The  quantity  of  public  land  disposed  of  during  the  five  quarters  ending
on  the  30th  of  September  last  was  4,221,342  acres,  of  which  1,538,614
acres  w^ere  entered  under  the  homestead  law\  The  remainder  was  located
with  military  land  warrants,  agricultural  scrip  certifiad  to  States  for  rail-
roads, and  sold  for  cash.  The  cash  received  from  sales  and  location  fees
was  $1,019,446.
The  income  from  sales  during  the  fiscal  year  ending  June  30,  1864,
was  $678,007.21,  against  $136,077.95  received  during  the  preceding  year.
The  aggregate  number  of  acres  surveyed  during  the  year  has  been
equal  to  the  quantity  disposed  of,  and  there  is  open  to  settlement  about
133,000,000  acres  of  sun^eyed  land.
The  great  enterprise  of  connecting  the  Atlantic  with  the  Pacific  States
by  railways  and  telegraph  lines  has  been  entered  upon  with  a  vigor  that
gives  assurance  of  success,  notwithstanding  the  embarrassments  arising
from  the  prevailing  high  prices  of  materials  and  labor.  The  route  of  the
main  line  of  the  road  has  been  definitely  located  for  100  miles  westward
from  the  initial  point  at  Omaha  City,  Nebr.,  and  a  preliminary  location
of  the  Pacific  Railroad  of  California  has  been  made  from  Sacramento
eastward  to  the  great  bend  of  the  Truckee  River  in  Nevada.
Numerous  discoveries  of  gold,  silver,  and  cinnabar  mines  have  been
added  to  the  many  heretofore  known,  and  the  country  occupied  by  the
Sierra  Nevada  and  Rocky  mountains  and  the  subordinate  ranges  now
teems  with  enterprising  labor,  which  is  richly  remunerative.  It  is  be-
lieved that  the  product  of  the  mines  of  precious  metals  in  that  region  has
during  the  year  reached,  if  not  exceeded,  one  hundred  millions  in  value.
