34 
Rural Roads. 
half that price. In Gloucestershire it is now found that it 
is much more expensive to use local materials obtainable at 
3s. 6d. a ton than to use better materials at 14s. 6d. a ton. It 
is of the utmost importance that the stones should be evenly 
sized, and all pieces markedly larger and smaller than the 
required size should be screened out. If stones of different 
sizes or qualities are used in the same layer it is practically 
impossible to secure a uniform coat, and without uniformity 
in the road crust the preservation of a smooth surface during 
wear cannot be hoped for. A return to the use of forks or 
pronged shovels instead of ordinary shovels for lifting and 
spreading broken stones is well worthy of consideration. Sur- 
veyors are divided in their opinions as to whether stones 
broken by hand or by machinery are best adapted for the 
repair of roads. No general rule can be laid down, but if the 
jaws of the stone-breaking machine are kept in good order and 
fed with properly sledged pieces of sound stone, not inclined, 
as some special stones are, to break into fiat or long pieces, and 
if suitable screens are attached to the stone-breaker, there is no 
doubt that greater uniformity in size and shape is obtainable 
than with hand breaking. Moreover, the fact must be faced 
that the hand stone-breaker is almost extinct. 
Importance of Uniformity in Cross Section. 
The importance of having a nearly uniform cross section 
from fence to fence for the whole length of a road cannot be 
overestimated. The exact section itself is of minor importance, 
but that of the travelling way is better flat than too round, as 
drainage along the road is much more effective than cross 
drainage, and no amount of cross curvature will drain off water 
from a rut on a road. The water channels should, as specified 
sixty years ago, be at the same levels on both sides of the road 
and should be as small as possible ; and where there is no foot- 
path the margins should be neatly dressed to true lines and 
so that they may be slightly higher than the road and have 
a slope thereto, pipes being formed where necessary under the 
footpath or margin to drain the channels. If there is a deep 
water channel or excessive cross curvature or a grip or open 
ditch on one side of the road and within the fences, the road 
will not wear evenly ; but with a road properly formed there 
is no reason why one portion of the road should receive much 
more wear than another, and if, at night, a wheel gets beyond 
the travelling way no accident occurs. 
Patches applied without steam rolling should be of moder- 
ate size, of a length about equal to the width of the road, and 
of a width of about one-third thereof, and should be laid 
down zig-zag, so that a horse may travel along the road without 
