480 Farm Mechanics. 



cast iron sewer pipe or of stone. Wood should only be 

 used as a temporary expedient. 



Where the amount of water to be conveyed is small so 

 as to demand only one^two or three 12-inch sewer, or ce- 

 ment tile, it will usually be cheapest to use these, but where 

 a water-way demanding a cross-section of more than 8 

 square feet is necessary and where stone are available, it 

 will be cheapest to make it of arched masonry. 



Where the culverts are of sewer pipe there should be 

 not less than 18 inches of earth in the road above them to 

 prevent crushing. 



The cast iron pipe is the safest to use and cheaper than 

 either sewer or cement tile when diameters above 16 inches 

 are required. 



MAINTENANCE OF COUNTRY ROADS. 



Important as the matter of construction of good roads 

 is, it is, or should be, secondary to that of maintenance; 

 when a good thing has been made which is designed for 

 permanent service it is clearly a matter of sound business 

 policy to provide whatever economic means is practicable 

 for keeping it in order. 



598. Section Men Necessary. In the maintenance of 

 railroads it was early learned that two or more men pro- 

 vided with proper tools must be employed by the year, per- 

 manently or as long as they rendered efficient service, to 

 care for and keep in order a certain number of miles of 

 road. It is the business of these men to daily go over their 

 section and keep it in first class repair and their tenure 

 of office is only conditional upon their doing this satisfac- 

 torily. 



It is self-evident that good country roads can only be 

 maintained by adopting and keeping in force a system 

 which is equivalent to that found indispensable in railroad 

 maintenance. That is, men competent to do the work, 



