102 ENGINEERING ON THE FARM 



there. As soon as the lands included in the territory under 

 the jurisdiction of any such office were surveyed, the office 

 was abolished and the land records turned over to some state 

 official appointed by state authority to receive them. 



Local land offices. Local land offices are located at 

 central points where there is surveyed public land. The 

 officials of these offices are the register and the receiver. 

 The local land offices have jurisdiction over public lands 

 and pass upon applications for lands under the public land 

 laws. As soon as all public lands have passed into private 

 ownership in a given territory, the local land office for that 

 territory is abolished. 



Contract surveys. The actual work of surveying was 

 formerly done by contractors who bid on the work within 

 certain limits, the surveyor in charge of the work on the 

 ground receiving an appointment as Deputy United States 

 surveyor. On completion of the survey, notes and records 

 were filed with the surveyor-general and a statement sworn 

 to that the work had been completed according to contract. 

 After it was too late it was learned that much of the survey 

 work was not properly done in the field, and a system of 

 inspection was established. The inspectors were in the 

 regular employ of the government and examined all contract 

 work by going into the field and rerunning part of the lines, 

 the contractor being required to wait for his pay until the 

 report of the inspector was filed. In late years considerable 

 land-survey work has been done by surveyors who are in 

 the regular employ of the government. 



Methods of acquiring government land. Regulations 

 relating to homestead rights are changed from time to time 

 by acts of Congress. Copies of the regulations in force at 

 any time may be secured without cost from the Commissioner 

 of Public Lands in Washington, D. C. 



There is a special act, known as the Desert Land Law, 

 which provides for granting larger areas in the arid states 

 than are granted under the homestead laws. There is also 



