Show u r k i t JN LAY AY MORNING JUNE 5 c 1921 1921 lere fere re is Helpful n 1 11 For or F Former orm r Soldiers Seeking T To 0 Make His Way in World Worlden I 1 en ral Land Office Corrects Wrong Impressions an and Erroneous State Statements Extant Concerning Farms and the Way Service Men Can Get Them tig number and character of In- In I constantly received ed by the meral land office Indicate that there thereal al a amount of In the country countr as to the I that exist for the re re- r soldier who desires to acquire require bile bU land and the thc ma l mariner manner er and thod b by which he may exercise his under the public land laws and Sul says the forestry service services s letter This is not to be won won- r red at however lor tor the subject Is big one orte and the land laws are com- com l in 11 1 Inmany many instances the soldier has his me home with a new outlook on one e e new ambitions together with supreme confidence in his own abila abil- abil PUO a 0 take care of himself get along d make his own way He lie has goth Both got got- h ver over the old reluctance to cut from his regular job and sur- sur and he is willing willing- willingto to take tale h chance ranee nCe He finds out that there are aren n over acres of served reserved public land also that there ariOUs homestead laws under Jt ch he Is given a chance to aca ac- ac a farm or ranch with his own Bids and a willingness to work worle as ass s ole capital The land department C Is that this Is as it should be DARE CARE TAKEN st of the good agricultural lands the he w west st b boundary of Kansas to Pacific c coast range have sally a Y f all lJ beers been taken Since July 1 1 T. T the gen general ral land office has pat pat- over acres of land e. e rea neater ter part of which was secured l 1 oer er this enlarged homestead act along this same period the original dries ItrI s and selections of f all kinds hip h were allowed amounted to over I OOOO acres The significance of ems iLe fig figures res should not b be overlooked mean that those Western Vestern states r Q Q V been literally combed for years re good piece of at level le land situated bete e there was sufficient rainfall to ake ae- aea a Suitable homestead It hould not be he concluded however 21 om the above e statement as to the thea a of the remaining public n sJ that there Is no opportunity In ine e yest gl Vest for the young young- man of yn Iest and energy to get a homestead ill ake a success of It for the live live- a ock k business though just at present I. I i in n. n unsatisfactory condition in the theng theng ng ns run run runis is bound to continue to be bethe f the great industries coun- coun 1 Congress has recognized this t ration Ion inn by enacting the grazing rn tead law of ot December 29 1916 id der r and and by which an entry of of rr res may nay be made of land chiefly I ble for grazing but with a reser- reser U n of t the minerals in the land to toe e government IE USELESS jEider ter er the constant search most of JIT farming fanning lands have been absorbed 1 the land seekers have beep been forced Inake many lea of land useful ly gr grazing zing purposes The first cf th therefore which should be made ar to the soldier land seeker is Sly t i for the most part the areas of bIle lands available on which he can alee ilie an entry are substantially and ands s Bally a grazing proposition and andt I t crop land tand in the ordinary sense sense t 1 greater portion of the re of undeserved public lands that m hied on July 1 1920 is either u I foothill and mountainous lands vel valley lands in Utah Arizona Mexico Nevada or southern Cal- Cal a which are too dry to mature i by any dry farming method yet covered M Many ny areas were already embraced theretofore made and I suspended In the various I al al land offices awaiting e examina- ir nan and l designation The next fact I therefore that the soldier should Know knoll is that while the re reI remaining remaining re- re I public land is largely grazing grazing graz graz- ing land there Is also a law designed to fit this situation whereby a acre entry may maybe be made of such lands But even with this privilege it should not be bc understood that every s section of the remaining rem public land is is' is suf sufficient sufficient suf suf- to maintain enough liv livestock st ck to enable a man to make a living and support a family LOCATION FIGURES I There are large areas of ot the public grazing lands In the United States that require on an average about forty tort for forty for tor- I t ty acres per head of cattle grazed thereon to sustain them The success success success success' suc suc- I cess cess cess' of the acre entry therefore is bound to depend on Its location I rainfall water supply and availability of forest reserve or other public grazI grazing grazing graz graz- I ing land on which the entry mans man's stock may be grazed for a portion of the year and also the possibility of raising more or less forage crops on some of the lands in the entry All of these conditions must be looked In Into to and considered While as above a ove slated stated the great body of the remaining public lands are essentially a grazing gracing proposition there are still lands subject to Irrl- Irrl the Interior shall shaH designate as asa asa asa a farm unit the must mustI pay the construction operation and I maintenance charges for the Irrigation irrigation tion works of the project There i is also a special homestead law appl cable c- c able to certain swamp lands in n the state of Minnesota 1 commonly referred re referred referred re- re to as Minnesota drainage homesteads under which government lands may be made subI subject subject sub sub- to tax lien on the part of the I I state for the cost of building necessary ne I drainage works to drain dram the land i LANDS LANDS CLASSIFIED I The government also opened some I of the forest lands saving approximately approximately I acres subject to entry This happens to be one instance where the government has made a more or orless orless orless I less detailed classification of the lands opened to entry and this information is available to the public I I In addition to the above theta theio aJ are aie the various Indian land homesteads I which usually require the payment of ofa ofa a II purchase price for tor the benefit of I the Indians In addition to the tho residence resi resl dence and cultivation requirements of the homestead law Originally the homestead law hw re required rewired re- re I wired residence and cultivation for a a. aT T period of five fl years whereupon hereupon patent patent patent pat pat- ent was granted without further furth r charge except for certain fees and commissions By Ey an amendment of the homestead law of June 6 6 1912 the period of residence was reduced to three years with the further ler requirement re requirement requirement re- re that there must be at least sven Iven months of actual residence daring daring during dar dur- ing each of said three years TV with five fl months' months allowable allow absence during each lh year vear on giving the proper notice no to the thel l local cai laud land office the l law w also re reQuires requires requires re- re quires that the shall have a I habitable house honse on the land before he is granted a patent These re requirements requirements requirements re- re are practically the same same for all of the homestead laws above referred to with the single exception of certain cases of homesteads under the Minnesota drainage MUST BE RESIDENT Mention was also made of the des desert desert des des- ert land law this law no residence residence residence res res- is required but the must be a resident of the state in which the land is situated at the time he makes his entry A desert land I entry may include as much as I acres of contiguous irrigable lands i and under the rules of the department depart- depart i ment at least five acres of every 40 I tore ere cre tract included In in the entry must be susceptible of practical reclamation n nb b by irrigation The pays 1 25 an acre for this land 25 cents at the time of entry and 1 00 at the time of final proof within four years ear of the date of original entry In addition addition addition ad ad- to this he must make proof during each of the first three years ears of the expenditure in good faith of not less than per acre in his work of reclaiming the land Of or course there is practically no land eft left that can be reclaimed for 3 CO COper per acre actual and successful reclamation re reclamation reclamation re- re by Irrigation costing ordinarily much more and actual cost may run anywhere from 10 per acre to In this connection mention may properly be made also of the possibility of entries of irrigated lands under what is known as the Carey act Under this law the federal government segregates lands to certain certain certain tain states stales on conditions that the state will reclaim the lands and when the state has shown that It has provided provided pro pro- vided a a. sufficient permanent water supply for the irrigation thereof the federal government patents such lands to the state outright The state may thereupon dispose of these lands to actual settlers in areas not exceeding acres to each settler The law authorizes the placing of a lien pathe pa the land for the cost of building the reclamation works and the settlers are required to pay pa this charge in |