OFFICE OF PUBLIC ROAD INQUIRIES. 287 



feet. The oil used was that which is left of crude petroleum after 

 such volatile substances as naphtha, kerosene, benzine, and gasoline 

 have been extracted. It was a residuum oil of 26 gravity, weighing 

 7.48 pounds per gallon. 



The material of which Queens Chapel Road is composed being a 

 sand}^ clay and loam, and being quite loose in some places, it took 

 more oil than would be required to treat an ordinary- clay or loam 

 road free from sand and in good condition. The amount of oil used 

 was a little over 5,000 gallons, and it was sprinkled on from an ordi- 

 nary i^erforated gas-pipe sprinkling wagon. TJiis wagon had been 

 used in sprinkling the roads with water, and the holes were not 

 enlarged for the experiment, thus necessitating the sprinkling of cer- 

 tain iDortions three or four times, while the looser and more dusty 

 sections were sprinkled as many as six or seven times. The ordinary 

 sprinkling wagon was found quite satisfactory", especially as the 

 weather was warm, so that the oil ran quite fast enough to be grad- 

 ually taken up by the surface and not so fast that it Avould flow into 

 the side ditches, as would have been the case had the required amount 

 been applied all at once. 



This road was treated several weeks ago, and so far as we are now 

 able to judge the new system is a success as a dust settler. We believe 

 that where roads have so much traffic and dust as to require the use 

 of the sprinkling cart in dry weather, the residue oil, or roadbed oil, 

 as it is called by the dealers, could be used very effectively and eco- 

 nomicall3^ The fact that it settles the dust and kills weeds was first 

 recognized and utilized by the West Jersey and Seashore Railroad. It 

 is now being applied annually to about thirty of the leading railroads 

 throughout the country, and its use is being graduall}^ extended to the 

 ordinary country roads. It is claimed by some that the application of 

 crude oil will make a surface impervious to water, and consequently 

 comparatively free from frost and mud. If this be the case, oil will 

 supersede gravel and stone in the improvement of country roads. The 

 test of time alone can settle this very much disputed question. It is 

 deemed inexpedient, therefore, to discuss this phase of the subject 

 until after the experiment has been tested by traffic, winter and sj^ring 

 rains, freezes, and thaws. 



LITERATURE. 



Each year brings added interest to the various phases of the ques- 

 tion of improving the condition of the countrj^ roads. The business 

 man, the manufacturer, the farmer, and the laborer are alike con- 

 cerned, and each is equallj^ anxious to i^erform his part, provided the 

 burden is borne by all those who are interested in and benefited by 

 the improvement. The literature of the Office not only treats the ques- 

 tion of scientific and practical road building, but also points out the 

 most equitable and feasible methods of road taxation and road legis- 

 lation and management. Two new circulars have been issued during 

 the year, namely. Circular No. 34, "The social, commercial, and eco- 

 nomic i)hases of the road subject," by Mr. W. H. Moore; Circular No. 

 35, "The State-aid law of New York," compiled in the Office of Public 

 Road Inquiries. 



These circulars are valuable additions to our literature; it is 

 believed that their wide circulation will stimulate activity in behalf 

 of better roads everywhere, and that the facts contained in the latter, 

 especially, will encourage the enactment of State-aid laws in several 



