Show 0 U DRAGGING ROADS IN SPRING by taking advantage of proper moment many of ruts and bumps can be smoothed out most earth and gravel roads are in bad shape during the entire winter largely because of the heavy fall hauling of harvested crops and the rush of necessary form farm work which tal takes cs precedence over any kind ot of road work the cold weather strikes them in this condition and makes each rut and bump almost as solid as rock and in tile the spring these break down into mud traveling over these ruts Is a very racking uncomfortable and sometimes painful ua operation the rough jolts require a reduction in IDL speed cause an added strain on all classes of hauling etc f I 1 G I 1 4 7 P plank j plan of plank road drag equipment and frequently force the automobile to owner to abandon the use nse of his car for the entire spring rather than risk a breakdown most of the unpleasantness and difficulty may be remedied la in many localities even in the worst weather for there are times when the worst cutup surface Is in fairly good condition for dragging by taking advantage of the ahe proper moment the ruts and bumps can bo be smoothed out and the next freeze will result in a smooth hard surfaced pike that can be favorably compared to a concrete highway owing to the fact that the road surface will be rather wet and sticky when dragged greater care must be exercised in handling the drag it if the blades of the drag are set vertically there will be a tendency to scrape up too much earth or in the language of the road man ball up in front also atthe hitch to the team Is set too near the center the angle of the drag with the road will be too nearly a right angle or straight across to shed or crown the wet earth dragging ander these conditions should be more an ironing out the wrinkles esP process hence henc ethe the blades of the drag should be given a forward or flatter inclination than when working a dry road tte the hitch should be so arranged that the angle of the drag is more nearly parallel to the road than ordinary thus causing the bevc ea birj to shed better and prevent trouble for extremely bad conditions the use of the road machine ahead of the dreg will bo be found effective in all cases the road should be freed of all stumps snags snails and bo bowl ders as these seriously letard good dragging 1 A little practice will enable the operator to do a fairly creditable job and after a subsequent freeze tile the road will present a smoother and much more comfortable surface then when tho the spring rains come the road will quickly shed the water that formerly collected in the deep ruts and be dry and hard long before similar roads not dragged the present difficulties encountered in getting large amounts of crushed stone for road repairs necessitates the greatest care in maintaining all road surf surfaces aces in the best possible way without the tha additional materials |