THE YOUNG FARMER 



quarter of Section 3, Township 5 North, 



Range 3, west of . Base line 



and meridian, or in some cases merely the 

 meridian is mentioned. 



The curvature of the earth's surface makes 

 it impossible for the sides of townships 

 to be truly north and south and at the same 

 time six miles square. The excesses and the 

 deficiencies due to the convergency of merid- 

 ians and the curvature of the earth are by 

 law added to or deducted from the western 

 and northern ranges of sections and half 

 sections of the townships. While the above 

 has been the rule in laying out public lands 

 for more than a century, there are many ex- 

 ceptions, due to many causes. 



In the older settled sections the land was 

 laid out in lots, often in a very irregular 

 manner, although in some cases within a 

 given tract the area was more or less regu- 

 lar. In these cases, the land must be de- 

 scribed minutely and carefully by metes and 

 bounds. In some of the southern and west- 

 ern states, also, where there were Spanish 

 grants, much irregularity in the surveys 

 244 



