PARK 
AND CEMETERY. 
318 
macadam roads, dust and the AUTOMOBILE 
Tarvia Treatment Cheapened 
The outlook for the coming season 
among road engineers is that the use 
of dust preventatives will be widely ex- 
tended. That the automobile has come 
to stay is widely recognized, as is also 
the fact that the macadam roads as now 
built are not capable of withstanding 
such traffic. 
A big boom has been given to the 
dustless road proposition by the im- 
provement in the manufacture of Tar- 
via, the use of which has been de- 
scribed in these pages. 
The method of application in the past 
called for the heating of the Tarvia 
(which resembles tar in appearance and 
general character) to a point where it 
becomes very liquid like water. It is 
then washed over the road and worked 
into the macadam with brooms to per- 
colate to a depth of an inch or more, 
and solidifies on cooling. A single treat- 
ment will last for at least a season and 
the effect will be visible for as long as 
two years without renewal. Heating the 
Tarvia, however, called for consider- 
able apparatus and labor and made the 
use of Tarvia an elaborate and compli- 
cated operation. 
The new kind of Tarvia, called 
“Tarvia B,’' described in our last is- 
sue, is an easily flowing liquid and can 
be readily piped and used in ordinary 
watering carts. It hardens on pro- 
longed exposure to the air. To tarviate 
a road it is only necessary to sweep it 
clean of surface debris and wash the 
Tarvia over the surface. The Tarvia 
will harden into an elastic, strong mat- 
rix around the fine stone, and a clean, 
dustless surface is the result. 
For village streets and country roads 
the use of the cold Tarvia without the 
top coat of screenings is claimed by the 
manufacturers to be the cheapest 
method of road maintenance, quite apart 
from its dust suppressing advantages. 
For city parks and cemeteries, boule- 
vards, etc., where the fine top coat of 
screenings can be constantly maintained, 
the use of hot Tarvia will probably be 
continued, and is recommended by the 
manufacturers. The essential point, 
however, which insures the use of the 
cold Tarvia in most localities is the 
fact that it now costs no more tlian oil 
to apply, and a single application, at a 
cost of $300 a mile, will make a road 
dustless for an entire season. 
Another Dust-Laying Compound 
•A. dust-laying compound known as 
“Dustoline’’ has been tried on the streets 
of Summit, N. J., and Newport, R. L, 
and the Superintendent of Streets at 
Summit reports that 14 miles of roads, 
averaging 16 ft. in width, or about 
131,413 sq. yds., were treated last sea- 
son at a total cost for material and 
application of $2, .557. The first applica- 
tion was made about May 5th and the 
last about September 14th, which, it is 
stated, laid the dust up to November 
1st. The average number of applica- 
tions was four, making the cost of ap- 
plying the compound at a little less than 
2 cents per square yard for the season. 
From figures given by Street Com- 
missioner J. K. Sullivan of Newport, 
two applications, about seven weeks 
apart, were required for laying the dust 
from June 8th to September 15th in 
Newport. The total cost of applying 
the compound, including labor, etc., is 
estimated at something less than cent 
per gallon. John S. Lamson, Jr., Sum- 
mit, N. J., is the manufacturer of the 
compound. 
Is the Macadam Road Doomed ? 
J. F. Foster, general superintendent 
of the South Park System of Chicago, 
where very thorough tests of many 
dust-laying and road-making methods 
have been made, says that the w-ear on 
macadam from the increasing use of 
automobiles is so great that unless some 
new method is discovered for protect- 
ing macadam ])avements, the crushed 
stone road is a thing of the past. 
In describing the experiments on 
that system Mr. Foster says; 
“We constantly are repairing’, rebuilding, 
and experimenting, and we can’t see our 
way out of the troubles. We hope to keep 
a few stretches of macadam as they are 
for a year or two, but it seems that pav- 
ing methods must be revised to meet the 
advance in civilization marked by the fre- 
quence of the motor car. 
“Tests of durability of different materi- 
als have not been confined to rough prod- 
ucts — limestone and granite — that a few 
years ago sufficed to meet the require- 
ments of roadmakers. Every new device 
in the way of tar coating, oil sprinkling 
and concerte mixing has been given a trial. 
“The greatest problem confronting park 
commissioners throughout the country is the 
preparation of some plan for inexpensive, 
comparatively duralile, and attractive’ pave- 
ments. We are in receipt of letters from all 
over the countr^’ asking' for our solution of 
the difficulty, and we are obliged to admit 
that it is not yet discovered. 
“Until recent years the macadam roa<l 
was the most successful. 
“Then came the automobile. There aiv 
people who say they can see no difference 
between the effect of a carriage' wheel and 
that of an automobile. One is l)eneticial 
and the other destructive. The former 
simply acts as a roller, while the motor- 
driven tire drags at the pavement, digs in 
and tears loose the stone. Suction has 
little part in the damage. It all comes 
from the wlieel where the ‘purchase’ ti» 
push ahead must be secured. 
“Some people imagine that places where 
ruts are worn in the regular patii of the 
machines present the worst phase of the 
damage. They di> not. A little dressing 
aufl a few trips of tlie steam roller often 
remedy such defe<-ts. and the worst dam- 
age we find is where the cars just ‘skin’ 
the surface of the road. n'hen we have to 
resurface, and that e<ists from -U to 4(i 
■( nts a S(juare yard." 
TARVIA “B” ON MERRICK ROAD. LONG ISLAND. 
