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Show GOOD ROADS WORK ROADS IN THE SPRING Mistake to Put Off Task Until August or September When Surface Is Dry, Declare Experts. (Prepared by tho United Htntes Dopnrt-mont Dopnrt-mont of Agriculture.) It )s a great mlstako to put off working ronds until August or September, Sep-tember, according to road exports oi tho United States department of agriculture. agri-culture. Tho roads should bo worked when tho soil Is damp so as to make tho soil bake when It dries out. If tho roads aro worked when thoy nro dry, It takes more power to draw the mnchino and besides dry oarth und dust retain moisture and quickly rut after rains. Tho use of clods, sods, weeds or vogotnblo matter In building build-ing earth roads should bo avoided be-.Cuuso be-.Cuuso thoy also retain moisture. If tho working of tho roads Is deferred de-ferred until the latter part of the surn,-mor surn,-mor when tho surfneo Is bated, dry The King Road Drag. and hard, they aro not only difficult to work, but tho work Is unsatisfactory unsatisfac-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. I!y using tho road machine In tho spring whllo the soil Is soft and damp, tho surfaco Is more easily shaped and soon packs down into a dry hard crust which Is less liable to become dusty in summer sum-mer and muddy In winter. Repairs to roads should bo mado when noeded nnd not onco a year after crops aro laid by. Dccauso of Ub simplicity, efficiency nnd cheapness, cheap-ness, tho split-log drag or some similar sim-ilar device Is destined to como Into more and more general,, uso. With tho drag properly built and Its uso well understood, tho maintenance of earth and gravel roads becomes a simple sim-ple and inexpensive mnttor. Caru should bo taken to make tho log so light that ono man can lift it with case, as a light drag can be drawn by two medium sized horses and responds re-sponds more readily to various methods meth-ods of hitching and tho shifting position posi-tion of the operator than a heavier one. Tho best material for tho drag Is a dry cedar log, though elm, walnut, wal-nut, box older or soft mnplo aro excellent. ex-cellent. Oak, hickory or ash aro too heavy., Tho log uliould bo from seven to ten feet long, and from eight to ten inches In diameter. It should ho split carefully as near tho center ns poKBlblo and tho heaviest nnd best slab chosen for tho front. When tho ?oll Is moist, but not sticky, tho drag docs the best work. As tho soil in tho field will bake If plowed wot, so the road will bake It thp drag is used on It when It Is wet. If tho roadway Is full of holes or badly rutted tho drag should bo usod onco when tho road Is soft and slushy. The earth road can best bo crowned and ditched with a road machine and not with picks and shovels, scoops, nnd plows. Ono road machine with a suitable power and operator will do the work of mnny men with picks and shovels, nnd In addition will do It better. bet-ter. If tho road is composed of flno clay or soil It will sometimes pay to resurface It with top soil from an adjacent ad-jacent hold, which hns sand or grnvol nixed with It. This method, called .he "top soil method," Is now In successful suc-cessful uso in Clnrko county, Georgia. Storm water should bo disposed of quickly before It has' had tlmo to penetrate pene-trate deeply into the surfaco of tho road. This can bo dono by giving tho rond a crown or tlopo from tho con-tor con-tor to the sldos. For an earth road which Is 24 feet wide tho center should bo not less than six Inches nor moro thnn 12 Inches higher than tho outer edges of the shoulder, Tho narrow road which Is high In tho mid-dlo mid-dlo will becomo rutted almost ns quickly as ono whlgli Is too flat, for tho reason that on a narrow road all tho tralllc Is forced to use only a narrow nar-row strip. Shoulders aro often formed on both sldos of tho road, which prevent storm water from tlowlng lttff tho sldo ditches, retaining retain-ing It In the ruta nnd softening tho roadway. These ruta nnd shoulders can ho entirely ollmlnated with tho road mnchlne or split-log drag Tho width of tho earth road will depend on tho traffic. As a rulo, 25 or 30 foot from ditch to ditch Is Biiflkiont If tho road is properly crowned. Ordinarily tho only ditches needPd nro Uioso made with tho road mnchlne which nre wide and shallow, Deep narrow ditches wash rapidly, especially es-pecially on stoop slopes. Tho earth road shduld not bo looeoned, dug up, or plowed up nny moro than Is absolutely abso-lutely necessary. |
