40 IOWA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



in an excellent manner, but our application of the statute-labor system 

 too often results in promoting rather than in diminishing the defects 

 which should be overcome. If the great railroads of the country were 

 to practice the methods ordinarily used in maintaining our public high- 

 ways they would probably be compelled to go into the hands of receivers 

 before many months. 



SUCCESS IN VERMONT.— It would, therefore, seem wise for us to 

 adopt a modified form of the system which has been so successful in 

 England, Prance and other European countries and which has been re- 

 cently introduced in the State of Vermont; that is, of dividing the roads 

 into certain lengths and alloting each length to a section man, care- 

 taker, or farmer. Every one is familiar with this system as applied to 

 railway maintenance, and it is a matter worthy of note that in Ver- 

 mont the general results from its application are "that much better 

 roads are secured at less expense, and the tax rate for highways has been 

 reduced each year as the roads grow better and as we learn to maintain 

 them free from damage at less cost."* 



Our most important country roads could be divided into sections or 

 beats varying in length from 1 to 5 miles, according to the importance 

 of the road and the condition of its surface. A good road man, who lives 

 on the section or beat, should be placed in charge, and it should be his 

 duty to devote a few hours each week to the filling of small ruts or holes 

 and to protecting the road from damage by running water. If the road 

 is a very important one, and if the funds will permit, such a care-taker 

 should, by all means, be employed the year round. There is always 

 plenty of work to do in keeping roads clean, free from loose stones and 

 rubbish; in cutting weeds and cleaning drains and side ditches. In fact, 

 the care-taker should be on the road, rain or shine, and particularly in 

 wet weather, in order to find the uneven places in the road as well as 

 to note the existing defects in surface and subdrainage. On account of 

 the great efficiency and economy of this plan it is becoming general in 

 the State of Vermont, and it has made the roads of France and other 

 European countries famous. It is the application of the old adage, "A 

 stitch in time saves nine." 



CONCLUSION. 



The methods of earth road construction and maintenance given above 

 are those generally practiced by the most successful road builders. They 

 are simple and in the main inexpensive. They 'are based entirely on a 

 thorough system of drainage, and if applied with common sense and 

 judgment, according to the particular needs of each locality, better roads 

 are sure to follow. While the earth road, under favorable traffic and 

 climatic conditions, can be made excellent and satisfactory in every way, 

 yet it must be borne in mind that the earth road is essentially a light- 

 traffic road. When the traffic of a road increases beyond a certain point 

 it becomes necessary to supply new material to take the place of a large 



* J. O. Sanford, state highway commissioner of Vermont. 



