SURVEYING PRACTICE 
19 
should be so spaced that one foot on the rod will be cut off 
when it is held at a distance of 66 feet, or, if the wires are 
fixed, the rod may be graduated to correspond. For occa¬ 
sional use in land surveying, the rod may best be made 
of painted canvas, which, in case of need, may be tacked 
On any pole that comes to hand. 
The Stadia Hand Level is a simpler form of the instru¬ 
ment, adapted to the measurement of the width of gorges 
or ponds. It is readily carried in the pack, and, when in 
use, may be held in the hand or mounted on a staff. The 
ready range of this instrument is 200-300 feet. 
7. Units of Distance and Area 
7.92 inches = 1 link. 
25 links = 1 rod. 
100 links = 66 feet = 1 chain. 
320 rods = 80 chains = 1 mile. 
160 square rods =10 square chains = 1 acre. 
640 acres = 1 square mile or section. 
The vara, a measure of Spanish origin, prevails in Cali¬ 
fornia and in Texas. The California vara is 33 inches. 
The Texas vara is 33j inches, and 5645.376 square varas 
make one acre. 
In Louisiana and the Province of Quebec, the arpent , 
an old French unit, is the measure of areas. This is .8449 
acre. 
The hectare = 10,000 square meters (meter = 39.37 
inches) or 2.47 acres. This is also a French measure. 
SECTION IV 
SURVEYING PRACTICE 
The starting point of a survey is generally settled for a 
surveyor by outside controlling circumstances. When this 
is recognized, the next thing to do may be to find out what 
course to run by an observation for the true meridian, or 
by finding the bearing of an old line. With the starting 
point and course determined, the method of procedure is 
about as follows. 
