130 National Geographic Magazine. 



It is gratifying to note that the Bureaus of the Government 

 service devoted to the practical development of the economic re- 

 sources of our great territory, have been conducted during the- 

 year with the energy that has marked their progress heretofore. 

 But it is yet too early to place a value upon the special results of 

 the year's work, and I will leave their consideration, therefore, to 

 my successor. 



I look upon the publications of the Topographical Surveys of the 

 States of New Jersey and Massachusetts as the most noteworthy 

 Geographic productions in this country of recent years. Massa- 

 chusetts has been the first State to avail herself of the full facili- 

 ties offered by the General Government in preparing maps of 

 their territories on working scales, although New Jersey was 

 earlier in the field and obtained all the assistance that could be 

 rendered by the laws in force at the time. The expense of the 

 Survey in Massachusetts has been borne about equally between 

 the State and United States, exclusive of the trigonometrical 

 work ; and the total cost to the State being so light, we may 

 hope eventually to see similar, or even more detailed work, un- 

 dertaken by all the States of the Union. The atlas sheets thus 

 far produced are most pleasing specimens of the cartographer's 

 art, each feature or class of detail having been given a weight 

 that permits easy reading without producing undue prominence 

 in any. In the atlas sheets of New Jersey, published by the 

 State, the same admirable effects have been produced, but in a 

 different style of treatment, the questions involved being more 

 compli(;ated through the introduction of greater detail, Massa- 

 chusetts is also in the lead in prosecuting a precise determination 

 of town boundaries by a systematic reference of all corner marks 

 to the stations of the triangulation that now covers the State ter- 

 ritory. The expense of this work is borne by the State, with the 

 exception of a small amount in salaries to United States officers 

 detailed to execute portions of the work under existing laws. The 

 total cost will probably approximate the total cost of the Topo- 

 graphical Survey, but it is claimed that when completed the great 

 advantages to be derived from it will result in large savings to 

 the people of the State. 



Our neighbors in the Dominion of Canada have been active of 

 late years in developing their resources. The completion of the 

 Canadian Pacific Railway has opened a large fertile territory for 

 settlement, and the railway itself promises to become a route for 



