NINTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK— PART XII 737 
Six years ago a steep hill east of my house was in a trough shape, and 
I could hardly haul my feed up it in the spring. I plowed the sides and 
threw it in with the scraper until I had it highest in the middle, and 
about twenty feet wide. It took about one-half day, and I think it has 
had a light grading since. Four years ago I commenced dragging it, and 
quite a large ditch had got on one side. I plowed a few furrows and 
then dragged right down in the ditch, and cut the sides with the drag. 
It is now about twenty-five feet wide, and no ditch. I also widened it 
by running against the bank with the wagon wheel, while driving to the 
field, using it for a lock and wear out the bank. I also threw up the 
sand at the foot of the hill until it was three feet higher and the hill is 
out about two foet, a difference of about five feet, and I am sure it hasn't 
cost over two days' work. 
Another hill, near my farm, thirty rods long, for about one hundred 
feet, was very narrow, and a ditch five feet deep, and there was a ditch 
two or three feet deep all the way down. I plowed eighteen inches off 
that narrow steep place, scraped it in ditch, moved the other ditch over 
four or five feet, leaving the hill in fine shape and three teams did it in 
one day. It is now in fine shape, and has had no work since, only a light 
grading or two and some dragging. 
The ditch along the side was about five feet deep and one hundred 
feet long. I took long double-tree, put it on plow, put one horse in ditch, 
other on bank, left the checks unsnapped and had a man to lead each 
horse, went a few rounds, then put them on the usual way. It only takes 
a little while to plow in the road. 
I have a hill west of my place, which I commenced to dr^g about four 
years ago. It was lowest in the middle. I had ten acres of ground to 
plow, which took me about four days. I hitched onto my drag with 
three horses, put the plow on it and started to the field. I commenced the 
road about twenty feet wide, a part of the way there was sod. I would 
bring the drag home and take it back every time I went. By the time 
the field was plowed I had an impression on the road, so the water took 
to the side of the road where I had gone with the drag. By the next 
spring the ditches were a foot deep and of course the middle was a foot 
the highest. I kept on dragging every time I went to the field and would 
set my drag into the bank wherever it would get mellow, and you know 
it always is in the spring, and whenever it gets wet and dries it slacks 
easily. It has had nothing on it but the drag and now it is twenty-five 
feet wide, twenty inches highest in the center. The elements did at 
least 60 per cent of the work. You may sight across the banks and the 
middle of the road is no higher than the banks, so you see the water has 
done the work and I smoothed up after it. I now drag from the center 
to the outside, that keeps every clod and pebble out of the road, and it is 
smooth as a pavement, also wears away the hill. 
The two miles of road I keep up in fine shape around my farm. Three- 
fourths of a mile I have to go on purpose to drag it, and it takes about 
one day in the year to keep it up. The other one and one-fourth miles I 
never drag only when I go to the field, except in the fall sometimes I 
have no work in the field, then I drag it a few times. 
47 
