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Show UNITED STATES LAND LAWS In lalk No 7 entryman was advised to see tliat the witnesses were made familiar with the facts concerning his resilience, cultivation and lm-j provementa before (late of proof. In I his talk attention will be called to. some points entryman should attend! to on date of proof. j If possible to do so, entryman should appear, with his two witnesses, witness-es, on the morning of the date set for j the proof. It is true that under certain cer-tain circumstances, where It is poa-; sible to submit the proof on the date set, it may be submitted as soon as: possible after that date, but not lat-i er than ten day9 after the advertised date. In these cases it is necessary to make an aflidavit showing why proof ws not submitted on the date! advertised, and the officer before j whom proof is made must make aj certificate of non-protest, all of which costs money and may delay action . on the proof, so it is better to avoid! these irregularities it possible. j If entryman is not a native-born; citizen of the United States, and a: certified copy of the second natural- ization papers has not been filed in; the land office, then it Is necessary to get a certified copy of such papers 1 from the clerk of the court in which the final "naturalization was issued, and file it with the proof. Be sure that you know the date on which residence was established, and the dates when each absence from the land began and ended. Every absence of any length must be given in the final proof, even though a leave of absence was granted. grant-ed. Entryman and witnesses must state the periods when entryman was on the land and when he was off. Entryman must state definitely in his testimony just what land was cultivated each year, kind of crops planted, and amount harvested. In most cases entryman cannot remember remem-ber these facts unless he has carefully care-fully gone over the matter and made a written memorandum to aid his memory. It should be borne in mind that a final proof is not a memory test, but is the means entryman has of demonstrating what he has done toward complying with the law. He is permitted to make 83 much preparation pre-paration as he likes and bring all the written memoranda he chooses, so long as he confines his statements to facts. If entryman and witnesses rely upon their memories and make mistakes in giving in the Important facts, their testimony may be conflicting, con-flicting, and the proof subject to rejection, re-jection, when the entryman may have fully complied with the law and the witnesses may know that he has. A little careful preparation often saves making a second proof. It is not necessary for entryman or witnesses to remember the description des-cription of the land, as that Is a matter mat-ter of record and Is written in the form from the records. In giving testimony regarding Improvements Im-provements on stock-raising homestead home-stead entry, either original or additional, addi-tional, it is necessary to show Just where such improvements are located, locat-ed, when they were placed on the land, what they cost .or what they are worth, and in some cases it is necessary to show that these Improvements Im-provements do improve the land for agricultural purposes. The value of Improvements is a point on which there is usually the widest variation in the testimony. It is not uncommon for the value to be given by one witness at $300 and by the other witness at $3,000. It Is sometimes hard to ascertain the exact ex-act value of improvements, but witness wit-ness should bear in mind that it is not the selling value that is desired. Perhaps entryman has spent three years of his labor and a thousand dollars in material and erected improvements im-provements which, under a forced sale, would not bring him more than $500. but these Improvements, although al-though not salable. m,i,y increase the value of the land for agricultural purposes, and the value should be estimated es-timated upon a basis of what it would cost the entryman to have these improvements placed on his land if he were-to hire it done by contract. If entryman has ever made any 'other homestead entry, or desert entry, en-try, or timber and stone entry, he should take a full description of such other entries with him. as he will be obliged to give the description of all such entries in his final proof testimony, testi-mony, and he should have it ready to read off when the question is asked. |