The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, SEPT. 7 1905. GOOD ROADS.

Gisborne Times, Volume XIX, Issue 1552, 7 September 1905, Page 2

The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, SEPT. 7 1905. GOOD ROADS.

An article of great importance to this district has been written by Mr D, Ward King, entitled “ Spread of the Gospel of Good Koads.” The writer describes how road-mending has been revolutionised in America by what is kijpwn as the split-log drag, a contrivance that costs comparatively nothing. The method is absurdly simple, and should certainly get a trial in this district both by the local bodies and by settlers individually and collectively. What has already been accomplished so far as the spread of the movement is concerned, may (states Mr King) be put in a few words :- “It has been backed and pushed by the Missouri Board of Agriculture ; one, railroad, the North-western, has sent out a “ Good Hoads Special ” for the purpose of evangelising the farmers of its.territoryother roar’! are eager to instal the same kind of a broad gauge, public-spirited campaign ; thousands of miles of waggon roads have been permanently reclaimed from bad to good, and hundreds of meetings have been held in the nine States in which this gospel has been disseminated by means of practical, demonstration. At these meetings .thousands of persons have pledged themselves to make and to use a split-log drag; hundreds of newspapers have , taken up this movement, giving it generous space and a square deal; hundreds,, if not thousands, of dollars have been raised and offered in prizes for the best miles or half - miles of drag roads, and most important of all,- perhaps, the public sentiment of, scores of .communities has been stirred to selfrespecting hopefulness and energy by this new go3pel of.“ good roads without money. 1 ' ■ ■■•■> Experiencing so much inconvenience from bad roads Mr King began to, investigate and,experiment, and he says: “ Acting under this persistent, impulse to experiment, I one day hitohed my team to . a drag made of a frostspoiled wooden pump stock ; and an old oak post, held parallel to; each other by three pieces, of fence boards, about three feet long. Smooth wire in the place of a chain, and a I strip of plank laid between the post j and the pump stock gave me , a rough platform upon which to stand. The j horses were attached at such a point of the wife as to give the drag a slant of about, forty - five degrees in the direction required to force the earth that it would gather from the side of the road up into the centre. We had just had a soaking rain . and the earth was in a plastic condition. I had driven this jdrag but a few rods when I wag fully, aware that it was, serving at least the initial purpose, fop which it was intended that of levelling down the wheel-rut and pushing the surplus dirt into the centre of the road. At my neighbour’s gate, toward town, I turned around and took the other side of'the road back to my home. The result was simply astonishing. More rain fell upon this road, but it “ran off like water from a duck’s back.” . Erom that time forward, after evefy rain ,or wet spell I dragged the half - mile of the road" covered by. my original experiment. At the end of three months the road vijgh better than when it had been drugged for three weeks, and ai the end of three years it was iim

mensely improved over its condition at the end of the first year’s work. I

stufiiedthe result of each step in my experiment and finally learned that three elements are required to make a perfect earth road, and that the lack of any one of them is fat:.! to the result. To be perfect an earth road must be at one and the same time

oval, hard and smooth. All of these indispensables are acquired by the use of the split-log drag iu any soil that I have ever come in contact with

—and I have worked in the various

kinds of clay soil, in the gumbo of the swampy lowlands, and in the black mud of the prairies. Observation of. my experiment taught megthat two weeks of rain would not put this bit of

road in bad condition at a time when

the highway at either end of it was impassable for a waggon. Of course it was plain that the reason the road was not bad was that there was no

mud in it. But why mud would not

collect in it was not clear to me until

I was taught my lesson by the very

humble means of the hog wallow.

One day I chanced to notice that water was standing in one of these wallows long alter the ground a

about it had become dry. Probably I had many times before obsorvod this fact, but not until now had it ocourrod to mo to inquire into its cause. Examining the edges of the wallow, I was impressed with tho fact that it waf. almost as hard as a piece of earthenware. Clearly this was because tho wallowing of tho hogs had mixed or “puddlod” the earth and tho water togothor, forming a kind of coment which dried into a hard and practically waterproof surface.”

For four years the exporimonfcor dragged his strip of road from Jxis front gate to that of his neighbor, and generally ho was much “chaffed” for his trouble. But steadily the work was forced, on the attention of others, and travellers were loud in their praise of the half-mile of nice road. One neighbor after another fell 'into lino and tho stretch of dragged road continued to lengthen, the public comment about it increased until the road authorities from neighboring townships and counties began to investigate the matter with the result that local farmers’ institutes asked to have practical demonstrations made. In the article many questions that are likely to be raised are mentioned and answered. From your own front gate toward town,” is the rallying cry of the movement, which thus starts with the farmer’s self-interest, but soon loads him to consider tho general interest of the community. As so many questions have been raised the writer hasjpropared the following “catechism” for general information Would it not be better 'to plough the road before dragging ? No. Ploughing gives a soft foundation. Ploughing the middle of the road is a relic of tho old dumpsoraper days. What da you do when there aro deep ruts in the road ?

Drag them. If you drag when the surfaoe is quite loose and soft, you will be surprised how soon the ruts disappear. How do you get the dirt to the middle of the road ?

By hauling the drag slantwise with the end that is toward the eentre of the road a little to the rear of the other end.

But suppose the road is too narrow ? First drag the wheel tracks. After three or four rains or wet spells, plough a shallow furrow just outside, tho dragged part. Spread this over the road with a drag. One plough one furrow. You may plough another furrow after the next rain. At each ploughing you widen the roadbed two feet. ■ How many horses do yon use ?

Two, generally; three if it is just bs handy ; four when breaking colts—a good solid team in tho oentre and a colt on each side; two men on the drag—one to drive, the other to control the oolta. How do,you drain the road ? If the earth is pushed in the middle of tho road continually, the road will drain itself. Why not make the drag out of plaok ? ’ You can, and do good work. But the split log is best. Tho plank drag is not so stiff. Why not make tho drag of heavy sawed timber ? Because drags so made have a tendenoy to slip over the bumps. Don’t yon grads up the road first ? No. The grading is done with the drag, gradually. By so doiDg, the road; is solid all the time, and is built on a solid foundation. What does it cost to drag a mile of road a year? The cost is variously estimated at from one to three dollars. How do you keep the drag from dodging around sidewise ? By not loading it too heavily. If a drag dodgeß around the earth you are moving, it is beoause it is overloaded.

Will the dragged road ntand heavy hauling? Yes and no. A dragged road will stand more heavy hauling than an undragged: road, .but not so much as a. macadamised or well-kept gravel road. Will a drag help a sand road ?

A sand road is a very different proposition from the black soil, clay, or gumbo. An entirely different method must be adopted. Three things may be done to a sand road to make it better : First, -keep it wet; seoond, haul clay on it; third, sprinkle it with crude oil, as they do in California and some parts of Southern Kansas and Texas. The drag will be beneficial in keeping the sand road perfectly fiat so that it will absorb moisture and retain it a long time. ’ To this oateohism I would add tho following “ Dont’s Don’t drive too fast. Don’t .walk; get on tho drag and ride. Don’t be particular about material; almost any log will do. Don’t try to drag with only one piece; uso two. This sketch does not contain all the, information given, the article being, a comprehensive one. The method is so simple that we feel sure it will soon have a trial in this distriot. .• It would save the county thousands of pounds every year if it achieved anything like the success claimed for it in America, and would be a great boon to settlers and travellers.