266 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



Where a line pretends to be straight let it be perfectly so, and 

 let the centre line of the road-bed, and side ditches, show this 

 when completed. Then in place of angles there should be 

 curves of definite radii, properly fitting the ground ; for these 

 shorten the distance, and are far more graceful, and more pleas- 

 ant to drive over. The principal exceptions to this rule would 

 be at cross roads, and perhaps in villages. While the tangents 

 may be described by needle bearings and distances, the curves 

 should be designated as to the right, or left, with such a radius, 

 and such a distance. Stones, three feet deep, should be set at 

 the tangent points, or in the fence lines opposite, and then the 

 line is permanently fixed, and maybe tested upon the ground at 

 any time by the aid of a description as above. 



Where the stones are set and preserved the record of the bear- 

 ings of the needle is of little use, but otherwise it is of great 

 value, provided you know whether the true or the magnetic 

 meridian was meant, and, if the latter, what the variation was at 

 that date. The difficulty in the matter is, — and our ordinary 

 land surveying suffers still more, — most of our own surveyors 

 do not know what the local variation is, or how to obtain it ac- 

 curately ; and in fact it is a problem of considerable difficulty 

 with ordinary means. 



Hence arises the great uncertainty in retracing many old sur- 

 veys where the corners are gone, and troublesome lawsuits have 

 arisen ; for the needle in this State has never, so far as known, 

 pointed within five degrees of north ; and it is constantly chang- 

 ing at irregular rates, varying from one to six months each year : 

 and the extreme difference of variation at the same time in dif- 

 ferent parts of the State is about three degrees. So that the 

 record of one place may not answer for another ten miles dis- 

 tant. 



In view of these facts it may not seem out of place here to 

 state a very simple remedy. Let each town, or district of sev- 

 eral towns, be provided with a true meridian in its central part, 

 marked by three stones set securely in the ground two or three 

 hundred feet apart, and let a yearly record be kept of the mag- 

 netic variation at each place. Then let every surveyor be re- 

 quired to test his instrument yearly, and every survey that 

 goes upon record have appended a properly sworn certificate, 

 stating whether the bearings are true or magnetic, and what the 



