152 MISCELLANEOUS FARM SUBJECTS 



the center of the roadway and raise it gradually above the sur- 

 rounding level. 



The best results have been obtained by dragging roads once 

 each way after each heavy rain. In some cases, however, one drag- 

 ging every three or four weeks has been found sufficient to keep 

 a road in good condition. 



When the soil is moist but not sticky the drag does its best 

 work. As the soil in the field will bake if plowed wet, so the road 

 will bake if the drag is used on it when it is wet. If the roadway 

 is full of holes or badly rutted, the drag should be used once when 

 the road is soft and slushy. This is particularly applicable before 

 a cold spell in winter, when it is possible to so prepare the surface 

 that it will freeze smooth. 



Not infrequently conditions are met which may be overcome 

 by a slight change in the manner of hitching. Shortening the 

 chain tends to lift the front slab and make the cutting slight, while 

 a longer hitch causes the front slab to sink more deeply into the 

 earth and act on the principle of a plow. The advantages to bo 

 gained from the persistent use of a road drag may be summarized 

 as follows: (1) The maintenance of a smooth, serviceable earth 

 road free from ruts and mudholes; (2) obtaining such a road sur- 

 face with the expenditure of very little money and labor in com- 

 parison with the money and labor required for other methods; (3) 

 the reduction of mud in wet weather, and of dust in dry weather. 

 There are also several minor benefits gained from the use of a road 

 drag, besides the great advantages which always accrue from the 

 formation of improved highways, of which may be mentioned the 

 banishment of weeds and grass from the dragged portion of the 

 road. (Agr. Dept. B. 321.) 



The tendency of the people to leave the rural districts and 

 gather in towns and cities is alarming to thoughtful men all over 

 the country. Wherever good roads have been constructed the peo- 

 ple would rebel against a return to the old system. (P. R. C. 33.) 

 Good roads are something that we all ought to have. Next to com- 

 mon schools, good roads will benefit the people as much as any other 

 one thing they can have. (P. R. C. 32.) The price of a thing at 

 the railroad station is fixed by the state of the markets of the world. 

 The farmer gets the same for what he sells, and pays the same for 

 what he buys, whether he lives one mile away or twenty. So the 

 whole cost of hauling, and that in both directions, comes out of his 

 pocket. (Tenn. A. E. S.; Vol III.) 



By actual test the same force which draws 1 ton on a muddy 

 earth road will draw 4 tons on a hard macadam road. On the im- 

 proved roads in New Jersey loads of 4 to 5 tons are habitually 

 drawn by a two-horse team. This effects a saving of fully three- 

 fourths of the cost of hauling to the station, and reduces the cost 

 of road transportation. Many hundreds of miles of good roads 

 have already been built, in localities widely separated, under vary- 

 ing conditions, and through various methods of administration, 

 finance, and construction. The agitation for good roads rests on 



