LIVE STOCK BRERDFRS. 119 



cumulation. Draggin,c^ kills the weeds in the seed leaf and allows the 

 water to find its way unobstructed to the side ditch. 



Clay Olid Gumbo. — When talking with road men in the river bot- 

 toms, they invariably bewail the lack of drainage, while the clay hill folks- 

 envy the river men because they have no washes. Both classes are quick 

 to say : "If we lived on the black soil of the prairie we would have some 



faith in dragging, but here ," and words fail them. Now, the 



truth of the matter is that either clay or gumbo will make a more sub- 

 stantial road than the soft prairie soil. The self-same characteristics 

 that make clay or gumbo so hard to get into good order, after it once gets 

 exceedingly bad will operate to keep it from getting into bad order after it 

 is once put into exceedingly good order. It will stay good just as ten- 

 aciously under good methods as it stays bad under bad methods. True, 

 it is soiiicfiiiic's with exceptionally favorable conditions a good road in 

 spite of poor methods and conversely it is some times with exceptionally 

 unfavorable conditions, a bad road, even under the best methods. By 

 the way, a cla}- hill, a little over half a mile south of my house is the best 

 piece of road of which I know, taking into account the short time it has 

 been dragged. Before it was dragged, it was noted far and near as a tough 

 proposition. At present, it is good, even in bad weather. Certain gumbo 

 roads, dragged of course, were used last summer and summer before 

 last as training tracks by trotting horse men and as speedways by the 

 gentlemen drivers in the vicinity. Dr. C. N. vScott, of Mound City, says 

 ih a letter dated November 22nd, 1902 : "* * * * have traveled 

 gumbo road to Bigelow very often in the past five years and never saw it 

 so good as it has been since they began to drag it. I go there to speed 

 ,my horses. It is as smooth as a race track. I have many times driven 

 over this two miles at a three minute clip," but he never did it before it 

 Vv^as dragged. Mr. A. R. McNulty, of Mound City, has knoAvn this 

 Bigelow road for thirty years, has been in the livery business for eleven 

 years and has had mail contract for eight years. He usually goes over 

 this road four times a day. Air. McNulty writes : "The road between 

 Bigelow and Mound City has been in better condition this summer since 

 the dragging began than ever before." 



Hon. John Kennish writes : "The (Bigelow) road is a United States 

 star route and is much traveled when fit for travel. It is over gumbo 

 soil and at times is impassible. This fal! the road has been worked by 

 the King system of dragging and has been in better condition than it has 

 ever been in the twenty years in which I have traveled it." 



Judge M. L. Nauman, of the Holt County Court, in writing of this 

 road, says : "A portion of it has been so wet all summer that we could 

 not make a start, but the other part never was so good before in the history 



