BAD ROADS 447 



athletics bring the young people together in track meets, field 

 games, and lawn sports where friendly contests and wholesome 

 rivalry prevail. 



During the winter seasons, when the evenings are long, 

 socials should be held at the school, the rural church, or at the 

 homes of the neighbors. Music, household games, spelling con- 

 tests, debating and declamation often prove effective. 



The Rural Church. If the neighborhood does not have a 

 church building, there may be a church organization or at least a 

 Sunday school organization. Young people as well as older ones 

 must have the religious instinct nurtured. One great difficulty 

 with the rural church is that it does not take an active interest 

 in other community affairs. The religious side of man is not a 

 separate and distinct thing, and should never be treated as such. 

 It is part of human nature and must be interwoven with other 

 threads of interest to make up the fabric of man's life. Religious 

 and social instincts go hand in hand. Church organization, and 

 the pastor who is the leader in this, must make much of the 

 religion of everyday life and show how the upbuilding of the reli- 

 gious spirit will better the members here on earth as well as here- 

 after. The present-day teachings are that the different denomi- 

 nations can and should work in harmony with each other under 

 the same roof. Surrender a little of the denominational feeling 

 and make the community a better one by helping to maintain and 

 improve work already started. 



Bad Roads. Local effort should be expended in the improve- 

 ment of roads, bridges and means oT transportation. Dirt roads 

 may be greatly improved by the use of road drags, but a road 

 drag is chiefly for the maintenance of roads already graded. It 

 may be said that the keynote to good road construction is good 

 drainage (Fig. 308). Mistakes in road construction are nearly 

 always mistakes in drainage. 



After a well-drained road surface is prepared, nature will help 

 to maintain it. The wearing of the surface of the road by vehicles 

 will tend to produce holes and ruts in the road. If the road sur- 

 face is dirt and therefore plastic when wet, these ruts and holes 

 can be quickly and easily remedied by the use of a heavy drag (Fig. 

 306). This is drawn at such an angle as to move the dirt back 

 into the ruts and holes on the crown of the road. If the ground 

 is wet the soil will be plastered on the surface much as mortar is 

 plastered on a wall, and the wet condition will make it possible to 



