No. 4.] BETTER ROADS. 247 



The town of Easton leads all other towns in eastern Mas- 

 sachusetts in her good roads. She has for several years 

 adopted the stone road, and many miles of roads in her out- 

 lying districts were built of common field stones, with the 

 aid of one yoke of oxen and an iron roller. The farmers of 

 Canandaigua, N. Y., have been actively building stone roads 

 for several years, and have now nearly all of the principal 

 roads of the township improved in a most substantial man- 

 ner. The roads are made entirely from the field stones of the 

 farms along the roads, and are paid for by direct taxation. 

 The village of Canandaigua has joined willingly in voting for 

 the increased tax, and the farmers have carefully expended 

 the money, so that these roads have cost less than one thou- 

 sand dollars per mile. I believe these methods should be 

 adopted in eastern Massachusetts in all her rural districts. 

 Make the width of the road according to the amount to be 

 expended per mile. It has been found that a road eight feet 

 wide, made of stone, has done very good service in sparsely 

 settled communities and at a very moderate expense. 



Then, again, I believe we should adopt the methods of 

 some of the older countries, in having path masters to have 

 the roads in charge continuallj'. In the older countries they 

 have a path master with from three to five miles of road in 

 his charge, with a small amount of money to be expended on 

 any repairs that may be needed. It seems to me that in no 

 place will the old adage apply more thoroughly, that a stitch 

 in time saves nine, than in road repairs ; for it is a well- 

 known fact that a small hole allowed to remain in a road is 

 continually growing larger, until the expense of repairing is 

 ten times greater than it would have been at the start. Then, 

 too, I believe a good man in charge of roads should be con- 

 tinued in office for a term of 3'ears. It is impossible to carry 

 along a system of improvements successfully by continually 

 changing the management. 



One very impoi-tant feature in the improvement of our 

 highways is the care of the roadsides, which in the past have 

 had very little care, and have been used principally as dump- 

 ing grounds for all refuse material. In some localities the 

 brush and trees have been allowed to grow until a perfect 

 hedge hides from view the surrounding fields. Not only 



