70 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



dren will ever live to see that road in as bad a condition as the 

 average of roads in this State. Is it not good economy to se- 

 cure this permanency ? Why, I could speak of certain towns 

 in our neighborhood which neglect their roads. I know where 

 there was a piece of road in Brighton, between Newton and 

 Brookline, over w'hich it was almost impossible to draw a load, 

 and there was constant complaint of it. It was just such a case 

 as the one referred to by Mr. Flint. Here was a good piece of 

 road, then a very bad piece, and then a good piece again, and 

 invariably the farmers had to throw off a part of their load 

 when they came to this bad place, when a few hundred dollars 

 (for it was only some half a mile long) would have put tlie 

 road in prime condition, and they could have hauled their load 

 the whole distance. Is it not a matter of great importance, 

 when we are building railroads and endeavoring to develop the 

 resources of the State in every possible way, that we should 

 furnish the very best roads we can to the railroad stations and 

 to market ? If a railroad company should do as we do, neither 

 you nor I would dare to ride over their road. They adopt the 

 system that England, France, Belgium and other countries have 

 adopted for the repair of their roads, thut is, they keep men 

 constantly on the track ; not a spike can get out that they do 

 not see. That is just the place we want. The town of Wal- 

 tham and Newton and other towns about there keep men con- 

 stantly employed. The work is so arranged that the men are 

 engaged in the winter as well as in the summer. In the wiiiter 

 the crushing is done ; in the hot weather they build the cul- 

 verts ; in the spring they put on the rubble ; in the fall clear 

 out the culverts, and so on. There is no time wasted. It is 

 all employed in one w^ay or another in improving the road. 

 The same system carried throughout the Commonwealth would 

 give us roads that would add immensely to the value of proper- 

 ty in their vicinity. The Hon. William Jackson used to say — 

 (and here is one prejudice we have to encounter, and I {)re- 

 sume you all have, the unwillingness of people to give land for 

 a road of sufficient width) — the Hon. William Jackson, of 

 whom many of you have pleasant recollections, who was a 

 shrewd and sagacious man, once said, " Gentlemen, your land 

 is worth more in your street than in your enclosure, up to a 



