RECLAMATION SERVICE. 93 
raising or not. The mining and manufacturing industries will be stim- 
ulated by the opportunities of utilizing the mineral wealth which now 
lies dorment because of the scarcity of labor and the high prices of food 
stuffs. But more than all, opportunities will be offered for the estab- 
lishment of prosperous homes on the national domain. The law is so 
drawn as to encourage the making of small farms and to prevent the 
monopolization of lands. Not more than 160 acres in the hands of 
one person can receive water from the Government works; and every 
effort is made to promote settlement in small tracts by men who will 
obtain their living from the cultivation of the soil. 
Bringing to the West and establishing on small tracts thousands 
of industrious farmers will mean prosperity not merely to the indi- 
viduals directly concerned, but to the manufacturing, jobbing, and 
transporting interests of the whole country. These farmers purchase 
their supplies from the East, and for every self-supporting home on 
the public domain there must be an increased demand for labor in the 
mills and factories of the East. 
For reports by the reclamation service, see the Survej^'s list of 
publications. 
PUBLICATION BKANCH. 
EDITORIAL DIVISION. 
Though the literary and cartographic output of the United States 
Geological Survey has now become large, exceeding that of most other 
Government bureaus, its publications during the first few years follow- 
ing the establishment of the Survey, in 1879, were, naturally, not 
numerous; the appropriations and the organization were small, and 
time was necessary for work and investigations to progress to a stage 
sufficiently advanced to justify publication. During those early years 
editorial supervision was exercised by the Director and the chief clerk. 
By the year 1881, however, the amount of manuscript currently sub- 
mitted had grown so large that these officers could no longer perform 
this work in addition to their other duties. In that } r ear, therefore, an 
editor was appointed, and since then there has been maintained in the 
Survey an editorial corps, which has been strengthened and specialized 
as necessity arose. 
At first the publications consisted almost wholly of books and 
pamphlets — annual reports and a few monographs and bulletins; but 
it was not long until the topographic maps ready for engraving had 
become so numerous that they demanded systematic editorial super- 
vision; and a few years later, when sufficient geologic information had 
been acquired to warrant the issue of the first folios of the Geologic 
Atlas of the United States, they too required technical editorial over- 
Bight. Moreover, the publications of the Survey necessarily contain 
numerous illustrations of topographic, geologic, and other phenomena 
md principles, and the preparation of drawings, sketches, maps, and 
