284 
STArE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY, 
sites, the more extensive and pleasant view secured from the 
buildings, as well as from the summit or the hill-side road by 
which the builhings are reached, the reduction of cost of con¬ 
struction and maintenance of such roads, the superiority of the 
grade generally obtainable, as compared with those along the 
streams, and the greater feasibility of securing dryness about 
the buildings, as well as for beautifying the landscapehn their 
vicinity, are among the most prominent advantages of the 
modern selection over the primitive. Some have urged as ob¬ 
jections to the high sites, that they are bleak and cold, and 
that water is not convenient. The former objection is fully 
met in the modern improved methods of building, and of eco¬ 
nomically generating and circulating heat; while, by the use 
of improved hydraulic apparatus, the supply of water is made 
ample, and luxuries unknown in the old system are fully 
enjoyed. 
Where objectionable grades, say of ten feet to one hundred, 
the heaviest that should ever be tolerated, are unavoidable, the 
following instructions for construction and repair should be ob¬ 
served : Avoid short curves in the road; make the bed wider 
on the hills than on the plains, and especially in the curves. 
If the road runs along the side of a slope, grade the surface 
of the bed, so that all water falling on it shall be cast to the 
gutter on the upper side, as there is great danger of accident 
in icy times, if any portion of the bed has a lateral slope with 
the hill side. On such roads provide low water bars across the • 
road at intervals of thirty or forty feet. These bars should be 
placed obliquely, and should discharge all the water in the 
gutter on the upper side. If the gutter is disposed to wash, 
it should be paved, and the curb of the pavement on the road 
side set so low that water from the road-bed may flow into 
the gutter the entire distance from bar to bar, instead of being 
required, as is frequently the case, to flow in the ruts of the ' 
road-bed until it reaches the bar, which it often overflows and 
washes away, continuing to flow on the road until dangerous 
gullies are cut, requiring much expense to repair them. If 
the hill is long, say one-fourth to half a mile, the water should 
