| Show DRAG ROADS AT PROPER TIME fully as important as it Is that highways should be done right keep ruts from forming prepared by the united states debart mont merit of 0 agriculture it Is fully as important that a road be dragged at the right time as it Is that the dragging be properly done furthermore the involved lu la prescribing definite rules tor for determining when dragging should be done are equally as great as eliose tho se already encountered in attempting to define low it should be done only very general statements concerning this feature of the work can properly be I 1 made ade bere and much must be left to the experienced perien ced judgment of those who 0 decide when the dragging of any particular road Is to be started and when it Is to be stopped the rule frequently cited that fill all roads should be dragged immediately after every rain is in many mes cases entirely impracticable and Is also omi 04 drag on a north carolina road very misleading because of the conditions which it fails to contemplate it Is true that there are many road surfaces faces composed of earth or earthy material which do not become very muddy under traffic even during long rainy seasons and since such surfaces usual bill tend to harden very rapidly as soon as the er clears up it may be desirable to drag roads of tills this kind immediately after a rain such roads however would not ordinarily need to bo be dragged after every rain because of the strong tendency that they naturally possess of holding their shape on the other land hand many varieties of clay aud and soil tend to become very muddy under only light traffic after very moderate rains and it is evident that roads constructed of such materials could not always be successfully dragged immediately after a rain sometimes in tact fact it may be necessary to walt wait until several consecutive clear days have elapsed after a long rainy spell before the road Is sufficiently dried out to keep heep ruts from forming almost as rapidly as they can be filled by dragging well constructed sand clay topsoil roads should not often become muddy aller after they are once well compacted they may become seriously rutted however under heavy traffic during rainy weather and are almost sure to need deed dragging several times each year such roads should ordinarily be dragged as soon after a rain as practicable Us as otherwise the surface soon becomes dry and hard so that it is necessary to do considerably more dragging in order to fill the ruts furthermore ther more the material which the drag moves will not compact readily unless it contains a considerable amount of mois moisture lure gravel roads can be effectively maintained with a road drag only when the gravel composing the surface Is fine gralund and contains a considerable quantity of clay earth gravel road surfaces in which this c condition ondi tion prevails not infrequently get badly out of shape during wet weather and may sometimes require considerably more attention than well constructed sand clay topsoil roads the time for dragging gravel roads is unquestionably while they are wet la in fact the best results are arc sometimes obtained by doing doine the dragging after the road has haa become co m e thoroughly soaked and while it Is still raining in general it may be said that the best time to drag any type of rond road Is ahen hen the material composing the surface contains contu ins sufficient moisture to compact readily after it has been moved by the drag and is not sufficiently wet for the traille traffic following the drag to produce mud |
