PROCEEDINGS OF THE WINTER MEETING. 41 



concave. It will then liold the gravel and not give away under it. By 

 graveling the road about ten feet wide, and the same grade continued by 

 the sodded roadside for five feet on each side, a road will be obtained 

 cheaply and thoroughly satisfactory. It will be quite permanent, with 

 some care to keep ruts from forming. 



The criticism upon roads as commonly graveled, is this:. The gravel is 

 spread too thin. It finally wears through and becomes mixed with the 

 soil, and loses its power of cohesion and its imperviousness to water, and 

 when afterward repaired by another thin coat it is of no more use to the 

 latter coat of gravel than the subsoil itself. Build thoroughly so far as 

 time and money will permit, and what is once done right will last. 



The necessity of a dry foundation was mentioned. Were it saturated 

 with water, its power of reisting pressure would be destroyed and it would 

 saturate the surface strata more or less and finally the weight of passing 

 loads would cause the graveled surface to break through and then mud 

 would reign supreme. This explains more clearly the point why the 

 surface should shed the water. 



Generally, the gutters at the roadside are sufficient to keep drainage 

 water from percolating through the foundation. If, in bad cases, where the 

 drainage water flows across the roadway, a tile be used on the upper roadside, 

 it will answer the purpose. On springy soil, a tile on each side of the road, 

 and one under the center, even, is frequently necessary. 



By use of road machines, as good roads can be made as the subsoil of 

 the land is capable of resisting wear. Generally they are the means of 

 making roads poor much faster than can be done by the plow and scraper. 



The points to observe are easily given: 



1. Put nothing in the road but subsoil. 



2. Get this subsoil from the further part of the gutter, which will keep 

 the grade uniform. 



3. Do not disturb the sodded portion lying just outside of the road-bed. 

 •i. In repairing or retouching the road, when once built, scrape off the 



portion that is worn loose, and carry it beyond the gutter, also carry with 

 it the sediment that has collected in the gutter, and return to the road 

 fresh subsoil. Never on any account return the sediment of the gutter to 

 the road again. 



5. Move but little dirt at a time and keep the teams going. 



I have spent considerable time in riding a road machine, and believe 

 these points contain some truth. 



Will we ever have stone roads, or roads made of crushed stone? I 

 think so, when our laws are made so that the money can be justly raised 

 and the roads built under competent supervision. My former home 

 annually shipped thousands of carloads of stone to the cities. Crushed 

 stone cost them about 80 cents to $1.00 per load of two tons; forty cents 

 per load for drawing, and about the same for crushing. The stones were 

 of the "hard head" variety, picked from the fields They were given 

 away by the farmer. The wearing parts of the crusher broke too 

 frequently to be entirely satisfactory, but as they were made in sections 

 and easily put into place, not much time was lost. A smaller-size 

 crusher could be easily set up and run near where the road is to be built, 

 and it is hoped that the stony roads of some of our counties may be more 

 satisfactory than at present. 

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