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lowed to take care of themselves for another year, when they are given 
another dose, after which they are called “improved” roads! 
The gravel is dropped in a heap in the middle of the road, usually with 
no attempt to spread it uniformly. And that is the fourth reason for our 
bad roads. 
4, Too much material and too little labor. One-fifth as much new ma- 
terial would usually be sufficient, and the labor wasted in hauling the 
other four-fifths should be used in filling ruts and chuckholes instead. 
5. Another reason is that the repairs are made at the wrong season 
of the year. Gravel roads are frequently repaired in the fall; then the 
heavy rains turn the new gravel into mush that freezes into a good road 
for the winter months, but breaks up into soft mud with the first thaw 
of spring. 
The proper season for road repairs is all the time. They should be 
watched and repaired every day of the year. 
6. Reason No. 6 is the use of improper road material. Broken stone 
applied to road surfaces should never be in sizes greater than one and 
one-half inches in diameter, and should contain at least twenty-five per 
cent. of stone screenings less than one-fourth inch in diameter. Gravel 
should be such that all of it will pass a one-inch sieve and twenty-five 
per cent. will pass a one-fourth inch sieve. Good road gravel contains 
no rocks larger than hulled walnuts; nor should there be more than five 
per cent. of clay present. 
7. Another reason for bad roads is poor location; the policy of running 
roads on section lines is unwise, especially in hilly country. They ought 
to wind through the valleys and around the hills instead of over them. A 
proper location for a road -is always a compromise between grades and 
distance. In hilly country the winding road will be an easier road for 
traffic, will be more picturesque and will frequently be shorter than the 
section-line road. 
Having pointed out the reasons for bad roads, the next question is to 
find the remedy. I shall not propose better methods of construction; even 
macadam roads costing say three thousand dollars per mile would give 
us better service for but one or two years and then would become as 
bad as the rest if not properly maintained. ‘There is only one kind of road 
that can be depended upon to remain in as good condition as when first 
constructed, and that is the corduroy road of olden times. And may 
Providence deliver us from that. 
