314 ANNUAL EEPOETS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTUEE. 



1, 1915, is given later in this report, while their usual yearly report 

 will be given in the reports of the offices of their former chiefs. 



The total appropriation for the Office of Public Roads for the fiscal 

 year was $352,500, of which $52,500 was for the statutory roll and 

 $300,060 was for general expenses. The office was still engaged dur- 

 ing the year in supervising the expenditure of $500,000 appropriated 

 by Congress for the Post Office Department, to be spent in the im- 

 provement of post roads, in addition to double that amount provided 

 by the county or State in which the respective roads are located. The 

 total number of square yards of road construction supervised by 

 various divisions of the office this year has been nearly four times 

 that of last year. 



FIELD ENGINEERING. 



As in last year's report, the field engineering work is under im- 

 mediate direction of the Assistant Director, and comprises the fol- 

 lowing subactivities : Division of Construction, Division of Main- 

 tenance, and Division of National Park and Forest Roads. This 

 divisional arrangement of the field engineering work is for con- 

 venience in management, but is elastic as to personnel, since the same 

 engineers are used interchangeably in the several divisions. 



DIVISION OF CONSTRUCTION. 



Vernon M. Peirce, Chief. 



A large proportion of the engineering force of this division has 

 been engaged during the past year on post-road projects. As a result 

 several of the standing projects of the office have been temporarily 

 curtailed. The operations of this division in detail are reported as 

 follows : 



OBJECT-LESSON ROADS. 



Object-lesson roads are constructed, upon application of township 

 and county authorities, to demonstrate proper methods of construc- 

 tion and the proper use of road-building materials. The office fur- 

 nishes the services of an engineer, and the local communities are 

 required to furnish all materials, labor, and supplies. 



Sixteen object-lesson roads were completed, and according to lo- 

 cation and type were as follows : Arkansas, gravel, 1. Florida, oil- 

 sand, 1; bituminous macadam, 2. Georgia, sand-clay, 1. Indiana, 

 sand-clay, 1. Mississippi, gravel, 1. North Carolina, earth, 1; top 

 soil, 1. Oklahoma, earth, 3. Tennessee, earth, 1. Texas, gravel, 1 ; 

 earth, 1. South Carolina, gravel, 1. 



EXPERIMENTAL BOADS. 



Experimental roads are constructed to determine the relative 

 merits and values of the various types of road construction, and of 

 the various preparations and materials for use in road construction. 

 In certain instances the office pays only a portion of the cost of these 

 roads, since the balance is borne by the county in which the road is 

 located. The cost of such roads built this year was charged in whole 

 or in part against the $60,000 appropriated for this purpose. 



