Land surveying

“ Those acts also provide that when, in the opinion of the president, 'a departure from the ordinary method of surveying land on any river, lake, bayou or watercourse, would promote the public interest,' the land may be surveyed, and sold in tracts of 2 acres in width, fronting on any such water, and running back the depth of 40 acres. ”

“ The remaining question, then, is whether there had been a survey prior to an authorized withdrawal for forestry purposes. The Surveying of the public lands is an administrative act confided to the control of the Commissioner of the General Land Office under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior. ”

“ Hydrographic survey. 6. Mining area survey. 7. Forest land survey. 8. Other related applied survey. Article 18 Should the size of the applied survey projects done by agencies or institutions match the size or conditions set forth in the rules, the survey projects should be submitted to the direct supervising authority for future reference and approval. Any changes or modifications shall be dealt with in the same manner. Upon the completion of the afore-mentioned survey projects, the results should be sent to the direct supervising authority to be filed for the management purpose. ”

“ With a view to settling practical farmers with limited means on the rich and heavily-timbered lands in the southern portion of the State the Government have a large number of surveyors at work surveying the land into suitable sized blocks, ranging from 200 to 700 acres each. Main roads have been cleared to serve these areas, and a proposal to clear 10 acres on each block for the plough is now under consideration. Railways will be pushed through this country as rapidly as possible. ”

“ The supervision of surveying, mapping and geographic names affairs carried out by municipal and county (city) governments. 9. The management of the survey industry. 10. The implementation and management of other issues related to nation-wide surveying and mapping. The central authority concerned are entitled to consign the tasks prescribed in Items 2, 3 and 5 to 10 of the previous Paragraph to be performed by the sub-agencies, other agencies, institutions, groups or individuals and the authorities concerned of the municipal and the county (city) governments. ”

“ The selectmen usually walked the north lines only.
When the state domain, almost all dense forest, was first surveyed, the land was laid off in ranges, so-called, and tiers of lots. The various grants of land to persons for public services were also surveyed in a similar manner and the corners and lines established by means of stakes and stones, and of blazed trees. If a large rock happened to lie at the corner of a range or lot, the surveyor sometimes marked it with a drill. Such rocks made the best corners. ”

“ Thus, unless a tract is well-known to be mineral in character, and is notoriously operated for mining purposes at the time of survey of the township, it is just as liable to be returned as agricultural land as anything else, because the deputy surveyor, upon whose field notes the Surveyor-General always bases his returns, is usually in a hurry to get over as much ground as possible, and consequently pays no heed to geological conditions, even if he knew anything about them. ”

“ It then becomes the task of the government surveyor to measure off the land belonging to the entire community and to give to each village in one piece, if possible, the equivalent of the many parcels belonging to it heretofore. The difficulties of such a task are apparent at first sight. The quality of soil may be anything from very good to very bad. ”

“ There are at least 1,000 acres of high, tillable land between the actual water line of the lake and the meander line as returned by the field notes and the plat of survey, and the land is covered by trees of more than a century's growth and growing down to the water's edge. In order to bound on the lake the lots would exhibit a totally different form from that which they take on the plat of survey and such boundary would violate every rule of statutory survey, by conveying lands not conforming to the system adopted by the government, and carried out ever since its adoption. ”

“ Survey. Taking a sheet with him into the district represented on it, he was to examine the quality of the soil in lots of from fifty to thirty acres, or still smaller bits, to mark the bounds of each lot on the survey map, and to enter in his field book the value thereof, with all the special circumstances specially stated. The examination was to include digging to ascertain the depth of the soil and the nature of the subsoil. All land was to be valued at its agricultural worth, supposing it liberally set, leaving out the value of timber, turf, etc. ”

“ Does any one have the right to ruin the land?
Co-operative soil surveys were carried on during the year in the various States with complete success. Every State now sees the need of reliable study and mapping of its soils, to serve as a basis for farm management, taxation, and real estate. At a recent meeting of the National Tax Association, held in Des Moines, Iowa, the relation of land surveys and taxation was discussed with considerable detail. It was the conclusion that land value maps should be prepared by soil surveys to serve as a physical basis of taxation. ”

“ In the United States the earth beneath the surface is investigated by geological surveys, state and federal; the surface is surveyed chiefly by the Geological Survey and Land Office of the Interior Department, the Soil Bureau of the Agricultural Department and the Coast and Geodetic Survey of the Department of Commerce and Labor, with corresponding instrumentalities in some states ”

“ By this report it appeared, that the land in question was a tract of eight thousand acres, being part of a large connexion of surveys containing together between fifty and one hundred thousand acres of land, divided into several distinct surveys, and so patented; the whole constituting one body of land, mostly owned by the same individuals, though patented in different names.
This body of land, the surveyor's report shows to be contained in a general diagram, having one straight line for its northern boundary, and another parallel thereto for its southern boundary. ”

“ A call for a natural object, as a river, a known stream, a spring, or even a marked tree, shall control both course and distance. These decisions are founded on two considerations. Generally speaking, it is the particular intention of the purchaser to acquire the land lying on the stream called for, as being more valuable than other land; and, in every case where a natural object is mentioned, it designates the land surveyed had there been an actual survey, much more certainly than course and distance can designate it. ”

“ More than five thousand surveyors are employed and paid by the government. The commissioners in charge of the so-called new land arrangements number seven thousand.
Well laid-out tracts of land are not, however, an end in themselves. They are simply the requisite for scientific farming that will yield the largest returns. The peasants of Russia must be taught how to manage their soil to the best advantage. ”

“ In 1877, when the public lands in that vicinity were surveyed, an area embracing approximately 1,200 acres was, by the wrongful act or error of the surveyor, omitted from the survey and meandered as a lake, when in truth it was not such, but was agricultural land susceptible of cultivation. That area still remains unsurveyed and includes the tract in question. ”

“ It was made the duty of the surveyor to whom such application was made, by a responsible party, to survey the land designated, within three months thereafter, and within 60 days after the survey to certify and record a map and field notes of the survey, and return and file them in the general land office of the state. ”

“ Where such rigid geodetic operations were instituted previous to the hydrographic survey of the coasts and waters, they furnish the hydrographic surveyor, not only with the correct outlines of the coast, but also with the precise position of the landmarks upon which he may base his work, or, in other words, a skeleton for the same. But, when such surveys are not existing, he is compelled to lay down the coast-line also, with its detail as far inland as there are landmarks auxiliary to navigation, thus performing the labors of the topographer as well as those of the hydrographer. ”

“ Very careful attention was given to the study and classification of all areas suitable for arable, pastoral, or mining purposes, and materials were secured for a detailed economic map of the area surveyed, showing the different classes of land by a series of colors. Much attention was given to the measurement of the volume of water in the more important streams for the purposes of irrigation, also to the accumulation of water in reservoirs and the sinking of artesian wells. ”

“ To insure the success of the settlers and the settlement, the company proceeds as follows: The most careful study is made of the tract of [Pg 53] land which the company intends to acquire for colonization purposes. Not only is the tract of land closely looked over by the company's officials, but land experts, such as soil surveyors, are engaged to examine the land from the viewpoint of its agricultural possibilities. Federal and state surveyors' reports are also used in considering the possibilities of the land. ”

“ Worsley was then working, and defines the course he had to follow. It provides, in three preliminary recommendations, for ascertaining the lands to be surveyed, and defines in six articles the kind of survey required; by which it is clear that a survey by estates is what the Committee considered necessary, no territorial boundaries being required; and that barren land was not to be surveyed unless lying within profitable land, and then only for the sake of being excluded from it, such land, whether so situate or beyond the mearing of the estate, having to be "cast in." ”

“ The person seeking to do so must first make his selection—a matter not very easy of attainment, for persons holding land in a neighbourhood, instead of helping with information, almost invariably place every possible obstacle in the way of the newcomer. The selection made, the next step to be taken is to apply by letter to the Surveyor-General to have it measured. Shortly thereafter, that officer will reply and inform the writer that his application has been received and submitted to the District Surveyor for his report as to whether the land is fit for agriculture, etc., etc. ”

“ The soil survey, by determining the character of soils and their relation to crops and management on the one hand, outlines the problems confronting the farmer, and, on the other hand, presents them to the Experiment Stations for their solution in a manner which makes for most rapid progress. With the large number of farms which are offered for sale or exchange in New York State, the soil survey is the only reliable and thorough method by which the true values of such farms may be compared and studied. ”

“ The surveying of the public lands may be thought by many to be light, easy work, but it is really hard and rough. The surveyors are subjected to much exposure, especially in the winter or rainy season. ”

“ Article 3 The undertaking of surveying and mapping is a basic undertaking for development of the national economy, building up of national defence, and progress of the society. People's governments at all levels shall strengthen leadership of work in this field.
Article 4 The administrative department for surveying and mapping under the State Council shall be in charge of the unified supervision over the work of surveying and mapping throughout the country. ”

“ Early in the century, almost coincident with the establishment of the land surveys, provision had been made for the survey of the coasts, and although through various causes it was not vigorously prosecuted until a third of the century had passed, when the time came for its economic use in meeting the new conditions imposed by the general progress of the nation, the knowledge had been gained that was essential to advance and develop the great interests affected. ”

“ Louis, Missouri—are of special interest even to practiced surveyors, as they treat of special branches of surveying, about which little, if any, mention is ever made in books for the use of students.
What may be called the scientific part of surveying—geodetic surveying—is fully treated and made comprehensible to those whose purpose is not to devote themselves to geodetical work exclusively, but who have, all the same, to be familiar with the scopes and purposes of geodetical measurements, as every engineer and surveyor has to be. ”

“ It is absolutely necessary in making a survey that the outlines of ground as defined by ridges, water-courses, and feet of hills should be rigorously fixed by actual observation and careful measurement. In reconnoitring, more is trusted to the eye.
The scale of the Indian topographical survey is that of one inch per mile; the scale of half an inch per mile being only resorted to in very densely254 wooded or jungly country, containing a few inhabitants and little cultivated, or where the climate is so dangerous that it is desirable to accelerate the progress of the survey. ”

“ The vertical form of the land is also a very important element in estimating the natural fertility of the soil. In mountainous districts, the quantity of land which can be used (and with what labor!) is wont to be relatively smaller than in low lands. ”