THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



the fields they have laid waste, the food they have 

 destroyed ; just as, in the subject of this paper, 

 the enrichin/T gases and sohible matters of the 



manure unnoticed steal away to perhaps carry 

 disease and discomfort to places to which theyou^ht 

 rather to have conveyed fertihty and happiness. 



THE CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE OF FARM ROADS, 

 WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO CLAY LANDS. 



A road is an open space or extentof gi-ound that 

 is ridden over or trodden upon, for the purpose of 

 reaching a certain place or object, in order to perform 

 aspecificintention. These purposes beingfrequently 

 performed, require the access to be constantly open, 

 and maintained in condition for the necessary use, 

 and that it be arranged in unison with the work 

 that has to be executed. The means of communi- 

 cation was an early discovery, and a very prompt 

 adoption by civilized nations ; and from the trans- 

 portation of armies, the necessity was soon obvious 

 in every conveyance of social intercourse. Hence 

 the means of communication holds a chief place in 

 the list of provisions for the advance of improve- 

 ments in countries, districts, parishes, and on 

 estates of landed property. 



The highways of a country and the streets of a 

 town are devised for a public purpose and an 

 extensive use. The roads of a farm and the walks 

 of a garden are of private utihty, but are of the 

 same plan and construction, devised with the same 

 view and to serve the same object. The single 

 purpose is to afford access to places that are 

 required in use, and a communication for inter- 

 change of performances; it must be open at all 

 times, and ready for application. 



The roads of a farm, which is a quantity of land 

 employed in a cultivated use, afford a passage from 

 the farmery to each field of enclosure, and into the 

 highway of the country which will intersect the 

 farm. The shortest and most convenient passage 

 must be adopted; and, as experience has shown 

 the oblong-square field of land to be the most eligi- 

 ble shape, the roads will be directed in a similar 

 straightness, and follow the lines of fences that 

 divide the grounds. Straight lines are always 

 preferable, but sometimes debarred by the surface 

 of the ground and other obstacles. 



Three considerations govern the roads of the 

 farm : the direction, the construction, and the 

 maintenance. The pubhc highways that pass 

 through the farm will cause an attention to the 

 lines of private roads, and as the access leads to 

 these highways before reaching the farmery, a 

 diversion will be created in order to comply with 

 the local positions. In general, the private road 

 leads from the farmery to the field by the shortest 

 line that can be found, and alterations must be 



made for this purpose, if it was neglected when the 

 fences were raised for enclosing the grounds. 

 Every field of land must have an ingress from a 

 road without a passage to it through another field ; 

 it must communicate with the road by its own gate, 

 and have no dependence on any other passage. 

 This convenience has not been sufficiently attended 

 to, and has been very generally neglected; but it is 

 equally necessary with the provision that each room 

 of a dwelling-house have an entry from the passage 

 without intruding through another room. This 

 very necessary arrangement requires that a road 

 passes between four fields in width, with two fields 

 on each side of it, which open into the roads from 

 opposite sides, and it is convenient that the gate- 

 ways terminate the headlands of the field, and have 

 an entry at both ends — on the upper and lower 

 headlands. Much inconvenience attends a road 

 passing through one field into another field ; gates 

 are left open from want of care, and admit intru- 

 sions ; wet weather sinks the passage ; and when a 

 hard road is made for the purpose, the grazing 

 cattle congregate at the gateways and cause 

 destruction ; the portion of land is lost for use, as 

 it is occupied for a road of passage. At the same 

 tiniie, a gate must open from one field into another, 

 for the purpose of convenience, but not for a com- 

 mon thoroughfare, and best at the ends of the 

 fields, and in the line of the headlands. 



The construction of roads rests on the formation 

 of the bed, and the materials which compose the 

 path of communication. The frequency of passage 

 not being very large on farm roads, and the meet- 

 ings not being very numerous of the vehicles in 

 use, the width of twenty-four feet will be sufficient — 

 twelve feet for the passage track, and six feet on 

 each side of it to serve as sides or shifting grounds, 

 and travelling paths. A hedge or fence of some 

 kind, enclosing a field, will run along the side of 

 the road, and at its base a shallow ditch or excava- 

 tion will receive the water that is thrown from the 

 road, and discharged by a longitudinal declivity. 

 The bed of the beaten road must be placed on a 

 dry and firm foundation, as upon that provision the 

 whole safety of the road depends, and rests upon 

 its stability as an upholding stratum. If, by any 

 possibiUty, a road of materials can be placed on 

 turf or grass land, that bottom is by far the best 



