BLAZES AND MARKS ON TREES. 43 



It will sometimes happen that an intersection tree 

 can not be marked facing the corner and at the same 

 time have the mark visible from the .trail or road. In 

 such cases the mark will face the corner and an X will 

 be cut, through the bark, on the side toward the high- 

 way. The letter X is a recognized symbol, indicating 

 the crossing of lines or to indicate that a trail crosses a 

 stream at this point. It is often useful in the latter 

 case when there is snow on the ground, as it shows that 

 the stream must be forded, and that the trail will be 

 found on the other side. It will, therefore, be used for 

 both purposes mentioned, and its meaning will never be 

 misunderstood. The letter y is often used to indicate 

 that the trail forks at this point, and is useful when 

 there is snow upon the ground. 



It will frequently happen that a land-office corner 

 will be accidentally found, and the distance from it to 

 the point of intersection will be immediately deter- 

 mined by pacing. This is sufficiently accurate to war- 

 rant the marking of an intersection witness tree, as 

 stated above, as the distance is only presumed to be 

 approximate. Whether the line is paced or measured, 

 the ranger will make a record in his notebook, describ- 

 ing the land-office corner and the distance to the inter- 

 section, and the marks which he placed at that point. 

 The following is a specimen of such a record : 



SPECIMEN RECORD. 



October 4, 1912, 10 a. m. I found the quarter-corner between 

 sections 15 and 16, T. 8 N., R. 21 W. Both witness trees were 

 standing, but the stake had fallen over. The rotted point was 

 found in the ground and I reset the stake above it, placing a mound 

 of stones about it to hold it in position. From this corner I paced 

 south, following the original blazes, 23 chains, to the intersection 



