122 



^nSSOTnn AflRTCtTLTUUAL REPORT. 



only four horses and merely for the purpose of smoothing the surface, 

 then there is a still greater proportionate waste because the same work 

 can be done with a well made drag. Listen, the empty machinery makes 

 a load for a team, too much of a load for the average farm team. Those 

 of you who have moved a big machine five or six miles will support me 

 in this statement. Listen again, if one team is necessary to move the 

 empty machinery, then when we hitch to it with four horses, only tico of 

 those horses are moving dirt. We are then, in this case, wasting at three 

 points, namely, first, a team hauling heavy machine ; second, a man operat- 

 ing machine; third, by using an expensive implement when a cheap one 

 would answer the purpose. An expenditure of $4 and wear and tear on a 

 (say) $2CX) implement to accomplish a result that can be reached by an 

 expense of $2 and the use of a (at outside) $5 implement. Moreover, the 

 drag will do the best job unless the big machine goes over the ground 

 twice, because the knife of the machine is adjusted by the wheels and each 

 time a wheel goes over a bump or drops into a rut, the knife is raised or 

 lowered. In order to do a smooth job, one must go a second time. On 

 the other hand, the drag gets two whacks at the bumps and has two 

 chances to fill the ruts and sticks close to the surface of the ground at 

 all times. 







.^%* 



-v,..»x. 



^ 



View of Rock Road, Stiattman, St. Louis county. Rough surface caused by recent water- 

 main construction. By courtesy of A. A. DesChamps. 



Rock Roads. — I am persuaded that many localities in Missouri are 

 enduring worries, expenses, and other disadvantages that adhere to mud 



