THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



167 



has come to the conclusion that the broad 

 tire is far better in ever} 7 way. 



It is claimed that the public roads of 

 the United States aggregate 1,500,000 

 in length, and that the total wagon trans- 

 portation is 500,000,000 tons, at a cost of 

 $2 per ton transported 8 miles, or $1,000,- 

 000,000 yearly. Over first class roads it 

 is claimed one ton could be transported 

 eight miles by wagon at a cost of only 80 

 cents, or two-fifths of the present cost. 

 About $20,000,000 is paid yearly for the 

 maintainance of public roads outside the 

 cities, with but slight improvement of the 

 roads at the end of the year. Such an 

 enormous out-lay causes the tax-payer to 

 wonder if there is not some better method 

 of keeping the roads in good condition. 



Farmers generally admit that the broad 

 wagon tires are better for the road, as they 

 do not cut it up so badly as do the narrow 

 tires, but they claim that a broad tire 

 wagon will draw much heavier than a nar- 

 row tire, and that in mud they could not 

 be used at all. For the purpose of explod- 

 ing this theory the Missouri Station car- 

 ried on its experiments with the broad 

 and narrow tires on Macadam, gravel and 

 dirt roads and on ineadows, pastures and 

 plowed fields both wet and dry, for over 

 twenty months, so that the test might be 

 made in all conditions of wet and dry 

 weather. The net load in every ca?e was 



2,000 pounds, and in many cases the draft 

 was much less with 6-inch tires than with 

 the ordinary 1 inch tires, so much so that 

 2,518 pounds could have been hauled on 

 the broad tires with the same draft that a 

 load of 2,000 pounds required on the nar- 

 row tires. 



[n fact, the experiments proved that 

 under only three conditions do the broad 

 tires draw heavier than the narrow ones. 

 These conditions are as follows: "When 

 the road is sloppy, muddy or sticky on the 

 surface and hard underneath; when the 

 surface is covered with a very deep loose 

 dust and hard underneath; and when the 

 mud is very deep and so sticky that it ad- 

 heres to the wheels of both kinds of wag- 

 ons." These conditions are rather unus- 

 ual and of short duration. 



Six inches is found to be the best width 

 of tire for a combination farm and road 

 wagon, and both axles should be the same 

 length so that the front and hind wheels 

 will run in the same track. The price of 

 the two tires is about equal 



The narrow tires cut up any road, gravel 

 or otherwise, when hauling heavy loads 

 over it, while the broad tires, with an 

 equally heavy load, act on the principle of 

 a roller or grader, improving the road bed. 



England and some other countries have 

 laws regulating the width of tires according 

 to the load to be hauled. 



