=Use of Blade Grader.=--Heavy blade graders designed to be drawn by a tractor are suitable for shaping the earth road. Some of these have blades 12 feet long and excellent control for regulating the depth of cutting. Often two such graders are operated tandem. These machines have a device which permits the operator to steer the grader independently of the tractor. Thus the grader can be steered off to the side to cut out the ditches, while the tractor continues to travel on the firm part of the road. Earth moved with the blade grader is usually fairly free from large lumps and can readily be smoothed to a satisfactory surface for the use of traffic. The sods and weeds will be drawn into the road along with the earth just as they are when the elevating grader is employed. Precaution must therefore be taken to eliminate them before the vegetable matter decays, and to smooth the surface for the use of traffic. =Costs.=--The cost of shaping an earth road in the manner described above will vary through rather wide limits because the nature and amount of work to be done varies so greatly. Some roads can be graded satisfactorily for $300.00 per mile, while others will cost $700.00. But $425.00 per mile may be taken as an average for blade or elevating grader work plus a moderate amount of grade reduction in the way of removing slight knolls. For the amount of grade reduction necessary in rolling country, followed by grader shaping, $1000.00 to $1800.00 per mile will be required. The method is not adapted to rolling country where the roads are undulating and require some grade reduction on every hill. For hilly roads one of the methods described for grade reduction will be required and the cost will obviously depend upon the amount of earth moved. Averages of cost figures mean nothing in such cases as the cost may reach $10,000.00 per mile, or may be as low as $2000.00 per mile. =Maintenance.=--Regardless of the care with which an earth road has been graded, it will be yielding and will readily absorb water for a long time after the completion of the work. The condition of the surface will naturally deteriorate rapidly during the first season it is used unless the road receives the constant maintenance that is a prerequisite to satisfactory serviceability. The road drag is generally recommended for this purpose, and if a drag is properly used it will serve to restore the shape of the surface as fast as it is destroyed by traffic.