Roads and Road Haring

ROADS AND ROAD HARING. The ques tion of good roads is one of the most important of any outside the farm proper, for without roads upon which fair loads may be hauled, the pro duce of the farm can not be carried to market, nor can the general traffic of the country be car ried on. In the settlement of a new country the ridges and dryer portions of the country are used for roadways, often causing deviations from the shortest lines, and very often these roadways remain after the settlement of the country, to the great inconvenience of the traveling public and the owners of farms, near villages these detours are gradually shortened, and straight roads are laid out, properly graded and, at length, ballasted with suitable material. In alluvial countries such as the prairie regions of the West, the greatest difficulty is experienced in making roads that shall be solid and constant in their nature during wet and dry weather. Fortunately, the soil is of such a nature, that during the dry months of the year, or from June to November, the earth when kept properly graded forms smooth and toler ably firm Toadways. And in winter, also, when frozen, they are soon worn smooth. In older settled countries engineering talent is brought into constant requisition in the making of roads and various materials, gravel, cinders, broken stone, slag• from furnaces, blocks of wood or stone, and planking are used. In England, in some places, burned clay has been successfully used in the ballasting of roads, it having the pecu liarity once thoroughly burned that it does not again come into a plastic state hut acts on plastic soils, in the nature of sand and gravel, forming under the pressure of travel a tolerably firm road way. It would require a large volume to treat the important subject of roadways and road making exhaustively. It is more the study of the civil engineer than the private individual. Neverthe less, the subject is so important to farmers espec ially, that we append the chief points relating to earth road, and road making, as originally sug gested by Mr. W. J. Edwards, who was emi nently fitted to understand the whole subject, both as inventor of road-making machinery and a practical road-maker. Without good roads there can be no material development, beyond that mediocrity which mere civilization gives. Even the most degraded savages have well de fined trails; and the knowledge of the conserva tion of manual force, which it would almost seem that they possess intuitively, leads them, from point to point, over the easiest grades con sistent with a direct route. So, the early settler finding soon the necessity of roads, first 'blazes a bridle path through the timber, or else, follows the trail of the Indian across the plain. Speedily, however, the wagon or cart must be used for the transportation of crops and other goods, and these usually follow the ridges or higher lands, until, with the further settlement of the country, water courses are bridged, sloughs are ditched, and at last continuous tracks, and next roads, crude and imperfect, it is true, but yet distinctly defined, are made from point to point. Nature knows no roads; and savages, like some species of animals, wear tracks only. Therefore, it may be set down as an axiom, that one of the first indications of increasing civilization in man, is the steps he takes to improve the roadways over which he must travel; and therefore the com pleteness of the roads are as landmarks, which show the degree of enlightenment which a nation has reached. Not only this, the higher the civ ilization, the nearer approach to true utility in designing and forming the road beds of a coun; try—if we except mere pleasure roads, as seen in private grounds and also in landscape gardening. However pleasing curved lines may be, or how ever delightful the views caught here and there, however charming the vistas that now and again appear in the driveways of the wealthy man's estate, yet, in the formation of public roads, all this must be sacrificed to the tyrant, utility. They may not be employed in purely ornamental driveways, even without some apparent cause, artificial though it be, for the curvature of the road. A change of level in the ground, a pond, a tree, a group of shrubbery, or some similar natural or artificial obstruction, must be present to afford an opportunity to demand a change of line. Thus, in landscape gardening, where the ground is irregular, the deviations from a straight line necessary to follow an easy grade and at the same time adhere as closely to the natural surface of the ground as possible, will generally develop graceful curves. And in no case should any but the easiest curves in long sweeps of roadway be attempted on a level surface; for they would be just as incongruous as would be a Gothic cottage, with its acute angles, standing in the middle of a marsh, or a fine mansion in a wilderness. Granted, then, the necessity for roads, both use ful and ornamental, let us explain how roads develop a country. First, they render traffic practicable. Even the mere bridle path to the nearest mill does this, but in a country where no other roads are asked for, the inhabitants will too often be found carrying a stone in one end of the sack to counterbalance the peek of corn in the other, if, indeed, they do not pound their grist between two stones. Their village will be irregular; their implements of the crudest kind; education among them will be wholly wanting. The men will be barbarians: the women slaves; while the land itself will be divided between wild beasts and savage tribes. But soon the inventive faculty of the settler devises a rude vehicle, for he finds that the log may be rolled far easier, than it can be drawn lengthwise. The inventor, from his superior intelligence, acquires wealth more rapidly than his fellows, and with wealth comes the desire for luxuries. His com peers are stimulated to like efforts. Fields are opened, improved implements are devised, vil lages are built, and so roads must be made to them, and, lo! the problem of civilization is at last solved. In the formation of roads for the carriage of loads, or those of utility, they should go as directly from point to point as the nature of the ground will permit. This portion of the work is the first duty of the engineer. He must survey the country, and the various obstacles; figure upon the relative economy of passing over, through, or around them, and so form his grades as to present the least possible obstacle to the passage of teams. In this direction, and in spanning chasms; passing around or through mountains; bridging great rivers, or tunneling under them, some of the greatest engineering feats in the history of the world have been per formed. It is obvious, that, as a rule, the roads of a country should be built of the material found in the vicinity, and that will combine in the greatest degree, cheapness, indestructibility and smoothness of surface, with the requisite degree of firmness. And whatever kind of roads are made, they must present a slightly convex surface, be of easy grade, and also be thoroughly drained, else the labor of their con struction is expended in vain. In bealities where sharp gravel is obtainable, there is no doubt but that a covering of from ten to fifteen inches upon a perfectly graded and well drained roacj is one of the best and most economical; at the same time it is easier to keep in repair for country roads, for the reason that it costs merely the digging and hauling. Washed and rounded gravel should not be used, for it will never cement together to form an even surface. It may, indeed, in time become so incorporated with the soil as to increase the solidity of the roadway, but it can never become a really effi cient medium over which loaded vehicles can pass at all seasons of the year. In California, which is well known for the miry nature of its soil, during the rainy season, even in the moun tains, a covering of sharp gravel, twelve to eighteen inches thick, over carefully graded road beds, has proved entirely satisfactory, and it is quite well known that, for ordinary travel, there are no roads more agreeable to travel on, than carriage ways, carefully drained, graded, and then ballasted with sharp, strong gravel. Some years since plank roads were all the rage. It is scarcely necessary to notice them here, since they are expensive to build, annoying and costly to keep in repair, quickly wear out, are abso lutely torturing to animals driven fast over them, rack vehicles severely, and are little less than horrifying to those travelers who are com pelled to ride over them. These two classes of roads, if we except the poor make-shifts usually found, patched here and there, by throwing irregularly to the center of a roadway a ridge of earth scooped from the aides, with no definite idea of the first principles of road making, have been made to do duty as roads. The first is found only at long intervals; the second happily„ now a thing of the past. The third, or earth i roads, if properly made and kept in repair, would, at a comparatively light cost, add Infini tely to the average value of the farm lands of the entire prairie region of the West. The proper construction of roads adapted to continuous and heavy traffic by loaded teams at all seasons of the year, must depend measurably upon local circumstances; for their perfection and durability will be in direct ratio to the materials used, other circumstances being equal. In large cities, and near great marts of trade and commerce, the first cost of such roads is only a secondary con sideration. They must perforce be perfect at any reasonable expense. Fortunately timber is cheap, and had plank roads served no other pur pose, they should be respected as being the initial movement toward the Nicholson pavement that is now held in such justly high repute in the great cities of the West. The next in point of endurance and easy travel is, undoubtedly the Telford pavement ; next, the MacAdam roadways ; next, gravel roads; and last, but not least, will be the roads of loam, clay, or other materials which form the natural soil of the prairie region. To briefly describe the more artificial roadways that can only be 'made under the direction of competent engineers and trained workmen, would seem desirable, but before proceeding' to this, there are some questions that suggest them selves, which may well be considered here. The first requisite in any road, as has been before stated, is drainage. The second is the sub-road or foundation, but since this must always be of the soil natural to the country, it may safely be left until that class of roads is considered. Drainage must be absolutely perfect. For any road, if water soaked, however great the expense incurred in its construction, will not stand. This drainage may be made by open ditches or gutters at the side, if the water be carried away from the vicinity of the road bed at every avail able point. Whenever practicable the fall should be made both ways from a point as nearly cen tral as may be, and each water way should be extended to a point of discharge lower than the plane; but if the distance between such points of discharge be so great as to lead to the fear of the washing of the road bed, the proper means must be taken to prevent this, no matter what the cost. Where gradients are so steep that the water will flow along the road in spite of the rounded sur face, then catch or water bars, transverse gut ters must be provided to carry the water into the proper channels at the sides of the roadway. The transverse grades of roads is a most import ant consideration. On perfectly hard roads, such as the Nicholson, Telford, MacAdam, dam, or others with so hard and uniform a surface, that they will not under any circumstances wash, a very slight decline only from the center to the sides should be given, for much lateral slope is one of the most objectionable features in hard roads, and is permissible at all, simply to carry off moisture; therefore, in every case this should be reduced to a minimum on the last slope con sistent with the perfect drawing of the water of rains into the gutters at the sides of the road. Consequently, it is scarcely practicable to give any rule that will meet even a moiety of the con stantly changing conditions, or that will meet even approximately the cost of the various materials of which roads are made. Some ancient nations carried road making to a high state of perfection. They were made of as various materials as they are at the present time, including gravel, asphalt, and numerous concretes. On these it will be useless to expa tiate, since the civilization that called those roadways into existence has passed away, and nothing remains save the traditions. There are, hoWever, two systems of roadways of nations that lived and bound together ancient and modern times—the Chinese and the Roman—whose roads were of the most solid and enduring nature. Those have been the basis from which our system arose. The Chinese roads are perfect to-day, because that nation still exists to keep them in repair. The remains of some of the Roman roads still stand in a state of good pre servation, although centuries have elapsed since the nation which made them as perfect as they were enduring, became a thing of the past. The system which the Chinese adopted in build ing their roads was to grade the roadway and then cover the whole with hewn blocks of stone, carefully jointed and cemented together so that the entire surface presented a perfectly smooth plane. They are immensely costly to build, and indestructible by time. The block pavements of modern days are of this type. They would not, however, be tolerated now, since teams have but little traction power on these roads; owing to the hard, smooth surface of the exterior, and horses are liable to slip, fall and injure themselves. The Roman roads were built by laying a con crete foundation of proper thickness and then cementing therein blocks of stone or other ma terial. The knowledge of engineering was superior and the sums of money they expended prodigious. We are all conversant with the feats of Hannibal in his passage of the Alps. His engineers forced a passage over rocky promontories by heating the surface and then disintegrating it by means of acids (vinegar). Modern science, in road making, is as far supe rior to the ancient as is gunpowder, nitro-glycer ine and dynamite to the old method of blasting by heat and the application of acids. The Nicholson pavement undoubtedly combines more excellencies than any other form of pavement for vehicles. It is easily laid, durable, and also easy of repair, is pleasant for travel, compara tively noiseless, and not especially injurious to the hoofs of horses. In constructing these pavements the first step is to grade the roadway; a layer of sand or fine gravel is laid smoothly and evenly over; inch to inch and a quarter boards are then placed over the sand so as to break joints; this is now thoroughly swabbed with boiling gas tar. Four inch timbers are then accurately sawed to a length of eight inches, and laid either directly or diagonally across the roadway, and securely nailed to the planking beneath, or to the narrow strips used to divide the lines of block, thus leaving a space of an inch between the upper half of the row of blocks. These interstices are filled with fine gravel of uniform size, gas tar at nearly a boil ing point is then poured in, and the whole ram med compactly with suitable implements. A layer of gravel of a quarter to a half inch size is then thinly strewn over the pavement. The whole is swept so as completely to fill the inter stices, and then we have a type of the best road way ever devised by man. Many variations have been made from this plan, as laying the blocks directly on the bed of sand or gravel beneath, doing away with the narrow strips, etc., etc. They have some advantages, but the real improvements on the original plan more than counterbalance them. It would appear, however, that if the foundation could be made on the Telford plan, and this be covered with sufficient fine gravel to thoroughly cement the whole and the wooden pavement laid directly over all, it would leave little to be desired either in point of solidity, permanence or facility for repairs. The expense of such pavements, how ever, preclude their adoption except in cities and their vicinity where the travel is heavy and con stant, for the interest on the cost and wear and tear of any road can only be fixed on a just percentage of the traffic thereon. In making MacAdam roads, in tenacious soils the surface on which to place the broken stone should be at least one foot above the bottom of the waterways. The margins and slopes must be of such a nature that they will not wash or abrade, and if an under drain be placed at each side of the rock cover ing, so much the better. Indeed, the value of under-drains beneath any road, with lateral drains at suitable intervals, into the waterways at the sides of the road, are not appreciated as they should be by many otherwise good engi neers. The stone with which the road is bal lasted should he broken so that the most of it would pass through a two-inch ring, this being found by experiments made both in England and other countries to be the largest size allowable. Indeed, 1VIacAdam himself declares that cubes of one and one-quarter inch are better than a larger size; but in speaking of cubes of a certain size it is neither understood that absolutely square pieces are meant, nor that the sections of rock shall be of uniform size. In fact, a con siderable irregularity of size and shape le more conducive to s perfect cementing of the whole, so that when settled by rolling and travel it shall form a continuous, even surface, over which vehicles may be easily propelled. Years ago the laborious process of breaking the stone by hand formed an item of considerable expense in the formation of these roads. Later, ma chines were invented which perform this work most perfectly. In the application of the broken stone to the road-bed care should be taken that the earth's surface has not been worn into ruts, for if this be the case it will inevitably cause the road to settle unevenly, and such depressions can not be mended save by picking up, remetaling and again ramming. In this case the stone should be rather smaller than that used in the building of the road. The same rule will also apply to all the repairs of the road. Whenever depressions or ruts are worn, the sur face must be picked to sufficient depth to per mit the packing used to thoroughly cement with the metal below. To cover or metal a mile of road twenty feet wide to a depth of twelve inches, will require something more than 903 cords of stone or other material, so that, given the cost of the rock, and knowing the value of labor, it will be easy to figure the cost of the superstructure. So the rule will also apply to any portion of the labor required to form any road. The conditions are so varying, that even an approximation can not be reached; and these always mislead. The exact conditions must be studied by the commissioners as they always are by contractors. If this be done, there will sel dom be much difference between the contracting parties. For ballasting or metaling roads, as it is called, limestone is most generally used, prob ably for the reason that it is the most evenly dis tributed, and when available, being of easy and even fracture, it is cheaply prepared for the road-bed. Nevertheless, it is not the best mate rial. Granite, from its extreme hardness, is much superior; hut this rock, being one of the primary formations, is comparatively rare at the surface of the earth. As it,will not pay to convey the metaling long distances, the most avail able rock near by must, perforce, be used. The surface of the road having been properly ballasted, a dressing of clay, from one to two inches, should be laid over all, and the whole surface thoroughly and continuously rolled with a heavy roller, until the superstructure is alike even and compact, and the angularities of the metal have been thoroughly interlocked and rendered solid, before vehicles are allowed to pass over it. Many object to this surfacing, but without this or some other binding covering, the top will be a long time in coming into a smooth surface, and is far more likely to be worn into ruts, especially if it be a country road, where there is comparatively little turning out from the center to avoid teams going in a contrary direc tion. Another advantage of the clay surfacing, besides its binding action, is that it prohibits passing wheels from destroying the angularity of the broken rock, and thus preventing cohesion, by reducing them to the shape of water-worn pebbles; for it is well known that stones once worn round never after cohere and bind together to form a perfect surface. Another advantage of this clay surfacing is, that it at once renders the road comparatively water-proof; and, gradu ally working down, does not in the least add resistance to the draft of teams, as has been claimed, but, on the contrary, does render the draft much easier, at first, than if the rock sur face were on top. A width of twenty feet of rock is ample for any travel, except in isolated cases, where a road is thronged with teams con stantly passing and re-passing, as is the case in large cities or contiguous to them. On all roads there should be side tracks corresponding with and forming an unbroken grade with the mac adamized portion of the roadway. This metaled surface may be diminished, both in width and thickness, down to a width of eight feet and a thickness of six inches, to meet cost to be expended on the requirements of travel. The great cost of hauling material of any kind to form the superstructure of a road, renders it imperative that the most careful calculation be made as to the amount of traffic thereon. If, for instance, the heavy travel be nearly all one way, as in country places, ten feet of ballasted portion will be ample; fourteen feet will easily allow for turning out, and for the passage of loaded teams; eighteen to twenty feet will allow teams to go in contrary directions continuously; and twenty four to thirty-two feet will admit of the road being thronged in both directions, and yet leave sufficient room for turning out and the passing and repassing of light vehicles, swiftly driven. When the earth of the roadway consists of gravel of proper size, and clay in due, proportion, or if there be an admixture of cementing mate rial, as combinations of iron, etc., as is sometimes found, the work of making the road is compara tively easy. It has merely to be graded by the proper machines, (and these should be employed in every town, whether metaled or natural roads are to be used,) and then the material, by repeated rollings, cemented firmly together. Of course, in making any road, it is understood that the proper engineering must first be employed, the gradients established, sharp hills leveled or passed around, valleys filled, natural obstacles cut away and removed, so that, whatever grade be established as the maximum, the surface may be made to correspond. This is the work of the surveyor. This done, the proper slope of the road adjusted, the drainage provided for, the culverts established, and other minutia attended to, all the contractor then has to do is to carry out the plan according to the specifications. Unfortunately for the constructing of perfect roadways in alluvial countries, this variety of soils rarely exists; but if unfortunate in this respect, the disability is amply compensated for by the exceeding richness of the soil. A coun try composed of material suitable for superior roads, is never worth much for anything else certainly not for agricultural purposes. But, as before stated, we propose to show here how the whole prairie portion of the West, may have roads good enough, during the seasons of princi pal travel, to allow the carrying of 4,000 pounds per team of two horses; and this can be done at an exceedingly light cost for labor. While its soil is one of the richest on the face of the earth, there are few countries where the material can be made into as good roadways as there. They have only to be properly drained, graded and com pacted to form most admirable roadways; that will rarely 'become bad for travel, except, it may be, a short season in the early winter and spring. In the construction of gravel roads, as in all others, the sub-stratum must be, of course, the natural soil of the locality. The drainage must be as well attended to, and the engineering must be the same as for other roads. The lower por tion of the road-bed may be of any material that will make a solid foundation for the upper strata, or the whole may be composed of gravel of different sizes, the larger being placed and kept at the bottom. For light traffic and easy travel, both for teams and individuals, there is no ques tion of the superiority of well made and well kept gravel roads over all others. A combination of the Telford foundation with a gravel surface, when the cost may warrant it, will, undoubtedly form the perfection of a roadway for ordinary travel. At the bottom, on a properly graded sub-way, may be placed the rough foundation of the road-bed, consisting of irregular stone, or small boulders, from the size of a man's list to a two-quart measure, or larger, according to the amount of travel expected. Over this the top work of smaller gravel should be laid, still keep-• ing the larger gravel at the bottom and evening up with the smallest. Great care should be taken to secure the foundation properly. The large pieces of rock forming this should not be laid in at random, or in rows, and never on their fiat side; but should be placed so as to break joints, as it were, and yet be left sufficiently even on top to receive the covering of gravel. This is done by breaking away those projections of rock which rise much abovethe general surface ; or when square, they may be embedded in the soil beneath. There is one fact which should never be lost sight of; and that is, the rounda ation must ever remair pervious to water, so that whatever moisture finds its way through the surface, may immediately pass to the soil below, and thence easily percolate to drains which should always be provided, unless the nature of the soil and subsoil be such that the drainage is naturally thorough. It is essential that the foundation of any road be rolled when laid. It is absolutely- imperative that the surface covering be so rolled, until the whole is entirely compacted into one cohesive mass. The very best roads are made thus, whether with a cover ing of gravel, or macadam, or any other coher ing material; the larger in the bottom, and the finer on top, while no material the size of a hen's egg should ever be allowed within four inches of the top; and the harder the rock material tue smaller the cubes or fragments of rock or gravel may be, for a complete cementing of the whole. Now, as the perfection of a road made of broken stone is, to have a foundation of coarse, angular fragments, followed by a covering of two-inch cubes, surfaced with cubes of one inch, or smaller, sure to the elements, make it valuable when it is readily obtainable. In Paris, France, and its vicinity, asphalt is extensively used, but the dust arising from it is obnoxious in the extreme.. Concrete roads are made under several patents, and are composed of a great variety of mate rials, gas tar, and gravel, and cements of several kinds, • with gravel; often with some form of lime as the base, or entirely of lime or plaster. As mere pleasure walks or lawn drives, to be cov ered with gravel, they may answer for a make shift, where nothing better can be obtained. Concrete, of which lime is the base, made upon the road, and laid to the depth of six inches, and then covered with gravel, pressed into it before it sets, is excellent as a foundation, where stone can not be procured. There are remains of old

Roman roads so made, that are sound to-day. We have so far carried the reader through some of the more expensive kinds of roads in use in various countries. We now proceed to give tables and other data from actual experiments made by celebrated engineers in Europe. These might be multiplied indefinitely, and quotations made from such authorities as Law Morin, Mac Neill, Sir H. Parnell, Bevan, Edgeworth, Flachet, Gerstner, Kassak, Minard, Navier, according to the hardness of the material, so the most complete gravel roadway is made by plac ing the larger stones at the bottom, over which the smaller are laid; the whole to be finished with that of less and less size, until the surfacing shall be the smallest sharp gravel obtainable. It will not be necessary to speak of the various concrete and cement roads, except in the way of mere mention, since they are valueless for heavy and steady travel, unless we except the so-called cinder roads, or those composed of the scoria from blast furnaces. These do make excellent mediums for ordinary travel. The material, when obtainable, cements most perfectly, and is pleasant to travel over, if kept free from dust; but, from the soft and porous nature of the material, under heavy work, they soon wear out. For the foundation of road-beds this scoria is most valuable, and is extensively used in the vicinity of Chicago and other places where smelting furnaces, rolling mills, or other works for the melting of iron are in operation. Asphalt is used in many combinations in the formation of roads. Its cementing qualities and the inde structible nature of the materials, through expo Perdonnet, Poncelet and others. The four first named, however, must suffice. They establish important facts that should be known to all who have anything to do with the making or the man agement of roads. The experiments of Morin, made in 1838-41, appear to have been made with a painstaking degree of care and accu racy, thus leaving nothing more to be desired, and the table, as given, an extract from his results, will be found valuable as showing that fraction of the weight of the vehicle and load, which is required to move them on a level road. As, an example, suppose a truck weighed, with its load, 9,000 pounds, how many pounds traction will be required to move the same? On firm soil, gravel four to six inches deep, that is a newly repaired road as we often find it, (one-ninth by table) 1,000 pounds; on best kind of embankment (one-twenty-ninth by table), 310.3 pounds; on broken stone roads in good condition (one-fifty-fourth by table), 166.6 pounds: on broken stone roads, deep ruts and mud (one-fourteenth by table), 643 pounds; on a good pavement (one-sixty-fifth by table), 138.5 pounds. Or since the tractive force of a medium horse, when working all day, is said to be about 125 pounds, we need in the first case, eight horses; in the second case, two and a half horses; in the third case, about one and a quar ter horses; in the fourth case, about five horses; and in the fifth case, only one good horse to move the same entire load all day with ease. The following are the general results of the experiments made by M. Morin, at the expense of the French government, on traction: The traction is directly proportional to the load, and inversely proportional to the diameter of the wheel. Upon a paved or hard macada mized road the resistance is independent of the width of the tire, when it exceeds from three to four inches. At a walking pace the traction is the same, under the same circumstances, for car riages with springs or without them. Upon hard macadamized and upon paved roads, the traction increases with the velocity; the increments of traction being directly proportional to the incre ments of velocity, above the velocity of 3.28 feet per second, or about two and a quarter miles per hour. The equal increment of traction thus due to each equal increment of velocity is less, as the road is more smooth, and the carriage less rigid or better hung. Upon soft roads of earth, or sand, or turf, or roads fresh and thickly graveled, the traction is independent of the velocity. Upon a well made and compact pavement of hewn stones, the traction at a walking pace is not more than three-fourths of that upon the best macada mized road under similar circumstances; at a trotting pace it is equal to it. The destruction of the road is in all cases greater, as the diameter of the wheels are less, and it is greater in carri ages without than with springs. Experiments made by Sir John MacNeill, with an instrument invented by him for the purpose of measuring the tractive force required on different descrip tions of road, under various circumstances, will be of value. The general results which he ob tained are given in the following table, the num bers in which exhibit the tractive force in pounds requisite to move a weight of a ton, under ordi nary circumstances, at a very low velocity upon the several kinds of road mentioned: Mr. R. Law, C.E., in the work—Construction of Roads, edited by Rob't Mallet, C. E., etc.—gives the table, on next page, which is of importance, as shoWing the comparative disadvantages of hilly roads, with light and heavy travel. It is also valuable as showing the resistance upon various grades, and also the angle which these grades will present to the horizon. It shows, with sufficient exactness for most practical pur poses, the force required to draw carriages over inclined roads, and the comparative advantage of such roads and those which are perfectly level. The first column expresses the rate of inclination, and the second the equivalent angle; the two next columns contain the force requisite to draw i a common stage wagon weighing, with its load, six tons, at a velocity of 4.4 feet per second (or three miles per hour), along a macadamized road in its usual state, both when the hill ascends and when it descends; the fifth and sixth columns contain the length of level road which would be equivalenp to a mile in length of the inclined road, that is, the length which would require the same mechanical force to be expen ded in drawing the wagon over as would be necessary to draw it over a mile of the inclined road; the four next columns contain the same information as the four last described, only with reference to a stage coach weighing with its load, three tons, and to travel at the rote of 8.8 feet per second, or six miles per hour. The following table will show the force required to move a ton, the limiting angle of resistance, and the greatest inclination which should be given to the roads named. The values of the resistances on which the table is calculated, are those quoted previously: As indicating something of the cost of the con struction of roads, as also their repairs, the following condensed account will be interesting and valuable for reference: According, to all the returns from different States, the average construction of gravel roads is $2,241 per mile, and the average annual cost per mile for repairs is $103. It appears, from the reports, that only a very few of the roads are improved by a gravel bed, and neither the width of the beds so improved, nor the quantity of material applied, is given. We may reasonably infer, however, that neither is greater than is absolutely required, and yet we find the cost of construc tion, per mile, to range from $700 to $4,000, and to average $2,241. The annual outlay per mile varies from $4 to $200, the average being, as above stated, $103. By reference to the table, showing the cost of repairs to common roads per mile, throughout the country, we find it to vary from $1 to $59. and the general aver age is $18 11 per mile. The returns show that the average cost of construction of macadamized roads per mile is $3,290, and it varies in the different States from $500 to $336. The aver age annual cost per mile for repairs of macada mized roads, as reported, is $40—varying from $10 to $100 per mile. The average cost of con struction of plank roads per mile is reported to be $3,000, and the average annual cost of repairs per mile is $550. The table, page 816, compiled from replies to circular issued by the Depart ment of Agriculture, United States, shows the average annual cost per mile of repairs of com mon roads in the respective States: It has often been asserted that the West could never have a good system of roads, for the rea son that, except in widely scattered localities, good gravel could not be found, and that it was still more rare to obtain rock suitable for the formation of roads. This very scarcity of what has heretofore been deemed indispensable to road-making, has led to the perfection of imple ments for casting up from the sides of the road-bed a continuous ridge of earth, leaving the grade perfect, the slopes of the roadway light or heavy at will, the sides gradually descending to the ditches or gutters, so that the whole sur face, and even the water ways, when not wet, may be made use of as a roadway. Indeed, the making of earth roads by machinery may be said to have been reduced almost to a science; since, given the miles of clear surface to be graded, the cost of making the road may be estimated to within a fraction of the coat. We think it will be admitted to be beyond con tradiction that the prairies, composed as they are of a strong loam, that, when dry and under pressure, will compact, will make a smooth, even surface, upon which the wheels of loaded vehicles scarcely make an impression, and this fact ought to have suggested their, admirable nature for this purpose long ago. Certain it is that during the droughts of summer, and when frozen and worn smooth in winter, they are among the.best of any natural causeways in the world. Upon any of our well drained, care fully graded, and tolerably well traveled prairie roads, there is but a small portion of the year— say a short time in the spring, when the frost is just coming out, and another equally short time, when it is freezing and thawing in the fall—that a good team can not haul 3,000 pounds with ease. Therefore, given good drainage, an even grade as to the slopes of the sides, and a soil that will pack solid, the question of good roads is solved. It has also been objected to by those who have studied works on drainage, where certain gradi ents being determined on by the engineer, every slope of the various undulations must be cut away, and the materials used to fill the slight hollows, so that the road when completed shall present a continuous line of equal rise and fall, like a railroad. Indeed, railroad engineers are beginning to find out that it is cheaper to run over rather light grades than always to cut through them; and hence railroads have become practicable where once it was believed it would not pay to build them. It has furthermore been found, in practice, that the ordinary undulating surface of our prairies offer no obstacle to the continuous running of roads, and that the grades may follow the surface, unless, in exceptional cases, where a sharp, high ridge may intervene. These may require some cutting, but far less than has generally been supposed. As a rule the grading may be made continuous over hill and dale, and seldom will it be found necessary to deviate from a straight line in order to avoid serious obstructions. Therefore no engineering is required; nothing but good implements, a set of flags by which to drive, sufficient team and men to operate the machine, and the work may go on continuously at the rate of a mile to a mile and a half per week of road completed, perfect in its slopes and drainage, through valleys and over the gentle slopes that are found everywhere on our grand prairies. The superior drainage which this system of roads would give to prairie farms is itself one of the most eloquent pleas possible for its general adoption. But valuable as this one point really is, it is but an integer of its final value to the entire West, awl really almost insignificant in comparison with the development that would follow. The wealth that a system of building first-class earth roads would create, is simply enormous. How to do this to the best advantage, is the question. One of the mistakes, but still a very pardonable one, where the work is done with old fashioned imple ments, is that the road-beds are commenced too narrow. When it becomes necessary to widen them, as it inevitably does, in order to accom modate increased travel, not only the original labor is lost, but where the ditch once was it can with difficulty be made solid, since here must be placed a thick layer of comparatively soft earth, and adjoining ou each side the ridge of compact earth that formed the original road-bed. It is, therefore, advisable that the road-bed be made at least twenty-five feet wide, with the ditches not less than seven feet wide, and nine feet is preferable. This extreme width for road beds and water-ways will leave twelve and one half feet on each side for the planting of such shade trees as may be needed, and yet give ample space for the passage of pedestrians. The ditches should commence at nothing, running gradually back until the extreme depth, eighteen inches to two feet, is reached. This should be at a point only so far from the extreme width as to correspond with. the height of the bank, so that the rise to the bank may be as one to one, or an angle of forty-five degrees. In making a road by means of a machine, it must be arranged so it will carry the earth directly to 'the center of the road and drop the material excavated con-_ tinuously as the machine passes forward, to cor respond with the width of the ditches; so con tinue until you have the ditches or water-ways of sufficient depth and regularity, and the whole is ready for spreading or finishing. This finish ing.is done by taking an eight by ten inch square timber, twenty-four feet long, and drawing it diagonally, the rear end in the water-way, up and back. This will spread and grade the earth evenly over the required space for the road-bed, leaving the surface crowning to the middle just as may be required. It is not necessary in every case that it be cast all over the roadway, so that if only a narrow track is required the bermes next the ditches may be left of any width desired, and still preserve the integrity of the transverse grades. Start a road and run it clear through a township, if possible. Why not? A machine with eight horses and two men should grade a first-class road six roles in thirty working days, and at an expense for labor of not more than fifteen cents per rod. Plenty of eases might be cited where an average of a mile in four days has been easily accomplished, and this with green teams. The impression wished to be conveyed is, that the time has come when perfected machines are doing this work in the very best manner, and at a cost of about twenty-five cents on the dollar for what it would cost with the plow and old fashioned scraper; that roads made with modern implements stand more and rougher usage than the old style of roads, and with far 1 s r . ex pense for repairs; that the drainage supplied to the ad= jacent farms by a good system of roadways on every section line, necessarily will add materially to the productiveness of the soil, and the increased facilities for travel will diminish the cost of transportation fully one-half. In fact, it is the want of good drainage: and the difficulty in transporting produce to market, that is doing more to, reduce the profits of farming than any other two causes combined. Therefore, what the low value of the land years ago would not allow to be done may now be accomplished at so light a cost per capita as to form no objec tion to the making of earth roads, at least, over the whole prairie region of the West. Let us now examine for a moment the advantages of carrying the grades of roads over the undula tions of the surface. One of the difficulties over the old system of simply gradihg the hollows is, that on the declivities and acclivities where there are no lateral slopes to the roadway, the water seeks the ruts, if there be such, or if the road way he smooth, then the middle of the roadway; since, being without grade, these must soon become the lowest portions of the road. ' Gullies are formed which wear larger and larger, until the road becomes impassable, and a new track has to be sought. So the process goes on and on, until the whole width of the roadway is ruined. The grade ,being carried continuously up and down the slopes, and over the summits of the undulations as well as in the valleys, the crowning surface of the road conveys the water naturally to the water-ways at the side. If the soil be of a sufficiently yielding nature to be abraded easily, protection against this may be readily applied., If the slopes are so steep as to require cutting down, to render the gradient more easy, when this is done the road grade to the ditches may then, be established as on an ordinary surface, 'remembering always, as a rule, that the steeper the grade the more rounding the roadway should be, and this for very obvious reasons. The following figure will show a cutting through a sharp ridge, and the grade of the road. Again, suppose it be easier to go round a hill than through it; then the figure of the road will be as given in the following cut; a ditch being needed only on the side next the bill. These, however, are only isolated eases, and will never be required in a gently undulating prairie region, except, perhaps, in the descent to and ascent from a river, ravine, etc. In the hilly portions these cuts will often be found necessary, and in rare eases in other sec tions. The illustrations are given co that with a little study of the tables previously given, and a simple level and plumb, the gradients can be at once established and the cuttings made by any ' intelligent man. Again, if from the nature of the country the grades must be made so steep that the water will not run easily to the gutters on the sides, catchways may be provided as pre viously shown to arrest and convey the water to the ditches. These must be formed of some firm and unyielding materials. This course will be necessary in isolated cases, where the character of the country is exceedingly difficult. One of the most common errors in road making is, that the ditches are left deepest in the middle and rise alike towards the road and the bank. This is entirely wrong. They should slope gradually to a point next the bank, and corresponding. to the height from the bottom of the ditch to the bank as liereto'bre stated. From thence they should rise sharply to the bank. The reason is plain: If the lowest point of the gutter he half way-between the bank and the road-bed (the out side of it), and there is enough water carried to wash at all, there will be danger that the road ways may become abraded or eaten into by the flowing ,water; but if near the bank, then the -water will wear away from rather than toward the roadway, and all the danger of washing will be avoided. Thus the whole, when completed, should, present an appearance as shown in lull page cut. When it is necessary to carry the water of the ditches through slight rises of ground the additioual work of excavating a channel will be comparatively slight. It 'may either be spaded and cast out, or a strong horse and plow going back and forth will loosen the earth so that it may be thrown out with a shovel. Thus a slight way once made, the water will speedily wear a channel that will never become choked. One of the most important essentials in road making is sluice ways or culverts, at proper intervals, so that the water may readily be conveyed from one side of the road to the other as the conforthatiOn of the surface may demand, to keep up the continuity of the drainage; for, if water be permitted to stand in the ditches at .all, the roadway must remain moist and conse quently soft. One of the greatest nuisances is the rough and uncouth wooden abomination miscalled a culvert. When these ditches receive the accumulated water of fields, as when the roadway crosses natural water courses, substan tial culverts or bridges must be provided ; but when the accumulation is simply the drainage of the road, with, perhaps, some addition from the adjacent land, a simple line of tile sunk to the level of the bottom of the ditch, and extend ing across- and under the road, is all that is neces sary. These, besides offering no obstruction to travel, are far cheaper than even the simplest culverts formed of wood. These should always be of vitrified tile and may be ordered in any city They are made of any size, from six inches to two feet or even larger in calibre. If one is not enough, lay two or more alongside each other, and do away with the severe shocks that torture horses, drivers and passengers, when ever, the wheels strike those plank water ways. 'Grade the road, as wanted before building your sluices. Then excavate to the desired depth, level the bottom accurately, making it concave to fit the convexity of the tile. Lay them care fully, pack the' earth firmly around them until they are so securely held that they can not move; lay a plank upon the soil, say from four to six inches over the tile, and then fill in the earth so that the grade may correspond with the rest of the -road. • There will then be no danger that the heaviest loaded teams will injure the tile, and there is no reason why they should not last as long as the road itself. We have thus far endeav ored to show something of the various ways of making roads, the materials used, raid the adapta bility to the various needs, seeking to avoid technicalities and elaborate computations that serve only to confuse those not educated to the science of engineering. e have, however, given such data and- tables as we deemed service able to road-making farmers, road-overseers and commissioners of highways. Our principal aim has been to give you an idea how easy it is to make good earth roads, and, to call attention to the fact that improved is now doing 7-as much for the road makers as improved imple ments have done for the farmers. Arrange for the width of the road and ditches, by means of grade pegs and flags along the edges of the required ditches. Set flags along the center of the road to guide the operators, somewhat in spreading the earth. Plow the entire width of the ditches throw,ing the furrows toward the roadway. Now scrape the furrows well to the center, spreading evenly. Plow again, narrower than before, being careful not to get too deep next the road; again scrape, and so proceed to plow until you have the earth necessary to form the roadway being careful to preserve the bot tom( of the ditch so that it shall slope very grad ually to within about eighteen inches of the out side of the ditch, and rise sharply to the banks next the fences. Thus finished, the work should present the appearance as seen in cut. Illustra tion on page 818 shows a completed road, with figures indicating the several proportions. Thus, the width of ditches, nine .feet; width of un graded surface, four feet; width of gra)de, six teen feet; height of grade, fifteen inehe6; width between fences being sixty-six feet. Suppose this road be in a slough with slopes rising each way, longitudinally with the road. The accumulation of water will fill the ditches and overflow the road ; but a culvert, or a line of tile, according to circumstances, running transversely on, from ditch to ditch, and ending in an open or covered ditch, running down the line of' the slough a suf ficient distance to form an outlet for the water, establishes your drainage, and your road must, as a matter of course, remain dry. When graded, the surface should be repeatedly dragged with a heavy harrow to smooth all unevenness, and then rolled until it is quite even and hard. Then, when once worn by teams, it will ever after remain almost impervious to water, unless it is allowed to get out of repair. It will probably surprise many to he informed that some years ago it was seriously argued that owing to the spongy nature of the soil, tramways would have to be established over the West to. enable the farmers to get their produce to market. We pre sume there would be few now to advocate this system, in those towns and other sections, where a connected system of earth road-ways has been established. One of time great difficulties in organizing a perfect and uniform system of roads, is the multiplicity of overseers in our towns. It is an onerous position at the best, and one bring ing loss rather than profit to the incumbent. These are, or are supposed to be, farmers or business men, who have a direct interest in keep ing the roads in repair. From the fact that the position is an onerous one, no man who has business of his own, likes to take it. if a respon sible man does, it is simply on account of his public spirit, and they arc but seldom men who possess a practical knowledge of road-making. But each does have an indefinite idea of how a road should be made, and immediately proceeds to carry, out these ideas. If there are three or a dozen, different overseers in a township, there will be as many different kinds of roads. Con sequently there never can be, under this system, any uniformity in the road-ways', nor perfection in drainage. The next year comes a n'tw set of overseers, and they proceed to practically demon strate their ideas. So it goes on from year to year, and our roads, in too many instances, eon tinue to be a horror to travelers; rutted and full of holes in dry weather, and miry and dread ful when wet. The men are not to blande. They are, as a rule, honest and honorable men. They are not road-makers, but farmers, mechanics or business who can not be expected to leave their occupations to work upon the public ground, especially when, after their best endeavors, they are compelled to endure the censure of imper fect work. Who, then, is to blame? Well, no one specially. It is the law which made the sys tem. Suppose we change this system, and in lieu of a multitude of road-makers, place the whole matter of road-making in the hands of one competent commissioner in , each town, who shall be paid liberally for the labor performed. He may give bonds, if necessary, for the faithful handling and judicious disbursement of the money. Let the commissioners of a county meet at some time in the winter to compare notes and experiences, devise Ways and means, report upon improvements, estimate the necessary amount of money required to be raised for the current year, and agree as near as possible upon a uniform sys tem to be pursued. How long would it be before improved drainage and improved roads had added ten times the cost of the work to the value of the lands of the State? Suppose a good road was built on every section line in a township of six miles square, at a cost of fifty cents per rod, or $160 per mile. It can be done for much less. There would be seventy-two miles of road in the town. This, at $160 per mile, would be $5,760. Add as much for bridges and sluice-ways, and we have $11,520. There are 23,040 acres in a township. Thus the roads and bridges have added the enormous sum of fifty cents per acre to the cost of the farms. The value of the drainage alone would pay the bill and leave the roads as clear gain. Will any farmer say that it will not increase the value of his farm by at least five dollars per acre? With this view of the case, would there be any difficulty in inducing every property holder to vote the money necessary to bring about this much to be wished for result? Undoubtedly not. But to do this the law must be changed, and the old system of doing the work by property owners, under the direction of a multi plicity of overseers, working without concerted plans, must be abolished. To do this, the people of the several States, for they are the real power, must be made to see that the benefits arising therefrom, will be at least commensurate with the cost.