SIXTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK — PART I. 



19 



through the mud. I confess, that until this mistake was brought home 

 to me, I had the same feeling that most of you have in that regard. I 

 thought the mud was deeper and there was more of it, and the roads 

 were longer in Missouri than anywhere else. I knew you in Iowa had 

 bad roads, and I thought I knew Nebraska had some mud roads; I thought 

 a large part of that state was so dry, they couldn't make mud. Kansas 

 was in much the same condition. 



I was brought up in Ohio, on gravel and macadamized roads. I got 

 the impression they didn't have any other kind of roads. So I had the 



The Split liOg Drag. 



The cut shows in itself how the drag is constructed. The logrs are seven 

 to'nine feet long and ten to twelve inches in diameter. They are set on edge, 

 flat side to the front, thirty inches apart and fastened together with three 

 strong pins wedged in. Note particularly the way the hitch is made— the 

 chain running through the center of the log at the right end and over 

 the log (looping around the pin) at the left end, this is important The point 

 of.attac-hment for the doubletrees depends upon the condition of the road and 

 work to be done. The further to the right the hitch is made, the greater the 

 angle at which the drag will be drawn. Place a movable cleated platform on 

 the cross pins to stand on when using the drag. You will find by experience 

 that by shifting your weight on the drag you can change the angle and the 

 amount of dirt it will move.— By Conrtfey of Wallace's Farmer. 



idea that we western fellows were the people who had to contend with 

 the mud. Imagine my surprise and astonishment, when I received a let- 

 ter from within 15 miles of Boston, from an editor, 'asking what they 

 could do, and asking my experience in Columbus, Ohio. I confess, I went 

 to Ohio with fear and trembling. I couldn't see how it came they wanted 

 a man from Missouri to tell them about mud roads, when they didn't have 

 any mud. So I went home, to the old home, and after visiting with my 

 relatives a while who still live there, I went to the court house and went 

 to the Commissioners' office. In Missouri we call them judges — we digni- 

 fy them there — in Ohio they are called Commissioners. I went to the 

 Commissioners' office and fortunately I found them there, three of them. 

 We talked a little while, and when I first broached the subject, there were 

 no mud roads in the county; all Ohio roads had at least a thin covering of 

 gravel. We finally after some talking discovered there were some mud 

 roads; this was in Springfield, Clark county; one of the wealthiest coun- 



