This amount was believed to be enough land for a family to farm. Most grants are not outright gifts but are conditional upon the private party fulfilling certain obligations or paying fees. Americans came to use the term as synonymous with a sitio, a measurement of area equivalent to 25 million square varas or 4,428.4 acres. All patents are issued under the seals of the state of Texas and the land office, signed by the governor and the land commissioner and registered in a land office patent volume. After 1854, married men were limited to 160 acres and single men to 80 acres.
Rentals cease and royalty payments begin when mineral production begins.