Rensselaer Republican, Volume 13, Number 9, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 November 1880 — On the Subject of Roads. [ARTICLE]

On the Subject of Roads.

The public roads of a district show the spirit and enterprise of the people in the district to a certain extent, ana alLwill admit that good public roads add to the value of the land as much, if not more, - than anything of equal Cost. A bad road means a small load with great wear and tear to wagon and team, and bad roads are the complaint generally. Why? First, they‘are badly drained and not enough work done on them; second, there is but little thought given to making roads, and the work is often done late in th e fall; third, men plow and scrape more than there is any need of, and make a narrow, poor road when they get through. It is cheaper to make a good wide road when the land will permit, than a narrow one, from the fact that in making a wide one you simply bring the dirt from the ditches ujfon the road bed, which should never be plowed up or disturbed. A public road should be 35 feet from outside to outside of ditches, highest in the center, and curving gradually ' to the outside of the ditches. The road bed (that is the part between the inside of the ditches) should be 25 feet wide. The ditches should be 5 feet wide and one foot deepen the outside, and deeper, if necessary, with sufficient grade to draw off the water, otherwise there will be a bad, muddy road. Now with such a road the bed is solid, and the soil scraped on top will soon pack and become hard. There is no danger In being tipped over, and travel is not obliged to follow in a single rut, as it must in a narrow road. Dry roads mean good ditches. To fill up mud holes without draining is simply putting in more dirt to make more mud.