384 FARMERS' INSTITUTES. 



a distance of 50 feet is required to give a rise of one foot, one-thirtieth if 

 a distance of 30 feet, one-tenth if a distance of 10 feet, etc. 



Over different level surfaces the draft varies from one-seventh of the load 

 on sandy soil to one-sixty-eighth on a smooth stone pavement. 



Now, if a distance of seven feet gives a rise of one foot, the increase of 

 draft is equal to one-seventh of the weight of the load, which on sandy soil 

 would exactly double the draft of the level road, whereas, on a smooth stone 

 pavement it would be increased from about one-seventieth to one-seventieth 

 plus one-seventh or eleven-seventieths, an increase from the level road of 

 fully ten fold. 



On a gravel road the ordinary draft is about one-fifteenth. Now a hill 

 which rises one foot in a distance of 15 feet, would increase the draft one- 

 fifteenth, or just double the draft. From this it is seen that the poorer the 

 road surface the less do hills affect the proportional amount of the draft. 

 Now it is not meant by this that a team can pull a heavier load up a sand 

 hill than a hill of the same steepness of good hard road, but we do mean 

 that the increased per cent of draft is less on the sandy road than on the 

 hard road. 



Now it is a fact that horses can exert for a short time twice the force they 

 can maintain throughout the day without any detrimental effect, and from 

 this known fact it has been concluded that the slope of the hills should be 

 such as only to cause twice as much resistance as on a level road. If hills 

 are much steeper than this, the load up the hill must be lessened or the 

 power increased by adding extra horses. Frequently the practical effect of 

 a hill is to lessen the load taken over the whole road ; that is, a man will put 

 on to his wagon just such a load as he is certain can be pulled over every 

 hill without unloading a portion. The steepness of hills that will not require 

 extra power would be as follows: Common sand, one in seven feet; good 

 earth, one in eleven feet ; gravel, one in 15 feet; broken stone — McAdam, 

 one in 34 feet; broken stone — Telford, one in 49 feet; smooth stone, one in 

 68 feet. From this comes the practical truth that it requires a steeper hill 

 to double the draft on the poorer road, and again, if a hill does not more 

 than double the draft, it is not a serious objection. We must remember 

 that as our roads are improved the grades of our hills must be lessened. In 

 England, on the famous Telford roads, the maximum rise allowed was one 

 foot in 30 feet. In our railroads the maximum grade is usually oue foot 

 in 100. 



SECTION LINE ROADS IN RELATION TO HILLS. 



In connection with this subject of hills, it will not be out of place to call 

 your attention to the fact that the common practice of running roads straight 

 north and south, or east and west, on section or quarter section lines, regard- 

 less of the fitness of the location for a road, makes the task of the road 

 maker a difficult one indeed. Now the bale of a kettle is no longer when 

 laid down than when standing up; so with the roads over the hills, it 

 frequently is no farther around the base than over the top. It is estimated 

 that the work of ascending one foot is the same as of going a horizontal 

 distance of 20 feet, it certainly is equal to going a distance of several feet. 

 There is no doubt but that our roads would be much improved had we the 

 liberty of winding around the bases of hills, instead of climbing up the hills, 



