236 PROCEEDINGS OF THIRTY-THIRD FRUIT-GROWERS ' CONVENTION. 



To sum up: The roadway should be drained, packed, rounded, surfaced and water- 

 proofed. Any road way» anywhere should be subjected to these five processes, if nature 

 has not already rendered'one or more of them unnecessary. - ' 



In a large portion of the Sacramento Valley, roadways are M 7 ell drained by merely 

 turnpiking them ; often, too, the soil affords excellent road material; less often, how- 

 ever, is this material sufficiently homogeneous to do for surfacing, and the road, when 

 made, always requires packing and waterproofing. If the roadbed is well packed while 

 sufficiently moist, the surface will be hard and firm, so that unless there is very heavy 

 travel upon it, two to three inches of crushed rock will give excellent satisfaction after 

 becoming smooth and hard by travel and after it is properly oiled. 



Except when a road must be made in clear sand, no oil should ever be placed upon a 

 roadbed except upon a smooth, hard surface. Such a surface will not yield to the 

 wheels of heavily loaded vehicles and hence will not increase the dxaught. 



Most of the dissatisfaction caused by the use of oil upon roadbeds has been 

 caused by disregarding this rule. Often the plaster formed at the surface of the road 

 when oil is placed upon an inch or two of loose sand or dust, is so serious an obstruc- 

 tion to the wheels that not more than half the customary load can be hauled upon it. 

 When using oil to make a roadbe.d in clear sand, it should be thoroughly mixed with it 

 to a depth of five or six inches, in such proportions as will cause the mixture to become 

 thoroughly hard and unyielding after a few weeks. 



When clay can be added to sand, or sand, to clay, the mixture will be found to pack 

 well, giving excellent material for the main body of the road. Adobe must have sand 

 or gravel or macadam before it can be made useful as a road material. 



Gravel should always be screened before applying to the road surface— the coarser 

 being put on first, after which the finer may be applied, as in the application of 

 macadam or crushed rock. 



Good material for mixing or surfacing may often be found in the subsoil of portions 

 of the valley. 



Above all, experiment with the material most available, constructing a few rods in each 

 of several ways which give promise of good results, and following the general laws of 

 roadmaking as above quoted. After a demonstration of just what method and material 

 is needed for each particular class of road in each section, proceed to as extensive con- 

 struction of permanent roadbeds as funds available will permit. 



Several counties of the State have voted bonds sufficient to build good roads upon 

 all main lines of travel. There is a great saving in such construction, as the interest on 

 such bonds, together with an annual sinking fund sufficient to pay the bonds at 

 maturity, will not exceed the annual expenditure in most counties simply for road 

 repair — an expenditure which we all know is now almost wholly wasted from lack of 

 sufficient money at one time to build permanent roadbeds, lack of a "general plan pur- 

 sued from year to year, and Tack of a businesslike administration owing to the inade- 

 quate road laws of this State. 



A. R. SPRAGUE, 

 NATHANIEL ELLERY, 

 W. H. AIKEN, 



Committee. 



MR. JUDD. I do not believe that there is in the State anybody who 

 is more in favor of good roads than I am. It has cost me a great deal 

 for good roads and I am still in favor thereof, but I am strongly in favor 

 of an equal distribution of the expense of building those roads. As I 

 told you in my paper, all of the good roads so far built in this State 

 have been built by the farmer and the fruit-grower and the cities take 

 no part in it; but, if you notice, they come up every time with resolu- 

 tions for good roads. If they will amend their resolutions saying that 

 they believe in amending the law to make equal taxation, I am heartily 



