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ments in all the neighborhoods that are blasted with their presence ; 

 they have a demoralising effect upon the inhabitants, and are a sure 

 sign either of poverty or mismanagement, or both. 



Water is the worst enemy to good roads. It is therefore a leading 

 principle in road-making so to construct them that they may be kept 

 dry. In absence of a timely recognition of this principle many costly 

 roads have proved to be failures ; but wherejt has had prominent rec- 

 ognition and its value has been properly appreciated good roads have 

 been made at a trifling expense. 



After locating the road and marking out its course, the sides should 

 be brought to the proper grade and finished by a layer of sod as a guide 

 to further operations. In crossing a sloping surface it is not neces- 

 sary to have both sides perfectly level, but the nearer this can be se- 

 cured, with due regard to getting rid of surface water, the better it 

 will admit of a neat finish and the more easily will it be kept in repair. 



The roadbed is then formed by excavating and removing the soil to 

 a depth of 6 inches at the sides, curving slightly higher in the cen- 

 ter, and made perfectly smooth by rolling, producing a uniform surface 

 upon which the material of the road is to be placed. 



The best stone for road metal is tough granite. Hard, brittle stone 

 is more readily reduced by pressure, but in a well-kept road this differ- 

 ence is not important. It is, however, all important that the stones 

 should be broken small. The largest should pass easily through a 2- 

 inch ring, and if one-half of them are small enough to pass through a 

 ring of only 1 inch diameter the road will ultimately become all the 

 more compact. 



The road should be filled with this broken stone to a level with the 

 sides, increasing in depth towards the center at the rate of 1 inch to 

 the yard. Thus a road 16 feet in width would have a depth of about 

 9 inches in the center. The utmost care should be applied to regulating 

 the surface, and the smaller stones should be used on top, in order to 

 secure an even, compact, carefully molded grade, which should be com- 

 pressed by repeatedly passing a heavy roller over it, wedging every 

 stone and making the surface almost as smooth and solid as a pavement. 

 A thin layer, not more than 1 inch in thickness, of fine clayey gravel 

 should then be evenly distributed over the stones and the roller again 

 applied until the surface becomes homogeneous, firm, and close. 



The surface of the road will thus be higher than the sodded edgings ; 

 water will therefore pass readily from it, and one of the main points of 

 keeping a good road will be secured. 



This will form a first-class road for ordinary carriage drives, or for 

 all purposes required in public parks or private grounds ; and if kept in 

 good surface by frequent rolling, so as to prevent the forming of ruts 

 while it is settling, and if a facing of gravel is applied when necessary, 

 it will permanently fulfill all requirements of a good road. 



The quality of the gravel deserves notice. Wash gravel, consisting 

 28581 2 



