ROADS AND BRIDGES 353 



jure his crops. In many sections of the country, the 

 grasses which are grown do not yield well for more than 

 four or five years, when it is necessary to plow the land 

 and again sow it to grasses and clovers. In this case, 

 the farmer finds it wise to grow one or two crops of 

 grain in rotation with the grass after long intervals, so 

 that he may again seed the grass down with a crop of 

 grain. In many cases our roadways are much wider 

 than necessary and common consent should allow the 

 farmer to use the land within a rod of the center of the 

 road, and in some cases he should be permitted to place 

 his fence nearer the center of the roadway. 



Good roads education. There are many agencies in 

 the United States through which a better knowledge of 

 roads can be disseminated to the people. The largest 

 single agency is the national department of agriculture 

 with its office of public roads, which is doing much to 

 develop a better sentiment among the people concern- 

 ing the need of good roads and a better knowledge of 

 how to secure these roads in the different sections of 

 the country. The national department is supplemented 

 by the experiment stations and colleges of engineering 

 of each state. Agricultural high schools, where a large 

 number of young men who are to become farmers at- 

 tend, are well adapted to giving instruction in this line 

 so far as the farmers' interests are concerned. To 

 schools of agricultural engineering in our colleges of 

 agriculture and mechanic arts, and to general, engineer- 

 ing schools, however, we must look for trained road 

 engineers, superintendents, contractors and builders. 

 Traveling farmers' institutes, county fairs and the pub- 

 lic schools are agencies through which much can be done 

 to disseminate correct ideas on this subject. Practical 

 road engineers are rapidly building up a body of knowl- 

 edge, and a literature which is helping to place our 

 public road service on a permanent high basis. 



