DRY FARMING CONGRESS. 



119 



Road Location. 



In most of the western states roads are laid out on the section lines. 

 In traveling- from one place to another over these roads it is very often 

 necessary to cross and recross hills and valleys which might have been 

 avoided had the roads been laid out according to the general lay of 

 the land rather than on the section lines. An error made in locating 

 a road becomes more costly as the use of the road increases. 



Place roads on dry soil, back from a low, wet creek bottom, rather 

 than follow a section line through it. ]\Iore time and money has been 

 wasted in trying to keep up a single mile of such road than it would 

 have cost to build and keep in repair two miles of good road. 



According to Eldridge, "Even if the distance around a hill be much 

 greater than over it, it is often more economical to construct it that 

 wa}" rather than make it necessar}^ to expend large sums of money and 

 time in reducing the grade, or a waste of much valuable time and energy 

 in transporting goods that way." 



Drainage. 



There is no agency more destructive to successful road building than 

 water. Drainage alone will often change a bad road into a good one, 

 while on the other hand the best road may be ruined in a short time 

 from lack of the proper drainage. The keeping of the road dry, both 

 above and below, is a fundamental necessity for a good permanent 

 highway. 



In some places surface drainage only is required. In those places 

 where the surface is more or less rolling and especially where it is 

 underlaid with porous materials as sand or gravel, so that the ground 

 water does not come near the surface, underdrainage will not be neces- 

 sary. But at any place where the adjacent fields will be benefited by 

 underdrainage, but all roads should be surface drained. 



similar manner. In the West, the larger part of the roads do not need 

 underdrainage, but all roads should be surface drained. 



The crowns of many of our road beds are too flat to shed water. 

 The large part of them are not only flat but concave, the center being 

 the lowest part; in other words, the crowns are turned the wrong side 

 up. Roads in this condition are naturall}^ less firm than the adjacent 

 fields. A water-filled soil will not bear up. an empty w^agon; while the 

 same soil thoroughly drained will become firm and make an excellent, 

 road bed. 



Crown. 



A crowning road bed is absolutely necessary for best road condi- 

 tions. For the main traveled portion of the road, a crown of one inch 

 to the foot is recommended with steeper slopes outside of this to the 

 side ditches. For a steep road grade the crown should be increased 

 to carry the water to the sides rather than allow it to run for some 

 distance on the road. One inch crown tp the foot under ordinary road 

 conditions is sufficient for thorough surface drainage. Under these condi- 



