How do you read a farmland legal description?

Answer 1

There is no single way to read a property description. Land descriptions vary in different jurisdictions and are often carried forward for hundreds of years as long as the farm is not sold and subdivided.

In New England, for example, many methods were used at various times and places. The descriptions were often written as though a man was walking along the outside perimeter of the parcels. Those are called "running descriptions" and were often measured in rods (1 rod = 16.5 feet). In other cases the description would only name the abutting landowners and add an estimate of the area in acres.

In New York, a farm in the areas settled early by Europeans might simply describe the property as "the land as it is now enclosed". To the Europeans, enclosure established property lines. That simple description could have referred to several hundred acres that would have been identified on the ground by the fence lines of the outer perimeter.

Further West the land was settled later and was already divided into square or rectangular plots that could be identified on "plats".

Perhaps you could copy or write in a particular description on the discussion page for further comments.