150 MISCELLANEOUS FARM SUBJECTS 



the knowledge of how to make a good roadway is serviceable and 

 valuable. 



Grades. It is advisable to avoid steep grades when possible. If 

 the road must pass up a steep hill or mountainside, the steepness of 

 the grade may be decreased by increasing the length of the road. In 

 other words, eliminate steep grades by locating the road on curved 

 or zig-zag lines, and not in a straight line from the bottom to the top 

 of the hill. These curves should be carefully plotted and the straight 

 stretches located with an instrument. This improves the looks of 

 the road and does not add materially to its cost. Roads should never 

 be located so close to stream beds as to be subject to overflow, or on 

 ground which is constantly damp and marshy. The earth road 

 should have at least six hours of sunshine each day. This can be se- 

 cured either by locating the road with southern or western exposure, 

 or by having such brush and trees as impede the drying action of the 

 sun and wind removed. With gravel and stone roads, this is not so 

 necessary, as a certain amount of moisture is needed on such roads, 

 especially in the summer time. 



Construction. As soils differ for agricultural purposes, so they 

 differ for roads. Clay or soils of fine texture usually make poor roads, 

 especially if they contain much vegetable matter. The coarser soils, 

 however, which contain some sand or gravel, will often make very 

 satisfactory roads for light traffic provided they are kept in proper 

 repair. If the road is composed of fine clay or soil, it will some- 

 times pay to resurface it with top soil from an adjacent field which 

 has sand or gravel mixed with it. This method, called the top-soil 

 method, is now in successful use in Clarke County, Georgia. If 

 there is a road machine near that can be obtained, it will pay to get 

 the use of it with an operator; one road machine with a suitable 

 power and operator will do the work of many men with picks and 

 shovels and do it better. It is a great mistake to put the working of 

 the earth road off until August or September. The surface is then 

 baked dry and hard. It is not only difficult to work but is unsatis- 

 factory work when done. Earth which is loose and dry will remain 

 dusty as long as the dry weather lasts and then turn to mud as soon 

 as the rain begins. By using the road machine or hand labor in the 

 spring of the year while the soil is soft and damp, the surface is more 

 easily shaped and soon packs down into a dry hard crust which is 

 less liable to become dusty in summer or muddy in winter. (From 

 Paper Read at First American Congress of Road-Builders, Held at 

 Seattle, Washington, July, 1909, by Chief Eng. 0. P. R., Dept. of 

 Ag.) 



Drainage. It is better to have the ditches wide and shallow, 

 rather than steep and narrow. Do not loosen, dig up, or plow up 

 any more of the surface of an earth road than is absolutely neces- 

 sary. The road should be gradually raised, not lowered; hardened, 

 not softened. On flat lands, where water moves slowly, grading 

 material should be taken from the lower ditch and culverts supplied 

 where waterways occur. A shallow ditch on the upper side makes it 

 possible to give culverts a good fall. It is often better to use two or 



