MISCELLANEOUS PAPEES. 407 



tute, 1841, which has been extended to cover the cost of movinof earth bv 

 scrapers. * The following basis of calculation was adopted : labor of man one 

 dollar per day; of horse 75 cents per day; of plow 37 cents per day, and of 

 scraper 25 cents per day. The results in our table must therefore be increased 

 or diminished in about the same proportion as common labor costs more or less 

 than this. It is supposed that one man does all the scraping, and keeps his 

 team continually Avalking in a circle. The radius of this circle will approxi- 

 mately be the distance from the bottom of the ditch to the center of the road, 

 although the centers of gravity of the space to be filled and the earth to be 

 moved are somewhat nearer. 



It is further assumed that seven scraper loads are required to move each yard 

 of earth, which is about the average scraper load for a good road scraper. A 

 skillful hand can hold the scraper so as to increase the amount of this load a good 

 deal, but care should be taken that the scraper do not gouge into the ground 

 which has not been loosened by the plow, as it will unnecessarily strain the team 

 and soon tire them out, while it will give no increase to the load ; on the con- 

 trary it will usually result in the complete or partial emptying of it. 



Horses usually walk, before a loaded wagon, two and one-half miles per hour 

 for ten hours per day, but walking and constantly turning, the rate will prob- 

 ably be diminished to about one and one-fourth miles per hour, or about one 

 hundred feet per minute. 



The cost of loosening the earth with a plow is given by Trautwine as follows : 



Strong heavy soil 1.6 cents per yard. 



Common loam 0.8 '' " " 



Light sandy soils.- 0.4 " " " 



Very stiff pure clay or cemented gravel 2.5 " " " 



And the cost of spreading for the heavy soils one and one-half cents per yard, 

 and for sandy soils one cent jier yard, where wagons or carts are used. Since 

 most of the work of spreading is done by the scraper, the cost of spreading and 

 leveling can safely be estimated at one-half of one cent per yard. The cost of 

 clearing up and finishing the ditches cannot well be estimated, as it will vary 

 much with different surfaces. For that reason the cost of finishing the ditches 

 is not included in the following table of the cost per rod of turnpiked roads. 



*Sarae data adopted by Trautwine, p. 435. 



