never observed any great difference of effect, on a well made road, by narrow or broad wheels; either of them will pass over a smooth, solid road, without leaving any visible impression: on rough, loose roads, the effect will certainly be different; but whether a loose and rough road can be amended by dragging an unweildy carriage over it, or whether, if it were possible to amend roads by such means, it can be deemed the most economical for the nation at large, can hardly be subject of doubt.[1] It must however be admitted, that the wear of roads is proportioned to the weight and velocity of carriages running upon a given breadth of the tire of the wheels, and therefore, it is of *[Footnote: first impression must be made by the nails, where they are prominent, perhaps by a single nail; or the bearing may happen upon single pieces of materials, or upon the edges of materials, incapable of supporting the weights. See Enquiry into the State of the Public Roads, by the Rev. Henry Homer, A. M. Rector of Birdlingbury, Warwickshire. Published in 1767, Page 66.
It must be observed, that these remarks of Mr. Homer, and of every other writer on the subject of roads, are only applicable to such as are loose, rough, and uneven; and that no one seems to have contemplated the idea of a road being made at once strong, smooth, and solid.—Author.]
- ↑ Broad-wheeled carriages are found to be so unadapted to the purposes
of husbandry, the number of horses requisite for their draught so great,
and the beneficial effects of them to the road so questionable, that neither
the encouragements on the one hand, nor the discouragements on the
other, have been sufficient to bring them into general use.
Homer's Enquiry, Page 25.
