The silver state. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1909-1925, 1913-11-13
NEW ENLARGED
HOMESTEAD Law

The 320-acre homestead law, or, as
is often called, the enlarged homestead
law, has made possible the entry of
many million acres of dry land in the
western states in tracts double the size
allowed under the original homestead
law. Only land which has been "des-
ignated' by the secretary of the in
terror as non-irrigable can be en-
tered under this act. More than 200,-
100000 acres have been thus designat-
ed, but petitions and sworn statements
requesting further designations are
constantly being received.
In an interview just given out, Sec
retary Lane calls attention to the fact
that there appears to be considerable
misunderstanding among western
homesteaders as to the procedure
necessary in order that enlarged home
stead designations may be made. The
secretary states that only the sim
plest and most direct action by the set
tier is required, and that it is wholly
unnecessary for him to incur the
charges now made by attorneys who
draw up formal petitions that are in
fact no more effective than the home
steader's own letter would be. On
this account brief statement of the
essential facts relative to the enlarg-
ed homestead law is timely.
The first enlarged homestead act
was approved February 10, 1909, and
as later amended provides that in the
states of Arizona, California, Colora-
do, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New
Mexico, North dakota, Oregon, Utah,
Washington and Wyoming any person
who is qualified to make entry under
the homestead laws may enter as much
as 320 acres of public land which is in
reasonably compact body and is non-
mineral, non-irrigable, unreserved and
unappropriated and does not contain
mere chantable timber. Before such en-
try can be made, however, the land
must be designated by the secretary of
the interior as not being, in his
opinion, susceptible of successful irri-
cation at a reasonable cost from any
known source of water supply.
Land Must Be Non-irrigable.
The work of classifying the lands
and determining what areas may be
considered non-irrigable has been as
signed by Secretary Lane to the
United States Geological Survey. Al
though, under the present ruling of the
secretary, large areas may be desig-
mated as non-irrigable without raising
the question whether the land is in
other respects subject to homestead
entry, the work of examining and clas-
styling these large areas necessarily
proceeds rather slowly. In addition to
these so-called "blanket designa-
tIons, therefore, designations of small
ler areas are made as rapidly as their
non-irrigaple character is determined,
including areas whose designation has
been requested by individual settlers
for enlarged homestead entry or for
additional entry ON tracts adjacent to
their present unprotected entries.
Formal Legal Statement Not Necessary
No definite form of petition is re-
quired, but each application should be
limited as far as possible to the speci-
fc tract desired for entry and should
contain a description, by section,
township and range, of the Applicant g
original homestead entry and the date
of this entry, as well as a description,
also by legal subdivisions, of the land
desired for additional entry. Informa-
tion az to the possibility of irrigating
the land should also be furnished and
should include the distance and direc-
tion of the nearest stream or existing
or proposed irrigation canal, the ele-
vation of the lowest point of the land
above such source of water supply,
the depth at which water can be reach
ed by wells sunk on the land, and all
available information concerning at
tempts to obtain water by this method.
The general character of the land,
both of the homsteader's original en-
try (if he has made one) and of the
land desired fer additional entry,
should also be Described, to aid the
survey in reaching decision as to its
non-irrigability.
This information should be embodi-
ed in a letter to the director, U. s.
Geological Survey, Washington, d. G.
A formal petition drawn up by mo-
tary or an attorney is not at all neces-
sary, and will not result in any earlier
consideration of the matter than will
be given if the applicant writes per-
sonally. Action will be taken on ev-
cry request as promptly as is consist
ent with proper regard to other re-
quests that are pending and the appli-
cant will be promptly notified when a
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