LAND SURVEY OF THE TOWN OF DURHAM, 

 NEW HAMPSHIRE* 



Most New Hanipsliire towns do not appreciate the extent of the 

 poorly utilized land within their borders. A farm is abandoned, and 

 {)erhaps a neighbor cuts the hay but he does not keep the fields pro- 

 dueiug well, and they become. hardly worth cutting. A woodlot is cut 

 clean, and no young growth comes up. Junipers and briers make it 

 poor pasture — practically waste land. The value of the laud goes 

 down, and the taxes on the rest must go up to replace what this land 

 had been paying. 



A logical first step in providing for the reclamation of these lands is 

 to survey the town and find out where they are, and their total acreage. 

 At the same time a map showing fences, buildings, the use of each lot, 

 an estimate of the timber, hayland and pasture production of the town, 

 a map on which the property lines may be shown, and the other facts 

 which can be secured in a survey, all help to take the guesswork out of 

 administrative problems. 



In some cases property lines are not know^n to the owners, nor 

 described clearly in the deeds. A property map of the town should be 

 made while the older men, who know many of the lines, are still living. 

 This condition exists generally over the state. The old deeds describe 

 lines simply b}^ giving the names of the adjoining owners, or by land- 

 marks which have disappeared. Hence the lines are forgotten. 



The town of Durham was selected and survej^ed to show what can be 

 done, to give representative figures for this part of the state, and to help 

 select the most suitable surveying procedure for similar work else- 

 where. 



This report should be supplemented by a soil survey, and finally by a 

 plan of specific recommendations for the utilization of the lands of the 

 town. 



HOW THE SURVEY WAS MADE 



The methods used in making any survey depend on the purposes 

 for which it is undertaken. In this case the need was for a fairly 

 accurate and detailed map of the town. As the time and appropri- 

 ation were limited, the quickest and cheapest way of making such a 

 map was the most expedient. 



Fortunately, the Dover quadrangle of the United States Geological 

 Survey gives a topographic map of Durham. A copy of this map, 

 enlarged to the scale of eight inches to the mile, made an excellent base 

 map for the survey. Even enlarged to eight times its normal size this 

 proved to be surprisingly accurate. Only a few minor points were 

 changed in the finished map after careful checking. 



*This thesis has been submitted to the University of New Hampshire 

 in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science 

 in Forestry. 



