476 THE HANDBOOK FOR PRACTICAL FARMERS 



be had^ and will be of infinite benefit to a dirt road laid on 

 springy soils. 



Subdrains should be carefully graded with a level at the 

 bottom to a depth of about four feet, and should have a continu- 

 ous fall throughout their entire length of at least six inches for 

 each one hundred feet in length. If tile drains cannot be had, 

 large, flat stones may be carefully placed so as to form a clear 

 open passage at the bottom for the flow of the water. The ditch 

 should then be half-filled with rough field stones, and on these a 

 layer of smaller stones or gravel, and a layer of sod, hay, gravel, 

 cinders, or straw, or, if none of these can be had, of soil. If field 

 stones or drain tile cannot be procured, satisfactory results may 

 be attained by the use of logs and brush. 



Gravel roads. — Where beds of good gravel are available this 

 is the simplest, cheapest, and most effective method of improv- 

 ing country roads. Inferior qualities of gravel can sometimes 

 be used for foundations; but where it becomes necessary to 

 employ such material even for that purpose it is well to mix just 

 enough sandy or clayey loam to bind it firmly together. For the 

 wearing surface or the top layer the pebbles should, if possible, 

 be comparatively clean, hard, angular, and tough, so that they 

 will readily consolidate and will not be easily pulverized by the 

 impact of traffic into dust and mud. They should be coarse, 

 varying in size from half an inch to an inch and one-half. 



Blue gravel mid hank gravel. — Where blue gravel or hardpan 

 and clean bank gravel are procurable, a good road may be made 

 by mixing the two together. Pit gravel or gravel dug from the 

 earth as a rule contains too much earthy matter. This may, 

 however, be removed by sifting. 



The best gravel for road-building stands perpendicular in the 

 bank; that is, when the pit has been opened up the remainder 

 stands compact and firm and cannot be dislodged except by use 

 of the pick, and when it gives way falls in great chunks or solid 

 masses. 



Stone roads. — The practice of using too soft, too brittle, or 

 rotten material on roads cannot be too severely condemned. 

 Some people seem to think that if a stone quarries easily, breaks 

 easily, and packs readily, it is the very best stone for road build- 

 ing. This practice, together with that of placing the material 

 on unimproved foundations and leaving it thus for traffic to 

 consolidate, has done a great deal to destroy the confidence of 

 many people in stone roads. There is no reason in the world 

 why a road should not last for ages if it is built of good material 



