettered materially. First
NANAN AAA| ~ ANS NAlNACot puD1S4NIJ
10 keep the water well below the
roads surface, and the road must be
ridged up in a long fiat oval, high in
the center and slipping to the sides
much like the top Of a loaf of bread.
The earth road must not be graded up
like the roof of a house, for Their it
is the tendency OF traffic and water
to wear the surface into shallow con
caves on either side Of the center
of the road.
Do not throw sod, weeds or other
debris in the center of the road, to
decay n absorb water. The oval
highway surface should be dragged
after every rain, not only making ii
easier to travel but allowing the wa
ter of the next rain to escap more
readily. The drag should be regulated
to throw the earth toward the center
when the center is low and to drag
from the center when a ridge seems
to be forming. 1t is impossible to give
general directions as to the proper
time for dragging. | know some Hi
nois soils that are dragged best when
wet. Others must be fairly dry.
A good road, like a good house,
must have a tight roof and a dry Gel
lar. The bitches and culverts must
be kept open and free Of weeds and
trash to drain the road, for drainage
is the first road essential.
Dry weather and wind &C hand in
hand as destructive agencies or earth
roads. Oil has only one good effect
on an earth road. 1t keeps dust down.
If put on properly it forms, with the
earth, a thin pancake" of oil and
dirt that quickly breaks up under
traffic and forms small Jumps or par
ticles and results in a road full of
road is of soil that powders easily
there is only one way to make a good
road of it in dry weather. That is
to hard-surface it.
The earth road suffers greatly from
heavy traffic and in this case the only
treatment is preventive. When the
road is wet we should avoid using it
with heavy loads in trucks or with
tractors which pillow through the mud
and leave great ruts. Distribute the
traffic over the entire road and the
ruts will o form.
But no manner of faithful treat
ment will make a 365-day road of an
earth road. The only complete cure
is to graft on a hard-surfaced road.
The earth road cannot stand modern
traffic, for we are beyond the ox-yoke
days.
Wv. S. S.