MISCELLANEOUS 29$ 



road than any other point, and yet it is often left to chance. A 

 footpath up hills and across swamps becomes a bridle path, then a 

 neighborhood road, then a public highway. Often it is impossible 

 to make a good road along such a route. Money and labor spent 

 on it are wasted. A public road, especially in a hilly country, 

 should be laid out by a good road engineer. It should go around 

 hills or along their sides instead of across them. 



It is much more important "to have grades gradual than roads 

 straight. Increased ease of travel more than makes up for in- 



SKETCH SHOWING THE NUMBER OF HORSES REQUIRED TO HAUL THE SAME LOAD 

 OVER DIFFERENT GRADES 



creased distance. A horse that can pull two thousand pounds 

 on a level road can pull only four fifths as much, or sixteen 

 hundred pounds, when the grade is two feet to the hundred; 

 when the grade is ten feet to the hundred he can pull only five 

 hundred pounds, or one fourth as much as on a level road. A 

 public road should, of course, be as straight as good grading 

 will allow, but the grade should not be more than three feet in a 

 hundred. 



For practical purposes, a road is no better than its worst part. 

 Take, for instance, the case of a road almost level except for one hill 

 that has a ten per cent grade. A farmer who has to haul produce 

 along the road can put on his team no heavier load than it can 

 pull up that hill. He would gladly travel a longer road that 



