294 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



without extreme care, the surface will become rutted and uneven. 

 Thus, before the road has become settled, the discomforts and 

 disadvantages outbalance the cost of rolling. 



The use of the steam stone-crusher and the introduction of 

 the steam roller would greatly reduce the cost of preparing and 

 applying road materials ; and the employment of these and 

 other machines of like character would be a step towards great 

 improvements in the common roads. 



Relative Merits op the different Road Coverings. 



Having briefly indicated the different methods of construc- 

 tion, it is proper, before considering the subject of repairs, to 

 compare the relative merits of each. 



There are three points especially worthy of consideration in 

 determining what kind of road to build ; or rather, as that is 

 the important feature, what kind of covering to use, namely : 

 the first cost, the cost of maintenance, and adaptedness to the 

 use intended. 



The fitness of a road for its use of course depends upon the 

 kind and amount of traffic going over it; for one much trav- 

 elled by heavily loaded teams will need a more substantial and 

 expensive covering than one used chiefly for light carriages ; and 

 consequently judgment is required to avoid deficiency of strength 

 and solidity, on one hand, and unnecessary expense on the other. 



The comparative original cost of covering a road would de- 

 pend in some measure upon the kinds of material most procur- 

 able in the vicinity, or the distance to where the kind needed 

 must be sought ; but generally the broken stone covering, with 

 a paved or concrete foundation, is the most expensive. The 

 next in order, as regards the first cost, is a broken stone cover- 

 ing laid upon earth, though the difference of this from the first 

 mentioned, in that respect, is not great. 



Gravel is the cheapest of all materials for finishing roads, 

 when it can be obtained, of good quality, from a reasonable dis- 

 tance, and can generally be most easily applied. 



It would appear, however, from experiments made by Mr. 

 Wm. H. Grant, superintending engineer, upon roads constructed 

 by him in Central Park, in New York, that the relative cost of 

 them was for 



