344 FARM DEVELOPMENT 



times annually, unless, with the king road machine, this 

 is done after each rain, making the use of the reversible 

 machine unnecessary. 



The split-log drag. Next in importance to the revers- 

 ible road machine, and possibly, in the aggregate, more 

 important, is the drag made of the two parts of a split 

 .log. Like a spade, it is a very simple implement. Figures 



234 and 235 show how it is 

 constructed. A log 10 or 12 

 inches in diameter and 7 to 

 9 feet long is split and fas- 



Figure 229. Road with track 9 feet wide tened tOPfether as shown. 



one side of the center laid with brick. Below 



the brick there must be a layer of gravel or 1 hp team m nltrnPn to the 



other solid material several inches deep, as ' 



when wet bricks are crushed into a clay bed rVioin rnp cirlf 

 by the wheels of heavy vehicles. 



and the drag is drawn at 



an angle. The driver stands on the machine, and by 

 driving up one side and down the other, he shoves the 

 dirt toward the center, if that is needed ; he scrapes down 

 high points and fills up ruts, and both smooths and com- 

 pacts the surface. The t _ f 

 work is begun early in the 

 spring and is done when 

 the clods of the dirt are 



. . Figure 230. Roadway covered 8 to 12 feet 



hardening after rainS, When wide with granite blocks, very hard sandstone 



or blocks made of sand and cement, about 



travel Via; ma HP tVlP <5lir 4 x 6 x 12 inches, with 6 x 12-inch surface 



up, laid on a layer of gravel or sand. 



face rough, and at such 



times as teams can best be spared for this work. The 

 road will thus be kept relatively smooth throughout the 

 year, and will become better compacted from year to 

 year. This device will serve on many gravel roads quite 

 as well as on earth roads. This repair work should be 

 done at public expense. Each section of road can be ar- 

 ranged for under a contract with a farmer. The road 

 officer can call the contractors out by telephone or post- 

 card, thus making repairs when most profitable. 



Wide-tire wagons are recognized by the laws in some 



