LIVE STOCK BREEDERS. 125 



tracks arc all wiped out the water docs not run to the bridge after every 

 little shower as it used to do, so you can drive as swiftly over the cul- 

 verts as over any other portion of the dragged road. 



A peculiarity about road dragging is that you do not comprehend 

 tl'ic steady improvement until after your neighbor begins. When he be- 

 gins, then you will sec how much you have gained. Of course you knew 

 it was better than the common road, but you did not know it was so much 

 better this year than it was last. But if your neighbor is a year behind 

 you the extra year's dragging your road has had will be apparent at every 

 wet spell. Your road is a year drier, a year harder and a year thicker 

 than his. His road will cut up quicker and deeper and will not dry near 

 so soon as yours. 



At first you will have to drag when part of the road is too wet,. But 

 after a while it will dry evenly, and the first few times you drag it wil' 

 be better for you to merly drive down one wheel track and back the other 

 moving- the dirt toward the center of the wagon track. Gradually widen 

 as you get a chance. This will give a solid foundation. If the wagon 

 track is at one side from the highway begin right there anyhow. The rest 

 will follow in time. Don't be in a hurry. Make haste slowly. Remem- 

 ber you cannot successfully give a house three coats of paint in twenty- 

 four hours ; nor can you make a fine crop by plowing the corn four times in 

 one day. First, make a drag, second, use it every time you can improve 

 the road by dragging. Practice will make both you and the road perfect, 

 — almost. 



now TO MAKE AND USE THE DRAG. 



For the ijurpose of giving more information about how to make and 

 use the road drag, we print the following extracts from the pages of the 

 34th Annual Report. 



"The drag is made by splitting a log, placing the two pieces about 

 thirty inches apart (with the flat sides both facing in the same direction,) 

 and pinning them together. The lower edge of the front piece is pro- 

 tected by iron ; an old wagon tire will do. The log should be ten or 

 twelve inches thick and about ten feet long. Fasten a chain or heavy wire 

 a foot or eighteen inches from each end by which to haul it. Hitch the 

 team so that the drag will move the dirt toward the center of the road. 

 The hitch is next in importance to the time at which the dragging is done. 

 The right time is just as the road dries after a rain or when it is thawed on 

 top during the winter or spring, and it should be dragged every time. 



"Of course a smooth surface for travel is thus produced, but a more 

 valuable result is that the road will shed the next rain instead of absorb- 

 ing it. This is the reason why the road should be dragged every time, 



