There should be only one highway surveyor for the whole town, with authority to supply such men and teams as may be necessary to keep the roads in a good state of repair. Let them not only work in the early summer and fall, but at all times when there is anything which needs to be done to the roads. A few shovels of dirt and a little labor in the nick of time will do more towards keeping a road in good condition than whole days of ploughing and scraping once or twice a year only. Every good housewife knows that there is a world of truth in the old maxim, "A stitch in time saves nine." The managers of all our well-conducted railroads understand this. They have a gang of men pass often over each section of the roads. What would be said of a mill-owner who should let his milldam wash away once or twice each year, and then rebuild it instead of keeping it in constant repair? The proprietors of the great turnpike road from Sacramento to Virginia City in California, which runs mainly over mountains a distance of one hundred and fifty miles, and has an annual traffic of seven or eight thousand heavy teams, have found by careful experiment that the cheapest way to keep that great road in good condition is to have every portion of it looked after every day, and during dry weather every rod of it is sprinkled with water. This continual-repair system was adopted in Baden, Germany, 1845. It was soon found that it was less expensive and more satisfactory than the old system of annual repairs. Other European countries soon found it to their advantage to follow Baden's example in this respect; and now the new system is in universal use in all the civilized nations of Europe. As a consequence the roads in those countries as a general thing are in splendid condition throughout the year. They are on an even grade, and as smooth as a racing-track in this country. The poorest roads in France, Germany, Switzerland, or Great Britain are as good as the best of our own. They are nearly all macadamized, and are kept in continuous repair by laborers and competent engineers and surveyors, who give their sole labor and attention to the roads as a business throughout the year.