RURAL PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT 47 



government it will not unduly facilitate land settlement until the land 

 is properly planned and classified for the purpose, and until steps are 

 taken to prevent injurious speculation. 



In Appendix A, a description is given by Mr. H. L. Seymour 

 of the systems which are employed in the different provinces. It will 

 be seen that they all involve the use of the straight line and the right 

 angle right down through the whole series of divisions of the land, 

 including the boundaries of provinces, of counties, of townships, of 

 quarter-sections (homestead subdivisions), and of building subdivi- 

 sions or lots, and that the duty of the surveyor consists in following 

 a plan prescribed for him. 



Dominion Surveys 



Under the Dominion Lands Surveys Act of 1908 land is required 

 to be laid out in quadrilateral townships, each containing 36 sections, 

 and each section divided into quarter sections of 160 acres. \\ hile, 

 however, this system is adopted for general purposes, the Surveyor- 

 General has power, with the authority of his Minister, to depart 

 from the system in respect of certain lands. As Mr. Seymour points 

 out, lands bordering on a river or watercourse can be surveyed or 

 laid out in such manner and with such roads as appear desirable. 

 Under such conditions it is provided that, in the case of settlements 

 already in existence, a road 66 ft. wide has to be laid out across the 

 settlement in the most convenient location. 



Surveys are now made more accurate and elaborate than for- 

 merly, and a good beginning has been made in recent years in col- 

 lecting information regarding the situation and character of townships. 

 This survey, however, is not sufficient and is too general in character, to 

 provide a basis for classification or a proper system of settlement. A 

 series of reports from surveyors' field books has been published, 

 giving particulars of the nature of the soil, timber, water supplies 

 and powers, climate, etc. It is thus seen that the surveying department 

 of the Dominion Government now recognizes the advantage of 

 obtaining more complete information regarding the character of the 

 land when it is surveyed. The fact that the department reserves 

 to itself and exercises the power to vary the survey for small areas 

 in certain circumstances shows that there would be no difficulty in 

 making a similar variation in respect of larger areas. 



Provincial Surveys 

 Writing, in 1906, with regard to the system in vogue in Ontario, 

 Mr. J. F. Whitson, O.L.S., who is now representative of the Pro- 

 vincial Government in Northern Ontario, stated that one-quarter 



