. 88 



Claims of this character considered separately seldom show any evidence of fraud 

 or collusion, but viewed in relation to several others of the same kind the fraud or 

 collusion is often apparent. Therefore, it is necessary that the several claims be 

 considered collectively by the Forester before he makes recommendation to the 

 Land Office upon any of them. 



New Form 348 Supersedes Form 965 



Form 965, for indexing Forest homestead applications, is obsolete, and supervisors 

 should use instead the new Form 348. 



Reports on Form 110 



In future all reports on Form 110 should be made in duplicate and both copies 

 should be transmitted to the chief inspector for approval. Any changes made upon 

 the original forwarded to the Forester should be noted also upon the duplicate, 

 which should be returned to the supervisor for filing. 



OFFICE: OF GEOGRAPHY. 



Maps 



The fourth edition of the wall map has been issued, and a limited number will be 

 for sale to private parties and will -be sent postpaid on receipt of 25 cents for each 

 copy. 



The fifth edition of the wall map shows, in addition to the data on the fourth edi- 

 tion, the Indian reservations and the six western districts. These maps are only for 

 the use of Forest officers and Forest schools. 



The General Land Office township plats which have not been previously litho- 

 graphed or photographed are now being photographed for the use of supervisors. It 

 is expected that this work will require three or four months. 



It is intended to complete the alienation of all of the National Forests by Decem- 

 ber 31, and the Forest Atlas Folios will be completed by June 30, 1909. This will 

 furnish a set of base maps, upon which all additions and corrections may be made, 

 in accordance with the legend of the Forest Atlas. 



Exposure of Films and Plates 



The negatives which are being made by Service members are, with few exceptions, 

 not up to the standard. In order to improve them it will be necessary that every 

 one using a camera pay careful attention to the "record slip " which is returned to 

 him. showing the result of each individual exposure. Exposures are considered 

 under three heads, viz: "Good," "Medium," and "Failures." 



Slips stamped "Good" show exposures which are perfect or nearly so. 



Slips stamped "Medium" show the exposures which w r ill be printed and used, 

 but can be improved upon by remedying one or more of the following faults: " Out 

 of focus," " over exposure," "underexposure," " poor light," etc. 



Slips stamped "Failure" show exposures which will not be printed or used, 

 owing to one or more of the following faults: " Deterioration," " double exposure," 

 "blank," " light struck," etc. 



The photographer will give other information, when necessary, which, if carefully 

 followed, will be the means of perfecting the photographic collection. 



Status of Lands Within National Forests 



A number of requests for the complete status of lands within the National Forests 

 are being received by the Office of Geography. In order to anticipate requests along 

 this line, Forest officers are informed that in the course of the present fiscal year it 

 is contemplated to issue Atlas folios for all of the National Forests which have not 

 already been covered, and that these folios will include the status of lands within the 

 Forests. The order in which they will be issued has been determined to an extent, 

 but depends upon various conditions, and the status will be compiled in the same 

 order. Status of lands for small areas or in special cases can, however, be supplied 

 on request. 



