124 MISSOURI AGRICULTURAL RErORT. 



more than thirty dollars. W'hy don't these people have a stone road? 

 Your answer? Is your answer ready? INIy answer has been j^iven ; the 

 answer is found in the conviction of the people that rock roads are beyond 

 their reach. The people have been educated to this belief by reading 

 the wails that rise from our brethren in the rockless regions of our neigh- 

 bor states. And all that is needed, gentlemen, to inaugurate an era of 

 stone road construction right here in Missouri is the removal of this mis- 

 taken conviction. 



In conclusion: I pin my faith in the future betterment of our high- 

 ways to these foundation truths : 



I Rock within two and one-half miles is available where land is 

 worth $30. 



2. Six or seven feet of stone is sufficient for the average rural traffic. 



3. Any community where rock is available is behind the times if 

 it does not each year build a mile or more of stone road. 



4. Where stone roads are absolutely out of the question and where, 

 if they can be built, they are not yet an accomplished improvement, a 

 dragged road is the best substitute. 



If we hammer away at these four propositions, the desired results 

 will in due time be obtained. 



THE A B C OF ROAD DRAGGING. 

 (By D. Ward King, Maitland, Missouri.) 



The most difficult part of road dragging is getting at it. All the 

 rest is so simple that one learns it in the doing. The first noticeable effect 

 is the smoothing of the road surface, and this in turn allows the rain and 

 snow water to flow off, and encourages the distribution of travel over the 

 road from side to side. 



Teams usually follow the beaten trail. Dragging destrovs the old 

 trail and the new trail, each time border and less definite than before, 

 is made on a different portion of the highway. By dragging while the 

 earth is yet moist* the road finally becomes a series of practically water- 

 proof layers of puddled earth, each one of which is rolled and pounded 

 by the wheels and hoofs of travel. Almost imperceptibly the center of 

 the road is elevated until you discover that you have made a smooth grade 

 that is not easily effected by bad weather. 



Dragging kills the weeds in the seed leaf. It also does away with 

 the bumps at each side of the bridges and culverts. Regular dragging 

 fills them and they become as solid as the rest of the road. As the wheel 



