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Show BUS TIME FOR DRAGGING ROADS Much Depends on Character of Road Material No Exact Rule Will Fit All Cases. If clny Is mixed with water and "puddled" and then allowed to dry a hard, almost waterproof, nnd nearly dustloss material Is formed. If . a smooth, wc-U shaped road could be constructed con-structed of this material it would never become very muddy or very dusty, and would be an ideal earth road. Under ordinary conditions this ideal is not realized, because, after being puddled the earth dries in ruts and holes which are rough while dry and which hold water like dishes when, it rains. If the muddy road, after ( 1 x ' V s Dragging Road in Fall. being puddled by the horses' hoofs and wagon wheels, can be smoothed out and properly shaped before y-ing y-ing then the ideal is attaine1 and this smoothing and shaping Is the work accomplished by the ror4 drag. The water standing in pools ind puddles pud-dles is spread out over a larger surface, sur-face, so that it dries quickly, the minute min-ute holes or pores in the clay are smeared over and closed, making the surface more nearly waterproof ; the ruts and holes are gradually filled up and made smooth, and just enough earth is moved toward the middle to give the proper crown. The result is a smooth, hard, well-shaped road which will sded water and never becomes be-comes very muddy in wet weather or very dusty in dry weather. From the above discuson it can readily be seen that dragfe'iug should he done when the road is wet, or at least when it is moist. The exact time to drag any given road will depend de-pend upon the character of the road material, and no exact rule can be given which will fit all cases. If traffic traf-fic can be kipt off from the dragged portion for awhile then the road may be dragged when it is very wet and sloppy, but if wagons are going to follow right behind the drag, making deep ruts as soon as the old ones nre filled up, the dragging must be deferred until thn road ias partly dried out. Good jvulgraent Jtnd experience experi-ence on the part 1 the operator will soon tell him what is the best time to drag any given road. Roads which dry out quickly must be dragged immediately im-mediately after a rain, while others may be allowed to dry for severnl days before being dragged. Dragging a dry road simply makes it dusty. Dragging should be done, if possible, after every rain, nnd as soon thereafter there-after as conditions are right. |