ving much
steeper grades than are found in the mountainous republic of
Switzerland. In Maryland the old stagecoach road or turnpike running
from Washington to Baltimore makes almost a "bee line," regardless of
hills or valleys, and the grades at places are as steep as ten or twelve
per cent, where by making little detours the road might have been made
perfectly level, or by running it up the hills less abruptly the grade
might have been reduced to three or four per cent, as is done in the
hilly regions of many parts of this and other countries. Straight roads
are the proper kind to have, but in hilly countries their straightness
should always be sacrificed to obtain a level surface so as to better
accommodate the people who use them.

Graceful and natural curves conforming to the lay of the land add beauty
to the landscape, besides enhancing the value of property. Not only do
level, curved roads add beauty to the landscape and make lands along
them more valuable, but the horse is able to utilize his full strength
over them; furthermore, a horse can pull only four-fifths as much on a
grade of two feet in one hundred feet, and this gradually lessens until
with a grade of ten feet in one hundred feet he can draw but one-fourth
as much as he can on a level road.

All roads should therefore wind around hills or be cut through instead
of running over them, and in many cases the former can be done without
greatly increasing the distance. To illustrate, if an apple or pear be
cut in half and one of the halves placed on a flat surface, it will be
seen that the horizontal distance around from stem to blossom is no
greater than the distance over between the same points.

The wilfulness of one or two private individuals sometimes becomes a
barrier to traffic and commerce. The great drawback to the laying out of
roads on the principle referred to is that of the necessity, in some
cases, of building them through the best lands, the choicest pastures
and orchards, instead, as they do now, of cutting around the farm line
or passing through old worn-out fields or over rocky knolls. But if
farmers wish people to know that they have good farms, good cattle,
sheep, or horses, good grain, fruit, or vegetables, they should let the
roads go through the best parts of the farms.

The difference in length between a straight road and one which is
slightly curved is less than one would imagine. Says Sganzin: "If a road
between two places ten m