under previously existing laws, and consequently are not entitled to the benefits of the acts amending said laws approved March 3, 1879, and July 1, 1879. In order to entitle a homestead entryman to an additional entry under the act of March 3, or July 1, 1879, and to a patent for such additional entry under the act of May 6, 1886, his original entry must be a valid, bona fide entry, and the proofs presented in support thereof must have been accepted by this office. Registers and receivers will therefore in no case (except where patent has issued on the original entry) issue a final certificate on the additional entry until they have been advised by this office that final proof on the original entry has been approved and the additional entry accepted. When so advised they will issue final certificate on the additional entry, without cost to the entryman, and forward the same to this office. (Circular of July 26, 1886, 5 L. D., 128.) PARTIAL WAIVER OF HOMESTEAD RIGHTS. The election of a qualified party, when filing for a homestead, to take less than the law allows him, is construed as a waiver of his claim for a larger quantity; and the same in case of an adjoining farm entry or soldier's additional entry. (But when an additional homestead claim was filed for 40 acres by a homesteader whose original entry was 120 acres, and 40 acres of this original entry had been canceled, but notice of the cancellation had not reached him when he filed for the additional 40 acres, this was not considered a waiver of the full amount, since he filed for all that he supposed was due him.) The acts of March 3 and July 1, 1879 (providing that a person who had taken a homestead to the extent of 80 acres within the granted limits of a railroad grant, on the alternate sections belonging to the Government, might enter an additional contiguous 80 acres), are not construed as allowing a person who elected to take but 40 acres under the original homestead law to take an additional 120 acres under these amendatory acts. INDIAN HOMESTEADS. By the provisions of the Indian appropriation act of July 4, 1884 (23 Stat. L., 96; Appendix No. 27, p. 164), any Indians who might then be located on public lands, or should thereafter so locate, may avail themselves of the privileges of the homestead laws as fully and to the same extent as citizens of the United States, but without payment of fees or commissions on account of such entries or proofs. Indian homesteads can not be commuted and are not subject to sale, assignment, lease, or incumbrance. All patents issued for Indian homesteads under this act must be of the legal effect and declare that the United States does and will hold the land thus entered for the period of twenty-five years in trust for the sole use and benefit of the Indian by whom such entry shall have been made, or, in case of his decease, of his widow and heirs, according to the laws of the State or Territory where such land is located, and that at the expiration of said period the United States will convey the same by patent to said Indian or his widow and heirs, as aforesaid, in fee, discharged of said trust and free of all charge or incumbrance whatsoever. When any Indian applies to enter land under said act he will be allowed to do so without payment of fees or commissions, but will be 6145- 3 required to furnish a certificate from the agent of the tribe to which he belongs that he is an Indian of the age of 21 years, or the head of a family, and not the subject of any foreign country. FIVE-YEAR NOTICE, SEVEN-YEAR NOTICE, AND EIGHT-YEAR NOTICE. Registers and receivers will notify homestead claimants, on the expiration of the five-year period, the seven-year period, and the eight-year period, according to Forms 4-343 and 4-344 (p. 249), modifying the latter, which is intended for the seven-year notice, so that it will be appropriate for the eight-year notice. The eight-year notice is to be given in all entries made prior to or on July 26, 1894, while the seven-year notice is to be given on entries made after that date. HOMESTEAD FEES AND COMMISSIONS. The land office fees and commissions payable when application is made are as follows: In Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, For 160 acres For 80 acres ...... For 40 acres In Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming (Rev. Stat., 2238, par. 12; Appendix No. 1, pp. 126 and 127): For 160 acres. The land office fees and commissions payable at the time of making final proof are as follows: In Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, For 160 acres. For 80 acres. In Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming (Rev. Stat., 2238, par. 12; Appendix No. 1, pp. 126 and 127): For 160 acres. NECESSARY TIMBER ON PUBLIC LANDS. Homestead or preemption claimants who have made bona fide settlements upon public land, and who are living upon, cultivating, and improving the same in accordance with law and the rules and regulations of this Department, with the intention of acquiring title thereto, are permitted to cut and remove, or cause to be cut and removed, from the portion thereof to be cleared for cultivation, so much timber as is actually necessary for that purpose or for buildings, fences, and other improvements on the land entered. In clearing for cultivation, should there be a surplus of timber over what is needed for the purposes above specified, the entryman may sell or dispose of such surplus; but it is not allowable to denude the land of its timber for the purpose of sale or speculation before the title has been conveyed to him by patent. The abandonment of a settlement claim after the timber has been removed is presumptive evidence that the claim was made for the primary purpose of obtaining timber. Squatters upon public lands have no right to cut timber therefrom for any purpose. In reference to timber on the public lands in the States of Colorado, Montana, Idaho, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, and Nevada, the District of Alaska and the Territory of Utah, see rules and regulations governing the use of timber on the public domain, issued under section 8, act of March 3, 1891, page 101. TIMBER CULTURE. By the first section of the act of March 3, 1891 (26 Stat. L., 1095; Appendix No. 45, p. 203), the laws providing for the entry of public lands for timber-culture purposes are repealed so far as regards future entries, but continued, with certain prescribed modifications, as regards the adjustment of existing claims initiated prior to such repealing act. Hence, no further entries of this class will be allowed unless the right to make such entry had accrued or was accruing at the date of said act. In dealing with existing claims the provisions of the first section of the repealing act will be observed, presenting the following modifications, viz: 1. The following words of the last clause of section 2 of the act of June 14, 1878 (20 Stat. L., 113; Appendix No. 8, p. 149), namely, "That not less than twenty-seven hundred trees were planted on each acre," are repealed. 2. In computing the period of cultivation the time shall run from the date of the entry, if the necessary acts of cultivation were performed within the proper time. 3. The preparation of the land and the planting of trees shall be construed as acts of cultivation, and the time authorized to be so employed and actually employed shall be computed as a part of the eight years of cultivation required by statute. 4. It will be seen that by the fifth proviso of that section the right is extended to persons having certain qualifications to commute their entries in certain cases at the rate of $1.25 per acre. For this purpose it will be necessary— First. That the person shall have in good faith complied with the provisions of the timber-culture laws for four years immediately preceding his offer of proof. Second. That he shall be an actual, bona fide resident of the State or Territory in which said land is located. Final proof for the commutation of timber-culture entries under this provision shall be made as other final timber-culture proof is made (see Forms 4-073a, 4-385, and 4-386, pp. 254, 251, and 253), and shall satisfactorily exhibit the facts necessary to entitle the applicant to make purchase thereunder. For final proof in timber-culture entries, the registers and receivers shall be allowed the same fees and compensation as are allowed under previously existing laws in homestead entries. (See tenth and twelfth subdivisions sec. 2238, Rev. Stat.; Appendix No. 1, p. 127, and act of March 3, 1877, 19 Stat. L., 403; Appendix No. 5, p. 146.) 5. All bona fide claims lawfully initiated before the passage of said act of March 3, 1891, may be perfected upon due compliance with law, in the same manner, upon the same terms and conditions, and subject to the same limitations, forfeitures, and contests as if said act had not been passed. Congress, by act of March 3, 1893 (27 Stat. L., 593), entitled "An act making appropriation for sundry civil expenses of the Government for the fiscal year ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and ninety-four, and for other purposes," enacted as follows, viz: That section one of an act entitled "An act to repeal timber-culture laws, and for other purposes," approved March third, eighteen hundred and ninety-one, be, and hereby is, amended by adding the following words to the fourth proviso thereof: And provided further, That if trees, seeds, or cuttings were in good faith planted as provided by law and the same and the land upon which so planted were thereafter in good faith cultivated as provided by law for at least eight years by a person quali fied to make entry and who has a subsisting entry under the timber-culture laws, final proof may be made without regard to the number of trees that may have been then growing on the land. Under this enactment parties may make final proof without showing the existence of the quantity and character of trees on the land at the time of their doing so, as required under the previously existing law, provided that it be made to appear in the proof 1. That trees, seeds, or cuttings were in good faith planted according to the requirements of the timber-culture laws as amended by the first section of the act of March 3, 1891, before mentioned. 2. That the trees, seeds, or cuttings so planted and the land upon which they were so planted were in good faith cultivated for at least eight years in manner prescribed in the timber-culture laws. 3. That the claimant was qualified to make entry under said laws. 4. That he has an entry subsisting thereunder. 5. That the facts of the case are such as to show the claimant's good faith in his proceedings under the statutes. Five acres on a quarter section must be broken or plowed the first year after entry and 5 acres the second year. The second year the first 5 acres must be cultivated to crop or otherwise. The third year the second 5 acres must be cultivated to crop or otherwise, and the first 5 acres must be planted in timber, seeds, or cuttings. The fourth year the second 5 acres must be planted in timber, seeds, or cuttings. Ten acres are thus to be plowed, planted, and cultivated on a quarter section, and the same proportion when less than a quarter section is entered. The whole 10 acres or the due proportion thereof must be prepared and planted within four years from the date of the entry, 5 acres being prepared the first and second years and planted the third year, and 5 acres being prepared the second and third years and planted the fourth year. The preparation of the ground by breaking and cultivation to crops must be thorough. The plowing must be done at the proper season of the year and must be sufficiently deep to thoroughly break and mix the soil, and the cultivation to crop must be actual and bona fide. The object of the law is to promote the cultivation of timber, and land not made fit, by careful and thorough preparation, to produce a growth of trees is not prepared as contemplated by law, and a failure to strictly comply with the law renders the entry liable to contest. Trees, tree seeds, or cuttings must be of suitable character to germinate and grow with proper cultivation, and must be carefully and properly set out or planted, and at a proper season of the year to insure growth, and must be carefully and thoroughly cultivated. Where land is selected for timber-culture entry which in its natural state will not produce trees without irrigation, the ground will not be regarded as properly prepared nor the trees as properly cultivated unless the land is irrigated and the trees kept watered. If Where the ground is properly prepared and cultivated, and the plant. ing of suitable trees, seeds, or cuttings is well and seasonably done, and the same should not germinate and grow, the ground must be replanted and vacancies filled the same or next succeeding season. the trees, seeds, or cuttings are destroyed by grasshoppers or by extreme and unusual droughts, the time of planting may be extended one year for every year of such destruction, upon the filing in the local office of an affidavit by the entryman, corroborated by two witnesses, setting forth the destruction and asking the extension of time provided for by the act. The offering of relinquishments for sale after entry will be regarded and treated as evidence tending to prove the fraudulent or speculative character of the entry. The following classes of trees are recognized as "timber" within the meaning of the law, viz: Ash (including mountain ash, or service tree), alder, basswood, beech, birch, box elder, black walnut, butternut (otherwise called white walnut), cedar, chestnut, cottonwood, elm, fir, hickory, honey locust, larch, maple, oak, pine, spruce, sycamore (otherwise called buttonwood or cotton tree), white willow, whitewood (or tulip tree), and other trees recognized in the neighborhood as of value for timber, for firewood or domestic use, or for commercial purposes. Fruit trees, hedges, and shrubbery can not be classed as "timber," and their cultivation is not sufficient to satisfy the demands of the law. Final proof can not be made until the expiration of eight years from date of entry, and may be at any time within five years thereafter if cultivation has been made for the proper period. Perfect good faith must be shown by claimants. If trees, seeds, or cuttings are destroyed they must be replanted; and not only must trees be planted, but they must be protected and cultivated in such manner as to promote their growth. Hereafter parties desiring to offer final proof in timber-culture cases will be required to file a notice of their intention with the register of the proper district land office, and the same shall be published in the same manner as in homestead and preemption cases. In making final proof the claimant (or, if he be dead, his heirs or legal representatives) must appear in person with at least two witnesses at the land office of the district in which the land is situated and there make the necessary proofs; or the affidavit of the party may be made and his testimony and the testimony of his witnesses given before any commissioner of the United States circuit court having jurisdiction over the county or parish in which the land is situated, or before the judge or clerk of any court of record of such county or parish, or in the Territories the proof may be taken by a United States court commissioner as provided by act of March 2, 1895 (see Appendix No. 65, p. 221), but all the proof must be taken at the same time and place, before the same officer, in such land district (11 L. D., 361). The officer administering the oath or taking the testimony must certify to the identity and credibility of the party appearing before him. |