358 



GENERAL TOPICS. 



GOVEllXMKXT LAND 3IEASLRES. 



In the system of government survey, lines running north 

 and south are drawn parallel to a fixed line (principal me- 

 ridian) at a distance of six miles apart ; these are called 

 range lines. At right angles with these, other parallel lines 

 {town lines) are drawn, which then run east and west. The 

 two sets of lines form squares containing 36 square miles 

 each, called townships. A certain number of townships 

 form a county. Each square mile of a township is called a 

 section, containing 640 acres, and these are numbered regu- 

 larly I to 36, commencing at the northeast corner, as shown 

 in the accompanying diagram. Section 16 in each township 

 is set apart for school purposes. 



Sections are divided by lines running north and south, 

 and east and west, into quarter sections, designated as the 

 northeast quarter, northwest quarter, southwest quarter, 

 and south-east quarter of the section. These quarters con- 

 tain 160 acres of land each, and are again divided into 

 quarters, each containing forty acres, which is the smallest 

 sub-division recognized in government survey. Lands are 

 usually sold in tracts of forty acres, or a multiple thereof, 

 except in case of land bordering on lakes, which are frac- 

 tional sections and may contain more or less than forty 

 acres. These are caWed government lots. 



The description of a 40-acre lot would then, for example, 

 read as follows : The northeast quarter of the northeast 

 quarter of section i in township 24 north, range 7 west. 



