85G ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Hkady Lsr.ANU, Nkbr. — One mile of sand-clay road was built from F.rady 

 Island soiitlieast towai'd Gothenburg between October 27 and December 11, 

 1911. with t>A days' delay on account of bad weather. The country is hilly and 

 the soil sandy. The surfacinjj; was built of a Kood natural mixture of top soil. 

 The average cut was 2.5 feet and the maximum cut 4.4 feet. The average fill 

 was 1.5 feet and the maximum fill 2.G feet. The maximum grade was reduced 

 from 8 per cent to 2 per cent. Plows, slipscrapers, fresno scraper, plank drag, 

 grader, concrete roller, disk harrow, and spike and tooth harrow formed the 

 equijunent. Slat-bottom wagons were used for hauling. The average haul was 

 100 feet, the maxinuim haul oOO feet, and the average distance for hauling the 

 surfacing material from the pit was 0.5 mile. The road was graded for a dis- 

 tance of 5.280 feet, 32 feet wide in cuts and 24 feet wide in fiUs, making a total 

 area graded of 18,080 square yards. The same length was surfaced 16 feet wide, 

 making an area of 9;3S7 square yards. The surfacing material when compacted 

 was 5 inches deep in the center and 4 inches on the sides. The crown was 0.5 

 inch to the foot. The earth excavation amounted to 2,440 cubic yards, and the 

 surfacing material to 1,746 cubic yards. 



The work cost $1,188.46; the cost per square yard was $0.1266; and the rate 

 per mile, $1,188.46. Labor cost $1.75 per day, teams $3, and foreman $2.50. 

 The principal items of cost were: Excavation, $345.11; shaping the subgrade, 

 $39.06; hauling from the pit, $622.94; spreading, $65.21; rolling, $4.13; shaping 

 the surface, $28.12; mixing, $4.50; stripping, $65.26; and general expenses, 

 $14.13. 



Columbus, Nebr. — A gumbo-sand road running northwest from the Platte 

 River toward Columbus was started on September 18, 1911, and discontinued 

 for the season on October 20, 1911. The first work consisted of excavation and 

 stripping of gumbo pits. The earth was plowed and loaded on wagons, and was 

 also moved with slips, and wheel and fresno scrapers, and spread with shovels 

 or a grader. 



The natural soil was sandy loam. The maximum cut was 3i feet, the max- 

 imum fill 1 foot, and the maximum grade of 2.24 per cent was reduced to 1 

 per cent. 



The equipment consisted of 2 road graders, 1 steel road drag, 1 concrete road 

 roller, 1 disk harrow, and 1 spike-tooth harrow, besides plows and scrapers. 

 Eight hundred feet was the average haul for excavation and 1,700 feet the 

 maximum haul. The average distance from the pit was 1 mile. 



The material used for surfacing was gumbo silt and Platte River sand. The 

 road was graded 32 feet wide. The total area graded was 11,669 square yards. 

 The length surfaced was 3,282 feet, and the width surfaced 16 feet, making a 

 total of 5.835 square yards. The width of the finished road was 24 feet. 



The surfacing was spread in two courses, making a compacted depth of 6 

 Inches in the center and 5 inches at the sides. The crown was made | inch to 

 the foot. 



The earth excavation amounted to 1,035 cubic yards, and the surfacing ma- 

 terial to 1,750 cubic yards, of which 875 cubic yards was purchased. 



The cost of the road to the community was $1,421.68; the cost per square 

 yard of the area surfaced, $0.244 ; and the rate per mile, $2,287.16. Labor cost 

 $1.75 iier day; foremen, $4 per day; and teams, with driver, $3.50 per day. The 

 principal items of cost were as follows: Excavation, $317.07; shaping the sub- 

 grade, $24.50; surfacing material, $150; loading the surfacing material, $184.31 

 hauling the surfacing material, $350.44; spreading, $31.59; rolling, $39.66 

 clearing and grubbing, $12.25; stripping, $35.10; loading the sand, $28.48 

 hauling, $112.33 ; spreading the sand, $19.16 ; shaping the surface, $53.99 ; mix- 

 ing, $38.72 ; and general expenses, $24.08. The work was not completed during 

 the season on account of heavy rains. 



Black Mountain, N. C. — On July 5, 1911, work was started on the road from 

 Black Mountain toward the sanatorium, and after July 8 the work was turned 

 over to the local ofiicials. 



The maximum grade of 7 per cent was reduced to 6 per cent. The maximum 

 cut was 2 feet and the maximum fill 1* feet. The natural soil was clay and 

 the excavation was handled with a road grader and slat-bottom wagons. The 

 average haul was 530 feet and the maximum 1.000 feet The distance from the 

 sand pit to the road was about 2 miles. Both sand and clay contained too 

 much mica to make a good road. The total length graded 22 feet wide was 

 1,750 feet A total of 525 feet was surfaced 12 feet wide. The total amount 



