and base lines respectively are surveyed six miles apart, thus dividing the land into townships six miles square. The lines parallel with the base lines are called township lines, and those parallel with the principal meridians are called range lines.

Survey in Iowa. The fifth principal meridian forms the basis of the United States land survey in Iowa. It extends due north from the mouth of the Arkansas River,

Figure 2 shows how a township is divided into sections.

crosses Missouri and the eastern part of Iowa, and passes out of the state at a point between Clayton and Dubuque counties. The base line extends due west from the mouth of the St. Francis River in Arkansas, and crosses the principal meridian forty-eight miles north of its starting point. By surveying lines six miles apart parallel with the base line, and others the same distance apart parallel with the principal meridian, the land is divided into blocks six miles square. Each of these blocks is called a congressional township.

Townships and Ranges. To locate land by this system

of surveys two sets of numbers are used, one designating the townships north of the base line, and the other the townships west of the fifth principal meridian. Land may also be surveyed south from the base line and east from the principal meridian. For convenience the tiers of townships east or west of the principal meridian are called ranges, and those north or south of the base line are called

Figure 3 shows the divisions of a section. Suppose this is Section 15 of Township 5 north, Range 3 west of the 5th principal meridian, the description of these subdivisions would be as follows:

N. 1⁄2 of Section 15, T. 5 N., R. 3 W., 5th P. M.

S. E. 4 of Section 15, T. 5 N., R. 3 W., 5th P. M.

N. 1⁄2 of S. W. 4 of Section 15, T. 5 N., R. 3 W., 5th P. M.
S. W. 4 of S. W. 4 of Section 15, T. 5 N., R. 3 W., 5th P. M.
How many acres in each subdivision?

townships. All the land in Iowa is surveyed from the fifth principal meridian.

In the diagram the heavy vertical line marked P M represents a part of the principal meridian. It is crossed at right angles by a heavy line marked B L representing a part of its base line. The light vertical lines crossing the base line and parallel to the principal meridian are range lines, and

those parallel to the base line are township lines. The squares inclosed represent congressional townships. The townships are numbered northward and southward from the base line, and the ranges, eastward and westward from the principal meridian.

The Congressional Township.

The congressional

township is important only in connection with our system

FIGURE 4

Figure 4 shows the subdivisions of a section without markings. You should describe each subdivision according to the plan given under Figure 3.

of locating land. It is a tract of land six miles square, divided into thirty-six square miles, or sections which are subdivided into half-sections, quarter-sections, etc., as shown in the diagrams.

Correction Lines. Owing to the convergence of meridians in passing northward, it has been found necessary to establish secondary lines parallel with the base line. These are called correction lines, and there are four of them in Iowa. They are the northern and the southern boundaries

of the state and the northern boundaries of townships seventy-eight and eighty-eight north.

QUESTIONS AND SUGGESTIONS

1. Give the location by township and range of the city in which you live, or of the farm on which you live. Locate in the same manner two other towns in your county.

2. Draw a map of your county indicating all the congressional townships.

3. Locate an eighty-acre farm on this map, and write. the description which would appear in the deed if you were to sell it.

4. Make a diagram showing why correction lines are

necessary.

5. Explain or show by diagram the exact way in which sections are numbered.

6. What is meant by (a) base line, (b) principal meridian?

7. What are the advantages of having sections laid out in the form of squares? Why are there jogs at certain corners in country roads? Are these jogs in north and south roads or in east and west roads? Why?

8. Draw a section and divide it into as many regular forty-acre tracts as possible, and write the description of each.

CHAPTER III

THE CIVIL TOWNSHIP

Civil Township. We have learned that the congressional township is merely a tract of land six miles square, and that it was created for the purpose of locating land. The civil township, on the other hand, is the unit or basis in local government. Every county is divided into several civil townships, and each township is named.

Township names were given by the early settlers, and often in honor of some prominent member of the first company of settlers that entered the township. Many counties in Iowa were settled about the time the Civil War began, and in those counties such names as Lincoln, Douglas, Liberty and Union are common. The boundaries of a civil township may be the same as those of a congressional township, but very often a civil township is formed from parts of two or more congressional townships. This often occurs when the congressional township is divided by a river. The early settlers established the civil townships to suit their own convenience, and in some counties but few of them have the same boundaries as the congressional townships.

To the people of Iowa, the civil township is a very important division. Comparatively few state and county officers are needed, but there is scarcely a county in the state that does not have at least 400 officers whose duties are confined to the civil township. A large part of all the money raised by taxation is expended in the township under the direction of its civil and school officers.

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