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Show drag. The drag la run at aa augle 45 degrees, ao that dirt will be thrown toward one aide. The other end of the chain can be inserted and fastened in a hole la the face of the front alab near where the right band connecting piece comes through, aa shown in tbe Illustration. Shoe about four feet of the bottom edge (right hand aide) of the front alab with a piece of iron or steel, about three Inches wide and a half lnch thick, with one edge sharp or beveled, llolt It on secerely. letting the sharp edge project about halt an Inch below the edge of the alab. This shoe will enable the drag better to shave the surface and cut down the hard ridges which are usually met with on roads that have not been kept smooth. A good drag will cost from almost nothing to $260, depend Ing on tbe material and construction, and last five or ten years. There is no patent on It, and anybody can make one. Roada ahould be dragged ten or twelve times a year. Tbe time Is after each soaking rain, ao that the drag will form a smooth eurface. The dragging should be done when the soil is moist but not sticky. When the frost la leaving the ground is an excellent ex-cellent time to begin; the drag should be In use from then until winter. The work does not Interfere with ordinary farming operatlona, aa when It la the right time to drag, the aoll Is too wet or the conditions unsulted for most kinds of field work. It Is difficult to Invent a good excuse for not dragging. I'sed at the right time and with proper prop-er frequency, on practically all types of corn-belt soils and thoae of the clayey or rolling sections, the drag will make roads smooth', hard and convex, con-vex, tho three fundamental character Istles of an ideal dirt road. The process will form a sort of shell or MUDDY ROADS COSTLY i 9 i ii a Little Dragging by Each Farmer Will Aid Materially. No Patent on Implement Invented by King, and Cost Varlea From Nothing Noth-ing Up to $250, Depending on Material That la Used, Br F. D. CrmiTtN. Bi.en.urr Kanaaa ltoanl of Agriculture.) Rough and muddy roads' cost the average farmer more than bla taxee. If each farmer will, at the proper tlmea, do a little dragging on the road In front of his land, the state's bad roads will largely be made good roada. Try it for a year; get your petgh-bora petgh-bora to do tbe same; see bow inexpensive inex-pensive and simple It all la, and If It Isn't one of the wisest Investments you ever made. This tella you bow: The drag may be made of a log, aay g feet long and 12 Inches through. spliUn the middle, or of two pieces of any substantial The King Road Drag. wood. 2x Inches, and the lighter the better. After the log Is spilt, giving two fiat faced slabs, bore three two-Inch two-Inch holes In each slab as shown In the drawing, connect the slabs, facing the same direction, with the three takea, or rounded 3x3a, long enough to leave S feet of space between the slabs after tbe connecting pieces have been driven Into the bolea. Two or three boards nailed together can be laid on these pieces, affording a loose platform for the driver to atand on. Use a chain or strong rope for attachment attach-ment to the doubletree. Supposing the drag to face the west, and assuming assum-ing that a chain la used, fasten one end of the chain to or around the left hand outalde connecting brace, letting the chain pass over tbe top of tbe front slab. If attached to the face of the elab near the left hand end. the chain would Interfere with the move-' move-' ment of dirt toward that end of the casing over the surface which will shed water like a roof, and by distributing dis-tributing travel over tbe entire area. Instead of confining It to the center, the ahell will conatantly Increaae In solidity. At the outset dragging cannot can-not be done so rapidly aa when the road haa been ahaped up by several sweeps of the drag; after this preliminary pre-liminary work, the Job can be done In half the time originally required. Drive slowly. Any boy and farm team can operate the drag and will learn at every dragging for yeara bow to get better results from it. If you don't want to attend to dragging drag-ging your own part of tbe road, chip in a trifle with others and hire some neighbor who will work regularly and at the proper tlmea. Don't be disturbed disturb-ed if your road doesn't reach perfection perfec-tion In the flrat year. Keep everlastingly everlast-ingly at It, and later on you will be glad. |