210 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. [Pub. Doc. 



reference to directness of course. The maximum gradient 

 was iBxed at one foot in thirt}^, for it was found by experi- 

 ment that on level ground on a well-constructed road the 

 draught was equal to one-thirtieth of the weight of the load, 

 and that on a grade of one to thirty a horse had to exert 

 twice as much force to draw up the load as on a level. It 

 was also learned that a road of slight and frequent gradients 

 was more favorable to the horse than a perfectly level one. 



The rule for the modern country road in England is for 

 a roadway from fifteen to thirty feet wide, outside that a 

 path for passengers, next fences, then ditches. The road 

 material is kept in place by shoulders of earth or sods. 

 Surface drains connect the top drainage of the carriage drive 

 with the ditches, which are deep enough to drain the foun- 

 dations of the road. For ordinary traffic a depth of six 

 inches of broken stone has been found sufficient ; for the 

 heaviest traffic ten inches will answer, if the drainage be 

 perfect. Telford covered his broken stone one and a half 

 inches deep ; Macadam rejected all covering of the stone, 

 which he required to be fragments of so small size that 

 all would pass through a ring of two and a half inches in 

 diameter. 



Almost all the continental roads of Europe, especially of 

 the western portion, are of excellent quality ; those of France 

 approach most nearly to the Roman idea ; but in Switzer- 

 land and even in far-away Norwa}^ and Sweden Ave find some 

 of the very best types of the modern highway. They have 

 one feature which particularly impresses the American, — 

 that is the fact that in the country they are not Avorked to 

 any great width, and are maintained and kept at all times 

 in perfect repair. Heaps of broken stone are frequently 

 seen at the roadside, ready to be applied Avherever there is 

 the slightest indication of disintegration ; and repairers are 

 permanently allotted to specific sections, for the condition 

 of Avhich they are held strictly responsible. 



