Posts of stones at township corners on the base and standard lines, and which are commo to two townships on the north side thereof, will have six notches on each of the west, nort and east sides or edges; and where suc stones or posts are set for corners to tw townships south of the base or standar six notches will be cut on each of the wes south, and east sides or edges.

QUARTER SECTION CORNER STONE.

SECTION CORNER.

MOUNDS.

Stones when used for quarter sectio corners, will have 4 cut on them-on th west side on north and south lines, and o the north side on east and west lines.

Whenever bearing trees are not found, mounds of earth, or stone, are to be raised aroun posts on which the corners are to be marked in the manner aforesaid. Wherever a mound o earth is adopted, the same will present a conical shape.

Prior to piling up the earth to construct a mound, there is to be dug a spadeful or two o earth from the corner boundary point, and in the cavity so formed is to be deposited a marke stone, or a portion of charcoal (the quantity whereof is to be noted in the field-book); or in lie of charcoal or marked stone, a charred stake is to be driven twelve inches down into suc centre-point; either of these will be a witness for the future, and whichever is adopted, the fac is to be noted in the field-book.

When mounds are formed of earth, the spot from which the earth is taken is called th "pit," the centre of which ought to be, wherever practicable, at a uniform distance and in uniform direction from the centre of the mound. There is to be a "pit" on each side of ever mound.

At meander corners (a) the "pit" is to be directly on the line, eight links further from th water than the mound. Wherever necessity is found for deviating from these rules in respec to the "pits," the course and distance to each is to be stated in the field-books.

Perpetuity in the mound is a great desideratum. In forming it with light alluvial soil, the surveyor may find it necessary to make due allowance for the future settling of the earth, and thus making the mound more elevated than would be necessary in a more compact and tena cious soil, and increasing the base of it. In so doing, the relative proportions between the township mound and other mounds are to be preserved as nearly as may be.

The earth is to be pressed down with the shovel during the process of piling it up Mounds are to be covered with sod, grass side up, where sod is to be had; but, in forming a mound, sod is never to be wrought up with the earth, because sod decays, and in the process of decomposing it will cause the mound to become porous, and therefore liable to premature destruction.

POSTS IN MOUNDS.

Must show above the top of the mound ten or twelve inches, and be noticed and marked precisely as they would be for the same corner without the mound.

WITNESS MOUNDS TO TOWNSHIP OR SECTION CORNERS.

If a township or section corner, in a situation where bearing or witness trees are not found within a reasonable distance therefrom, shall fall within a ravine, or in any other situation where the nature of the ground, or the circumstances of its locality, shall be such as may prevent or prove unfavorable to the erection of a mound, you will perpetuate such corner by selecting, in the immediate vicinity thereof, a suitable plot of ground as a site for a bearing or witness mound, and erect thereon a mound of earth in the same manner and conditioned in every respect, with charcoal, stone, or charred stake, deposited beneath, as before directed; and measure and state in your field-book the distance and course from the position of the true corner of the bearing or witness mound so placed and erected.

(a) For meandering navigable streams, see page 22.

DOUBLE CORNERS

Cable comers are to ce nowhere except on the base and standard lines, whereon are to appar both the corners which mark the intersections of the lines which close thereon, and thesc ỡom which the surveys start on the north. On these lines, and at the time of running the same, the township, section and quarter-section corners are to be planted, and each of these is a corner common to two (whether township or section corners), on the north side of he line, and must be so marked.

The corners which are established on the standard parallel, at the time of running it, are to Le known as "standard corners," and, in addition to all the ordinary marks (as herein prescribed), they will be marked with the letters S. C. Closing corners will be marked with the letters C. C., in addition to other marks.

You will recollect that the corners (whether township or section corners) which are common t•• rwo (two townships or two sections), are not to be planted diagonally like those which are common to four, but with the flat sides facing the cardinal points, and on which the marks and notches are made as usual. This, it will be perceived, will serve yet more fully to distinguish the standard parallels from all other lines.

Instructions for Surveys Made Since June 1, 1864.

By instructions to surveyors general, dated June 1, 1864, the Surveying Manual was modified in the following particulars:

POSTS IN MOUNDS.

All posts in mounds will hereafter be planted or driven into the ground to the depth of twelve inches, at the precise corner point; and the charcoal, charred stake, or marked stone required in the Manual will be deposited twelve inches below the surface, against the north side of the post when the deputy is running north, and against the west side when the deputy is running west, etc.

Township mounds will be five feet in diameter at their base, and two and a half feet in perpendicular height, Posts in township mounds are therefore required to be four and a half feet in length, so as to allow twelve inches to project above the mound.

Mounds at section, quarter-section, and meander corners will be four and a half feet in diameter at their base, and two feet in perpendicular height, the posts being four feet in length, leaving twelve inches to project above the mound.

Pits should be of uniform dimensions. The pits for a township mound will be eighteen inches wide, two feet in length, and at least twelve inches deep, located six feet from the posts. At section corners the pits will be eighteen inches square, and not less than twelve inches in depth.

At township corners common to four townships, the pits will be dug on the lines and lengthwise to them. On base and standard lines, where the corners are common to only two townships or sections, three pits only will be dug-two in line on either side of the post, and one on the line north or south of the corner, as the case may be. By this means the standard and closing corners will be readily distinguished from each other.

NOTCHING SECTION CORNER POSTS.

Posts or stones at the corners of sections in the interior of townships will have as many notches on the south and east edges as they are miles from the south and east boundaries of the township, instead of being notched on all four edges, as directed in the Manual.

MARKING CORNERS IN REGIONS REMOTE FROM TIMBER, AND DESTITUTE OF STONE. By circular of July 24, 1873, surveys of such lands are marked thus: In addition to the manner of establishing corners of public surveys by mounds of earth with deposits at the point of the corner, deputy surveyors are required to drive in the center of one of the pits at each section and township corner, sawed or hewed stakes not less than two inches square and two feet in length, said stakes to be marked in the manner 'heretofore prescribed for marking

Settlers making deposits are required to transmit the original certificate of deposit to the Secretary of the Treasury in Washington, D. C., and the duplicate must be sent to the United States Surveyor-General. The third copy or triplicate certificate is alone, used in payment of lands (see page 11, g., certificates of deposit).

Where the amount of the deposit is greater than the cost of the survey, the excess is repaid on an account to be stated by the Surveyor-General. No provision of law exists for refunding to other parties than the depositors.

HOW TO SUBDIVIDE SECTIONS.

The course to be pursued in the subdivision of sections is to run straight lines from the estab lished quarter-section corners-United States surveys to the opposite corresponding corners, and the point of intersection of lines so run will be the corner common to the several quarter. sections, or, in other words, the legal centre of the section.

In the subdivision of fractional sections where no opposite corresponding corners have been or can be fixed, the subdivision lines should be ascertained by running from the established corners due north, south, east, or west lines, as the case may be, to the water-course, Indian boundary line, or other external boundary of such fractional section.

The law presupposes the section lines surveyed and marked in the field by the United States deputy surveyors to be due north and south, or east and west lines, but in actual experience this is not always the case; hence, in order to carry out the spirit of the law, it will be necessary, in running subdivisional lines through fractional sections, to adopt mean courses where the section lines are not due lines, or to run the subdivision line parallel to the section line where there is no opposite section line.

Upon the lines closing on the north and west boundaries of a township, the quarter-section corners are established by the United States deputy-surveyors at precisely forty chains to the north or west of the last interior section corner, and the excess or deficiency in the measurement is thrown on the outer tier of lots, as per Act of Congress approved May 10, 1800.

In the subdivision of quarter-sections, the quarter-quarter corners are to be placed at points equidistant between the section and quarter-section corners and between the quarter corners and the common centre of the section, except on the last half-mile of the lines closing on the north or west boundaries of a township, where they should be placed at twenty chains (original measurement) to the north or west of the quarter-section corner.

The subdivision lines of fractional quarter-sections should be run from points on the section lines, intermediate between the section and quarter-section corners, due north, south, east, or west to the lake, water-course, or reservation, which renders such tracts fractional.

When there are double sets of section corners on township and range lines, the quarter corners for the sections south and east of the lines are not established in the field by the United States surveyors, but in subdividing such sections said quarter corners should be so placed as to suit the calculations of the areas of the quarter-sections adjoining the township boundaries, as expressed upon the official plat, adopting a proportional measurement where the present measurement of the north or west boundaries of the section differs from the original meas

urement.

RE-ESTABLISHMENT OF LOST CORNERS.

The original corners, when they can be found, must stand as the true corners they were intended to represent, even though not exactly where strictly professional care might have placed them in the first instance.

Missing corners should be re-established in the identical localities they originally occupied. When the point cannot be determined by the existing land-marks in the field, resort must be had to the field-notes of theorigin al surveys. The law provides that the lengths of the lines as tated in the field-notes shall be considered as the true lengths thereof, and the distances between corners set down in the field-notes constitute proper data from which to determine the rue locality of a missing corner; hence the rule that all such should be restored at distances proportionate to the original measurements between existing original corners. That is, if the

measurement between two existing corners overruns or falls short of that stated in the fieldnotes, the excess or deficiency should be distributed proportionately among the intervening section lines betwen the said existing corners standing in their original places, Missing section corners in the interior of townships should be re-established at proportionate distances between the nearest existing original corners north and south of the missing corners. As has been observed, no existing original corner can be disturbed, and it will be plain that any excess or deficiency in measurements between existing corners cannot in any degree affect the distances beyond said existing corners, but must be added or subtracted proportionately to or from the intervals embraced between the corners which are still standing. Parties interested should send 50 cents for full instructions as to restoration of lost and obliterated corners.