ROAD CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE 375 



2. Determine the number of miles of road in your school 

 district. What per cent of it is good? What per cent is bad? 

 How much is simply fair? Is any of it positively impassable 

 at any time of the year? 



3. Try to find out, by actual experiment or inquiry, how 

 much it would cost to keep a mile of average road in your 

 community in good condition for a year with a road drag. 

 From this estimate what the cost would be to keep all the 

 roads in your school district in good condition. From these 

 estimates try to decide whether it would be a paying propo- 

 sition for each farmer to care for the section of road which 

 borders his own property. 



4. What highway organizations are in your State and 

 county? What road officers do you have, and what are 

 then* duties? What road taxes are paid by your district? 

 What vehicles are specially taxed, and how much? For what 

 is this money used? 



5. Let the students do something to beautify the roads in 

 their district. Get unsightly things out of the roadsides. 

 Plant trees that will eventually be a joy to travellers, and the 

 pride of the neighborhood. Plant vines on roadside fences. 

 Plant an occasional fruit tree. In many foreign countries 

 fruit trees are planted by the roadsides and the fruit may be 

 picked by passing travellers. Roses and other flowering 

 shrubs would not be out of place beside the public roads. 



6. Glass, wire, tin cans, rocks, sticks and other obstruc- 

 tions should be removed from roads by pupils. Let reports 

 on this work be made until much interest is aroused and 



good habits are formed. 



REVIEW. 



1. How many miles of roads are there in the United States? 

 What percentage are improved roads ? 



2. Why should roads be improved ? 



3. What kinds of improved roads have you seen? Describe them. 



