io ENGINEERING ON THE FARM 



is at the end of the chain, a figure is placed on the stake 

 indicating the number of stations. For example, if the chain 

 has been stretched out eight times, the stake at the far end 

 of the last chain will be marked "8," indicating that the stake 

 is out eight stations on the line. The station number mul- 

 tiplied by the number of feet in the unit of measurement 

 gives the distance in feet of the outer stake from the starting 

 point. Consequently where a ioo-foot chain is used station 

 "8" is 800 feet from the starting point. 



There are sometimes reasons for placing stakes at other 

 points than at the end of the chain. For example, it may be 

 desirable to place a stake 21 feet beyond the station "8." 

 This fraction of a station is usually referred to as a plus. 

 In railroad work the stake marking the point 21 feet beyond 

 station "8" would be "8 + 21." Some engineers prefer to 

 mark the stake indicating the same point as "S^ 1 ," while 

 others mark it "8.21." These three markings all mean the 

 same thing: that the distance from the starting point to the 

 stake so marked is 8 stations and 2 1 feet on the next sta- 

 tion, or 821 feet. The expressions "Take a plus" or "What 

 is the plus on that point?" are understood to refer to the 

 number of feet beyond the last regular station. 



Spanish unit. In the extreme southern part of the United 

 States, from Florida to California, there are lands which 

 passed into private ownership while that territory was a 

 part of the Spanish possessions. As a result, all lands sur- 

 veyed previous to American possession are recorded in the 

 Spanish unit, the vara. Since the territory became a part 

 of the United States, the equivalent of the vara in inches 

 has been sanctioned by the United States Land Office as 33 

 inches in California. In Texas it is 33^3 inches, in Mexico 

 32 .9931 inches. 



French unit. Areas of the United States in the vicinity 

 of New Orleans and other points settled under French control 

 have distances recorded in the pied du roi, which is equivalent 

 to 12.789 inches. 



