Snow Roller for Winter Road-breaking 
How the Work is Done in Maine 
1 HAVE noted with interest the various articles in 
your paper on Winter road-breaking, and the 
descriptions of the devices have been plain and clear. 
These devices all have merit, but, in my judgment, 
none of them approaches the roller in efficiency and 
effectiveness. This opinion is based on the results 
in my own town after more than 20 years’ use of 
these road rollers. 
Our people may differ in regard to the building 
of roads, they may argue over the construction of 
culverts, drains or bridges, they may get excited over 
the different methods of road maintenance, but there 
will never be an argument over the effectiveness of 
the road roller. The town has more than 80 miles 
of roads, running in every possible direction, over 
hills and across our broad intervales of 
the Saco Valley. We are exposed to 
the strong winds that sweep across our 
valleys from the Kearsarge and White 
Mountain ranges in New Hampshire. 
The snow comes early, remains late, 
and usually reaches a great depth, 
from three to live feet. Yet these road 
rollers have been found sufficient for 
all emergencies, and the best of it is 
that shoveling has been practically 
overcome. 
The past Winter was one of great 
severity. The snow reached a great 
depth, the cold was intense, the winds 
constant and heavy, yet I am informed 
by our selectmen that the bill for 
shoveling snow will fall far short of 
one hundred dollars. 
The principle of the roller is entirely 
different from all other devices for 
road-breaking. These drag through 
the snow, crushing, cutting or throw¬ 
ing the snow, while the roller has the 
principle of a wheel and rolls over the 
snow as a wheel over the ground. The 
difference is as great as the drawing 
of a load in Summer with a cart or 
with a sled. The use of the roller led 
early to the removal of all wind-breaks 
that would tend to cause the snow to 
drift, and was thereby a direct benefit 
to the Summer roads, as they dried out 
quicker after the removal of these 
obstructions. It helps decidedly in 
Spring, when (lie snow is leaving, as 
the snow, not being removed, but 
packed down, remains longer, and there 
is no climbing on (he sides of the roads 
for a little snow for the sleds as long 
as this packed snow, or rather ice, 
remains. The principle involved in the 
successful use of the roller is that it 
shall be used “early and often.” With 
the firs! snow the roller goes over the 
road, thus insuring a firm bottom. 
From this time on it goes over the road 
after every snowfall. 
the town has seven of these rollers, 
and they are placed in different sec¬ 
tions of the town. The routes for them 
are laid out, as far as possible, so that 
they may make a circuit and so cover 
more ground than if they had to go 
out and back over every road. In early 
Fall the selectmen call for bids for 
muning these rollers from every sec¬ 
tion where they are located. A farmer 
"ilh one pair of horses calls on two 
ot his near neighbors, and they engage 
"iih him to help with their two pairs 
ot horses, the division of the earnings 
to be decided between them. This 
fanner then makes a bid, and becomes 
icsponsible for the proper use of the 
■ oiler, it will thus be seen that there 
ls _ 110 trouble in getting the horses, 
"itlu»ut the necessity of keeping them 
Tbt RURAL. NEW-YORKER 
The covering of the drums is made of three-incli 
hardwood, to make weight, and the frame is hung 
under the shaft. Or in other words, it is “under¬ 
hung'’ like an automobile. These rollers are estimated 
to weigh about three tons, and will thoroughly level 
and firm the snow as they pass. 
As set-over sleighs are used all through this sec¬ 
tion, the drums are set about six or eight inches 
apart on the shaft, and leave a core of about the 
same width. If if is desired, however, the drums 
might be set-nearer together by the use of a steel 
shaft to connect the frame between the drums, in¬ 
stead of a 0x0 joist. To prevent the snow from 
sticking to the roller it is well oiled on the outside 
with linseed oil, and sometimes a coat of shellac is 
given as a last coat. 
Our last fall of snow was estimated to be at least 
1.8 inches on the level, and it was badly drifted. It 
813 
road-breaking surface a little more than 10 feet 
wide. Teams follow .the core, one horse each side. 
The outside portions that have been under the roller 
remain hard enough to hold up a horse. Hence there 
is no crowding and no waiting at “turn-outs” to pass 
any teams that may be met. If any readers of The 
R. N.-Y. are interested enough to write me I shall 
be glad to give them the exact measurements of all 
parts of these rollers, the amount of lumber required 
to build one and the probable cost. 
Maine. b. walker m’keen. 
A 
A New England Gravenstein Tree with a $50 crop. Fig. 21G 
One Tree Pays Farm Taxes 
8 we have often stated, we do not like to tell 
big stories about farm products, or what 
farmers have done with superior units of an orchard, 
or a flock of hens or a herd of cattle. It is often a 
favorite plan to take some abnormal 
record of a single individual, multiply 
it by 500 or 1,000, and hold up the 
answer as a probable outcome for 
ordinary farming. A vast amount of 
damage has been done to agriculture 
in that way. People who never had 
any business to leave their city jobs 
have invested their money in farms on 
the strength of these big stories, only 
to face ruin as the end of it all. In 
another way these big stories are 
damaging, because they give the mid¬ 
dlemen and politicians a chance to get 
into the city papers, and to prove that 
farming is wonderfully profitable. We 
usually avoid reference to such things, 
but now and then something of unusual 
interest comes up which we like to talk 
about. For instance, W. .T. Livingston 
of Lowell. Mass., sends us the picture 
of a Gravenstcin apple tree, which is 
shown at Fig. 216. This was an old 
“sweeting” tree, which means that it 
is one of the old-timers planted years 
ago when sweet apples were profitable, 
because they took the place of bananas. 
Years ago these old-timers went out of 
profitable business, but in this case Mr. 
Livingston grafted the tree over to 
Gravenstein. Of course such a tree is 
tall, and it is expensive to pick the 
fruit and. as we see, it stands alone 
out in the field from the rest of the 
orchard. Mr. Livingston claims, how¬ 
ever. that, this old tree has grown fruit 
enough to pay all the taxes on the 
farm. The tree stands in Essex 
County. Mass. In 1916 it bore 45 
bushels of fruit: in 1918 there were 50 
bushels. As is natural with the Grav¬ 
enstein. last year gave very few 
apples, but there is a bumper crop 
coming this season. The last full crop 
was figured about as follows: Twenty- 
five bushels at .$1, 10 bushels at 81.50 
and 15 bushels at 75 cents, this fruit 
being sold on the tree. This gives a 
total of $51.25, which just about paid 
the tax on the farm. These figures 
appear to be correct, but do not let 
anyone figure that because this tree 
gave $50 worth of fruit and there are 
40 trees to an acre, all anyone has to 
do is to plant an acre of Gravenstein, 
give it reasonable care, and then take 
in $2,000 for the apples. That is the 
way some of our wild men seem to 
figure, but anyone who attempts to do 
that will soon find out that he is on 
the wrong track. 
Ringing In a Happier Dag 
tor the purpose. 
ihc rollers are made in two drums, with open, or 
' 1"'1'°. (l|1 Gs. It was found that closed ends tended 
h» keep (he inside of the roller damp and tended to 
nating. q’hese drums are each eight feet in dit 
eter 811(1 eight feel in length 
Where county agent work has played an effective part in bringing about profitable 
farm production, there has also come a happier family life in the farmhouse and 
a brighter outlook in country pursuits for the boys and girls brought up under its 
wholesome influence. (Maryland) 
Sorghum in New Jersey 
M ANY years ago Prof. Geo. 1 
of the New Jersey Agri< 
am- 
They are placed on 
nn 11011 shaft about two inches in 
is firmly secured to them. 
ls aiado of sufficient 
to which a pole is attached and a platform is placed 
behind on this frame for loadiu 
" eight of the pole and the driv 
diameter, which 
A frame of 6x6 joist 
size to surround both drums. 
•"eat and footrest for the dr 
or. 
to balance the 
and a comfortable 
iver is placed in front. 
was necessary to use eight horses to draw the roller 
through this. As 1 watched these horses drawing 
the roller by our house, with the four owners on the 
roller, 1 observed that they drew it without diffi¬ 
culty, the leaders picking out the road and helping 
slightly in the draft. I wished that representatives 
of all sections where snow falls deeply, and where 
these rollers are not used, might have been with me 
to have seen the ease with which the work was done, 
and afterwards have gone over the road and observed 
the condition in which it was left. 
Readers have, of course, observed that we get a 
II. Cook 
icultural 
College experimented with sorghum in 
South Jersey. The light soil of that 
section produced crops which gave 
sugar and syrup of fine quality. There seemed 
to be no doubt as to the ability of that section 
to produce sugar. The low price and the great 
development of German beet sugar killed the sor¬ 
ghum industry for the time, but we think it might 
now be made profitable. We think sorghum will 
be quite at home in the lighter Jersey soils, and 
it. may prove a profitable crop for that sec¬ 
tion. The world will demand more sweets for 
years to come. Time may prove that Prof. Cook 
was wiser than many of the people of his time imag¬ 
ined. 
