. Historic highways of America .. . drain tiling connections, if any,in good working order. Clay soils, as a rule, absorb water quitefreely and soften when saturated, but waterdoes not readily pass through them; hencethey are not easily subdrained. Whenused alone, clay is the least desirable of allroad materials, but roads constructed overclay soils may be treated with sand or smallgravel, from which a comparatively hardand compact mass is formed which isnearly impervious to water. Material ofthis character found in the natural state,commonly known as hardpan, makes, whenproperly applied, a ve
. Historic highways of America .. . drain tiling connections, if any,in good working order. Clay soils, as a rule, absorb water quitefreely and soften when saturated, but waterdoes not readily pass through them; hencethey are not easily subdrained. Whenused alone, clay is the least desirable of allroad materials, but roads constructed overclay soils may be treated with sand or smallgravel, from which a comparatively hardand compact mass is formed which isnearly impervious to water. Material ofthis character found in the natural state,commonly known as hardpan, makes, whenproperly applied, a very solid and durablesurface. In soil composed of a mixture ofsand, gravel, and clay, all that is necessaryto make a good road of its kind is tocrown the surface, keep the ruts andhollows filled, and the ditches open andfree. Roads are prone to wear in ruts, andwhen hollows and ruts begin to make theirappearance on the surface of an earth roadgreat care should be used in selecting newmaterial, with which they should be imme- ^ o * GOOD ROADS FOR FARMERS 117 diately filled, because a hole -wliich couldhave been filled at first with a shovel fullof material would soon need a cart full. Itshould, if possible, be of a gravelly nature,entirely free from vegetable earth, muck,or mold. Sod or turf should not be placedon the surface, neither should the surfacebe renewed by throwing upon it the worn-out material from the gutters last injunction, if rightly observedand the proper remedy applied, woulddoubtless put an end to the deplorablecondition of thousands of miles of earthroads in the United States. A road-maker should not go to the otherextreme and fill up ruts and holes withstone or large gravel. In many cases itwould be wiser to dump such material inthe river. These stones do not wear uni-formly with the rest of the material, butproduce bumps and ridges, and in nearlyevery case result in making two holes in-stead of one. Every hole or rut in a road-way, if not tam
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectroads, bookyear1902
