THE IERIGATION AGE. 



53 



THE IMPROVEMENT OF THE COMMON HIGH- 

 WAYS. 



BY PROF. J. J. VERNON, 



New Mexico College of Agriculture. 



Good roads are indicative of a high state of civiliza- 

 tion. The improvement in the condition of the common 

 highways proclaim, in mute yet unmistakable language, 

 the advancement in the civilization of a country. Highly 

 specialized industries, which usually attend upon a high 

 state of civilization among a people, seldom flourish 

 where means is unprovided for a quick exchange of com- 

 modities. As the standard of living in a community 

 rises, it soon finds expression in a demand for better 

 roads roads suitable for the gentleman's saddle horse, 

 for the family carriage, for the salesman's road wagon, 

 for the deliveryman's auto-car, and for the pleasure seek- 

 ers' and tourists' automobiles. 



The most natural system to follow in road building 



a given kind of work in a day as ten men could per- 

 form in the same time with teams and the old slip 

 scrapers, it is evident that the purchase and use of such 

 a machine, provided, however, that the price was not 

 exorbitant, would be most desirable and would result in 

 much economy. Furthermore, if, at the same time, with 

 such a machine the work could be done infinitely better, 

 it would seem to be the height of folly not to invest 

 in one. The modern road-grader is just such a machine. ' 

 The road-grader has become so popular in most of the 

 older States today that the old slip scraper is seldom 

 seen, and when it does appear it is used only in corners 

 where the grader can not reach the work. With a modern 

 grader in the hands of an expert in every county, the 

 roads leading out from our cities and towns would soon 

 discard their shrunken appearance and take on a- more 

 rounded elevated form, and the holes and inequalities 

 would gradually disappear, leaving a surface so uniform 

 that they would delight the eye and afford pleasure to 

 the traveler. 



Space will not permit of an extended discussion of 





Dam in Dry River. 

 [From the Primer of Irrigation, Page 151. J 



is to begin the improvement in the city or village, work- 

 ing outward in the different directions on the lines of 

 least resistance, but at all times striving to reach the 

 greatest population and the heaviest traffic. 



The 'work should be placed in charge of a man who 

 understands road building and road repair. This state- 

 ment is equally true whether there be much or little 

 money available for the work. The system which per- 

 mits the appointment of men as road supervisors regard- 

 less of their fitness for the position is accountable in a 

 great measure for poor roads and for the feeble interest 

 taken in road improvement. Probably there is no more 

 road work in many counties than could be superintended 

 by one man, and that man could be selected with an 

 ey_e to his qualifications for the work to be done, which 

 would result not only in better roads, but also in greater 

 efficiency and economy. Such a system prevails in many 

 of the older States of the Union, and it has been sug- 

 gested that it might prove most desirable in this section 

 under our conditions. 



The use of improved labor saving machinery in the 

 building and repair of the common highways, no doubt, 

 would result advantageously to all concerned. To illus- 

 trate : If a machine were devised whereby two men and 

 four teams, with the machine, could perform as much of 



the methods and means for road improvement, but at 

 least enough has been said to introduce a subject which 

 is deserving of much thought among the people of this 

 section. We are on the eve of a great wave of progress 

 and would it not pay both the merchant and the ranch- 

 man to give the matter of road building and road repair 

 more attention? 



COMPLAINT ABOUT RECLAMATION BUREAU. 



The following communication, signed by Mr. Fred 

 R. Reed, one of the best known men in Idaho, appeared 

 recently in the Burley (Idaho) Bulletin, and treats of 

 conditions which have been mentioned before in these 

 columns. In Mr. Reed's letter he says: 



"The writer drove over the settled part of the tract 

 today and was pleased and gratified to note the growth 

 and development on every hand. The people on the 

 north side of the Snake River will have water for their 

 lands next spring (1906) ; on the south side of the 

 Snake River no time is fixed for the completion of the 

 gravity and pumping systems. Hundreds of settlers are 

 anxiously waiting for some reliable information as to 

 'when they may be given an opportunity to buy water of 



