Weekly journal-miner., 1913-12-03
NEW PROCEDURE FOR FILING ON
 HOMESTEADS
SECRETARY LANE OUT LINES METHODS FOR LOCATING ON 320 ACRE CLAIMS
(From Thursdays Daily.)

as it 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 un- der the original homestead law Only land which has been "desig mated" by the secretary of the in- terior as "non-irrigable" can be en- tered under this act. More than 200O00000 acres have thus been designated, but petitions and sworn statements requesting further desig- nations are constantly being re- ceived.
 In an interview just given out, Secretary 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-homestead designa tions may be made. The secretary states that only the simplest and most direct action by the settler is required, and that it is wholly un- necessary for him to incur the charges made by attorneys who draw up formal petitions that are in fact no more effective than the homesteader's own letter would be. On this account a brief statement of the essential facts relative to the enlarged homestead law is time ly.
 The first enlarged-homestead act was approved February lo, 1909 and as later amended provides that in the States of Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada New Me,'co, North Dakota, Oregos, Washington and Wyoming any per son who is qualified to make entry under the homestead laws may en- ter as much as 320 acres of public land which is ill a reasonable com pact body and is non-mineral, non irrigable, unreserved, and unappro- priated and does not contain mcr- chantable timber. Before such entry can be made, however, the land must be designated by the sec retary of the interior as not being, ir his opinion susceptible of sue Nsr1 1,1, ,,. cost from any known source of water supply.
 The work Of classifying the lands and determining what areas may be | considered non-irrigable has been assigned by Secretary Lane to the | United States geological survey. Al though under the present ruling of the secretary large areas may be designated as non-irrigable without raising the question whether the land is in other respects subject to 1 homestead entry, the work of exam ming and classifying these large areas necessarily proceeds rather slowly in addition to these so-callcd l blanket" designations, therefore, designations of smaller areas arc made as rapidly as their non-ir- rigable character is determined, in i cluding areas whose designation has ! been requested by individual set tiers for enlarged homestead entry or tracts adjacent to their present | unprotected entries.
 No definite form of petition is required, but each application should be limited as far as possible to the specific tract desired for entry and should contain | description by sec ton, township and ranges of the applicants original homestead entry and the date of this entry, as well as d description, also by legal sub divisions, of the land desired for beneficial entry. Information as toi the possibility of irrigating the land should also be furnished and should include the distance and direction
  of the nearest stream or existing or proposed irrigation canal, the elevation of the lowest point of the land above such source of water supply, the depth at which water can be reached by wells sunk on the land, and all available information concerning attempts to obtain water by this method. The general char acter of the land, both of the home steader's original entry (if he has made one) and of the land desired for additional entry, should also bel described to aid the survey in reach ing decision as 10 its non-irrig- ability.
 This information should be cnl- bodied in a letter sent to the di-