MISCELLANEOUS FARM CONVENIENCES 225 



and is still soft and wet underneath is the time the 

 drags do the best work by scraping the drier hummocks 

 into the low places where the earth settles hard as it 

 dries. 



A well rounded, smooth road does not get muddy in 

 the summer time. Summer rains usually come with a 

 dash. Considerable water falls in a short time, and 

 the very act of falling with force first lays the dust, 

 then packs the surface. The smooth packed surface 

 acts like a roof, and almost before the rain stops falling 

 all surface water is drained off to the sides so that an 

 inch down under the surface the roadbed is as hard as 

 it was before the rain. That is the reason why split log 

 road drags used persistently in the spring and occa- 

 sionally later in the season will preserve good roads all 

 summer. It is very much better to follow each summer 

 rain with the road drag, but it is not so necessary as 

 immediate attention at the proper time in spring. Be- 

 sides, farmers are so busy during the summer months 

 that they find it difficult to spend the time. In some 

 sections of the middle West one man is hired to do the 

 dragging at so much per trip over the road. He makes 

 his calculations accordingly and is prepared to do the 

 dragging at all seasons when needed. This plan usu- 

 ally works out the best because one man then makes it 

 his business and he gets paid for the amount of work 

 performed. This man should live at the far end of the 

 road division so that he can smooth his own pathway 

 leading to town. 



STEEL ROAD DRAG 



Manufacturers are making road drags of steel with 

 tempered blades adjustable to any angle by simply 

 moving the lever until the dog engages in the proper 



