38 LAYING OUT ROADS 



considerable size, will have all to be carried from 

 the interior to some one of such roads, in order to 

 have them taken away in carts ; and when the trees 

 become large, and require to be carried a consider- 

 able distance, much valuable labour must be wasted 

 before they can be laid down cart-free by the men. 



The roads in a plantation need not be made more 

 than fifteen feet wide. In all cases, however, they 

 ought to be so broad as to allow two carts to pass 

 one another with freedom, Avhen laden with wood. 



When the roads are marked oif, which of course 

 ought to be done previous to the ground being 

 planted, they ought to be divided from the rest of the 

 ground by a drain of sixteen inches deep, running 

 along each side of them, throughout their whole ex- 

 tent, whether the ground may be wet or not. The 

 drains are meant not only to keep those roads in a 

 dry, firm state, but to give them an appearance dis- 

 tinct from the rest of the plantation ; and being thus 

 drained on each side, they are not apt to be cut or 

 damaged, by a cart or any other wheeled carriage 

 passing along them ; and when thus kept dry, they 

 form a fine ornamental green ride, for the pro- 

 prietor and his friends at all times, as well as 

 answer the purposes of accommodation in wood 

 operations. 



If there be any particularly romantic-looking spot 

 within the bounds of the plantation, the road should 

 be made to take a turn in that direction ; or if there 



