196 THE BOOK OF THE LANDED ESTATE. 



the roads were good. It cannot be denied that farms are increased in 

 value by good roads, for which cause farmers who look to their interests 

 will always give a higher rent per acre for a farm having good means of 

 communication than for one which does not possess such facilities. A 

 landed proprietor who opens out his estate by the formation of substan- 

 tial roads, carries out a primary, and at the same time a permanent, 

 improvement of the greatest benefit both to himself and his tenants. 



SECTION 2. Farm-Roads. 



In laying out a new road on a farm, the first consideration is to secure 

 the best line which circumstances admit of that is, to have the line of 

 road as direct, and also as level, as possible. In the case of making 

 a new road to a home-farm^ or any farm near to a landed proprietor's 

 residence, amenity, however, must be taken into consideration, as in 

 some cases the best and easiest line of road might run too close to places 

 and objects which it may be desirable to keep out of sight. Although 

 some small hills or embankments may come in the line of road, it need 

 not be necessary to go round these elevations, as it is often found to be 

 of some economy to run the line through a small hill or elevation. The 

 materials from the cutting often come to be very useful in filling up 

 hollows and making embankments. There can be no doubt but that the 

 most perfect condition of a road is that in which the line is ^perfectly 

 straight and the surface level. There are two ways of choosing a line 

 of road one is that of as near a straight line as possible, and forming 

 embankments and cuttings where necessary ; and the other is to keep 

 the line to the surface of the country. The first is certainly the most 

 expensive to form, but is generally the best for after work. 



Where there are hills and gradients necessary, they should be made 

 as easy as possible. Hilly roads are just as safe as level ones, although 

 they require a certain amount of additional power to draw a conveyance 

 upon them. 



Farm-roads are usually made too narrow, and they have been made so 

 in many cases because it was thought that a narrow road takes less 

 expense in keeping it in repair than a wide one. It is, however, an 

 error to suppose this, as the cost of repairing a road depends entirely 

 upon the nature and extent of the traffic upon it. Supposing we take 

 two roads, one thirty feet wide, and the other fifteen feet wide, and that 

 they have an equal amount of traffic upon them, the one will require the 

 same amount of materials to repair it as the other, all other circum- 

 stances being the same such as quantity or quality of material ; or, in 



