254 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



where it will meet the wants of the public. In relation to building 

 the road, I should agree fully, so far as new roads are concerned, 

 with my friend from Houlton, that the road should be grubbed to 

 a sufficient depth, then ploughed, cleared entirely of roots, and 

 then shaped and made smooth. That is the whole thing ; all which 

 is necessary in making a road. 



In relation to repairing roads, there is a diversity of opinion. 

 I will tell you what our practice has been. In the first place, we 

 plough the road thirty feet, from ditch to ditch, plough from the 

 ditch towards the road on each side. We then remove the turf. 

 Then we plough twice more, and scrape it, throw the turf back, 

 put some gravel on top, and then we are done. The drainage is 

 the same as others have described here. We put in ditches where 

 they are necessary. 



Mr. Putnam. One gentleman speaking of road fences, called 

 them a nuisance. When I have been driving horses and cattle, I 

 have found it exceedingly convenient to have good road fences. 

 But the Legislature has passed a law that highway surveyors may 

 throw them down in the fall, and our surveyors do so, and put them 

 up in the spring. It costs but little to put them up compared with 

 what it would to break out the drifts. Tlie town does it, at the 

 public expense. 



Mr. GiTBERT of Androscoggin. I desire to speak upon only two 

 points. First, in reference to legislation. We all know that great 

 changes cannot be brought about at once. Any change in refer- 

 ence to our present methods of locating or constructing roads, or 

 of keeping them in repair, must be brought about gradually. We 

 must first bring the minds of the people up to it, by informing 

 them on the subject, and then legislating, if legislation is neces- 

 sary, to correspond with the progress of correct views. As the 

 matter now stands, I would not legislate except upon one point. 

 I believe that we should empower our county commissioners in 

 certain cases to grade as well as to locate. And to illustrate why 

 I would do this, I will make some allusions to actual occurrences. 

 Reference has been made to the fact that man}^ of our roads pass 

 over high hills, from the fact that the first settlers located them- 

 selves upon the highest land, and the roads were built to. accom- 

 modate those settlers. New roads are continually being made 

 upon low ground, at great expense, and the old roads discontinued, 

 at much inconvenience to those living upon the hills. In many 

 such cases, where it is imperatively necessary that some change 



