RURAL ENGINEERING. 



291 



vain. Tliese roads were built for tlie most part as a joint state and local 

 undertaking, so that a large local outlay not included in tlie state total was 

 involved. . . . 



" The systems of road management now prevailing iu the various States may 

 be grouped in six general classes. The first class cou)priS(^s those States in 

 which the construction of all ro;ids is more or less under state control. In the 

 second class are comprised those States in which state control of road con- 

 struction is limited to those roads on which state funds are expended. In the 

 third class are included the States which grant aid in the form of state funds, 

 but allow the expenditure to be made under local control. In the fourth class 

 are those States which have established highway departments for educational 

 and advisory work. The fifth class is composed of the States which devote the 

 labor of state convicts to road improvement, and the sixth class comprises 

 those States in which the control of all road construction is entirely local. . . . 



" Summarized briefly, the essentials to successful state highway administra- 

 tion, as demonstrated by the experience of the various state highway depart- 

 ments, are as follows: (1) The elimination of politics as a factor in state 

 highway work, (2) the control by the state highway department of all work 

 on which state funds are exi>ended, (3) adequate appropriations for continuous 

 maintenance of highways under efficient supervision from the day the high- 

 ways are completed, and (4) state supervision as to surveys, plans and specifi- 

 cations of roads and bridges constructed under bond issue, and supervision of 

 such other road and bridge work as requires considerable cash outlay and the 

 exercise of engineering skill and knowledge." 



Standard concrete culverts recommended by the Michigan Highway De- 

 partment {Engin. and Contract., 43 {1915), No. 2, p. ////, fJo'- 1). — Tables and 

 diagrams showing the standard type of concrete culvert for spans varying from 

 6 ft. to IS ft., as recommended by the Michigan State Highway Department, 

 are given. 



Making- fences, walls, and hedges, W. H. Butterfield {New York: McBride, 

 Nast, d Co., 1914, PP- 66, 2>ls. 8, figs. 11). — This book deals with the construction 

 of fences, gates, and walls. The text is divided into sections dealing with 

 fences and their construction, walls (stone), and hedges. 



Mechanical cultivation in Belgium, P. Diffloth {Vie Agr. et Rurale, 3 

 {1914), No. 26, pp. 716-721. figs. 5). — The actual exijerimental data of motor- 

 plow tests previously noted by De Chassart et al. (E. S. R., 31, p. 487) are re- 

 ported in complete form. The more important results are given in the following 

 table : 



Results of mechanical plowing tests. 



