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These words, us applied to our general system of 

 repairs, are of course exaggerated. But tor what we may 

 still too frequently witness every year, they are much 

 nearer to a faithful description than to an extravagant 

 caricature. It", in palliation, some one pleads with the 

 player in Shakespeare, " I hope we have reformed that 

 indifferently with us," let us unite to reply, in the words 

 of Hamlet, " O reform it altogether. "' 



Another fault, far less offensive, though more common 

 among us than the preceding, is that of excessively crown- 

 ing or rounding up the centre of our roadbeds. The 

 objection to such a construction is, that it makes an equit- 

 able distribution of the travel over the surface impossible, 

 and, after a time, by compelling the wheels to go in nearly 

 the same place, produces ruts ; or it' for aiiy reason loaded 

 teams are compelled to turn aside, the peculiar shape of 

 the road-bed throws an undue pressure upon the outer 

 wheels, subjecting them to a severe strain, while the 

 sliding sidewise pressure thus produced increases both the 

 draught and the wear of the road. Besides, if the loads 

 be bulky, like hay, they are in danger of being seriously 

 racked on one side, or of being upset on the spot. That 

 particular kind of abomination which we call " cradle- 

 holes," you will notice, are most likely to appear on roads 

 where there is a considerable amount of travel. So we 

 come across them more frequently in or near our villages, 

 and the unpaved portions of our cities, than in the remote 

 byways of country towns. These should always be 

 attended to when they begin to appear, ami, in fact, fur- 

 nish one of the most striking illustrations of the necessity 

 for that constant supervision of which we have spoken 

 before. The deeper these become, the greater the force 

 of the impact with which every passing wheel goes 



