274 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



character ; i. e., more depends upon the drainage tha.n upon the 

 materials of surface. 



The first thing is to obtain a substratum which will drain the 

 surface like a sieve, either into tile drains beneath, or into open 

 ditches at the sides, which should be three feet below the crown 

 of the road, and have a fall not less than eight inches to the 

 hundred feet. This cannot be done thoroughly with less than 

 one foot of clean coarse gravel, or pebbles, rejecting all of an 

 inch diameter and less. The foundation for this should be 

 graded with a crown corresponding to the top, that the water 

 reaching it may pass off the more rapidly. The difficulty is 

 that this substratum becomes clogged, and the drainage pro- 

 ceeds too slowly ; or the side ditches become filled up, and the 

 surface is not drained at all. 



The best remedy for this is a line of tiles, well laid directly 

 under the centre of the road, lengthwise, three feet deep, com- 

 municating with the side ditches where there is a sufficient fill, 

 with the ends properly protected from washing out, or filling up. 

 These should not be needed on banks of two feet and more, but 

 they are especially useful where the road-bed is near the natu- 

 ral surface, or in cuts ; and then the side ditches need not be 

 more than half so deep as otherwise. 



Most cuttings have a wet and dry side, and in such cases it 

 would be better to lay the tiles nearer the wet side. The ex- 

 pense of this would not often exceed $1.25 per rod, and in many 

 cases it woiild be somewhat less ; and there would be a large 

 saving in the digging, and keeping open, of side ditches. There 

 is no doubt that, in very wet places, the tiles would be the cheap- 

 est in the end, and they would make by far the best road. 



The side ditches should have from one to two feet width on 

 the bottom, the slopes on the inside not greater than two to 

 one, and on the outside an average of one and one-half to one. 



The following cross-section shows a general plan for road-bed 

 and side ditches in cuts, and on fills not exceeding three feet. 

 Of course, as the bank rises, the ditches become less in depth. 



