Show ADVICE ON ROAD WORK government expert writes on subject subie ct makes suggestions which may profitably be adopted by local road supervisors while american road builders are as capable of constructing good roada cis as those of iny any country of the old world they hie h ie not been as loyally supported as the men of those countries in ma maintaining Inta ining the after co completion m ion and the deplorable state of many hundred thousand miles of oc road is thus accounted for count and township towns town hlo shit officials may kiy at the outset stand the expense of ha hiving ing a road built but they astren strenuously bously object when asked to provide funds to rebut rebuilt 1 I 1 the roid road tint that his has ben been allowed to go to ruin it is important import int that firmery learn the benefits to be derived from good earth roads that the county blaids be impressed with the need of proper maintenance of the same and that road builders and overseers learn how best to cire care for the in their charge the persistent and powerful enemies of earth roada road are water and narrow tires and the constant effort of the men in charge of the roads should be to guard against their destructive destruct ie effects and remedy all damage as quickly as possible three simple im clements ts which have been found to be of greatest assistance in this work are the plow the drag scraper the wheel scraper the roid road grid geidt r and the split log drag with i a sands sand soil and a sul soil of clai clad or clay and gravel deep plowing so as to raise and nn mi the clay with the surface soil and sand will prove bene beneficial fiLial the combination forms a sand clay road it at a trifling chene ep cp ene on the other hand if the road be entirely of sand 1 I 1 mistake will be made if it is plowed unless clay can be added such plowing would merely deepen the sand and at the same time break up the small amount of haid surface material which may have formed if the subsoil is 18 clay and the surface scant in sand or giaver plowing should not be reported to as it would result in a clay surface rather than one of band or grael A road foreman must know not only what to plow and what not to plow but how bow and w when hen to plow if the road is ip of the kind which ali to the above instructions should bealow be plowed over its whole width the best method is to run the fust furrow in the ra iddle of the road out to the sides thus forming a crown results from such ploN plowing ving are greatest in the spring or early summer in III dit ditches clIes a plow can be used to good adian tige but should be followed by a scraper a grader to make wide deep ditches nothing better than the dmar odmar o drag scraper haslet been devised for hauls under feet or in maeng fills it is especially ally serviceable it is 1 I mistake bo however weer to attempt to handle long haul material with nith this scraper as the wheel scraped is 13 better adapted to such for hauls of more than feet a wagon should be used ahe machine most generally used in road work is the grader or road machine this machine is 13 especially useful in smoothing and crowning the road and in opening ditch s A clay subsoil under a thin coating of soil should not be disturbed with it is also a mistake to uze ue a grader indiscriminately and to pull material from ditches upon a san sani clay roid road not inari infrequently turf soil ind and bilt from ditch bottoms are piled in the middle of th rod raid in a r dge de making roud mud holes a certainty it is important in using grid r to alnoid build ing up the road too much at one tirre A aci rod 1 id graja illy built up by frequent use ue of the grader gadder will last better than if completed at one op operation cration the foreman fore niAn frequently thinks his hia road must be high ii 11 the first ight ince he piles UD material from 10 inches to a foot in depth only to learn with the adrial of the first rain that he has fur nishA in for as many inches of mud all material mit erial should be brought up in thin layers each layer well sell ind firmly pack ed by bv roller or traffic before the next is added A common mistake is to crown too high with the road machine on a narrow road the split log drag should be used to fill in ruts and smooth the roid road ro id when not too badly washed the drag poss ses greit great merit and is so simple in construction and operation that ever firmer farmer should hae one A special article will be published later tellin telli liz how bow to mile make ind nd use the dr ang I 1 |