HOMESTEADS ' 57 



cultivation thereof, for a period of at least 14 months immediately preceding 

 submission or proof of filing of notice of intention to submit 

 Residence same, and the existence of a habitable house upon the claim. 

 Upon the The area actually cultivated must equal at least one-sixteenth 



Land Is of the entire acreage A person submitting commutation proof 



Requisite. must, in addition to certain fees, pay the price of the land, -'this 

 is ordinarily $1.25 per acre, but is $2.50 per acre for lands 

 within the limits of certain railroad grants. The price of certain ceded 

 Indian lands varies according to their location, and inquiry should be made 

 regarding each specified tract. 



"\Mien a homesteader applies to make entry he must pay in cash to the 

 receiver a fee of $5.00 if his entry is for 80 acres or less, or $10.00 if he 

 enters more than 80 acres. And in addition to this fee he must pay, both 

 at the time he makes entrv and final proof, a commission of $1.00 for each 

 40-!acre tract entered outside of the limits of a railroad grant and $2.00 for 

 each 40-acre tract entered within such limits. Fees under the enlarged- 

 homestead act are the same as above, but the commissions are based upon 

 the area of the land embraced in the entry. In all cases where lands are 

 entered under the homestead laws of Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, 

 Montana, Nevada, New ^lexico. Oregon, Utah, ^^''hshington and Wyoming, 

 the commission due to the register and receiver on entries and final proofs, 

 and the testimony fees under final proofs, are 50 per cent more than those 

 above specified, but the entry fee of $5.00 or $10.00, as the case may be, 

 is the same in all the states. 



A mortgage by the entryman prior to final proof for the purpose of 

 securing money for improvements, ot for any other purpose not inconsistent 

 with good faith, is not considered such an alienation of the land as will pre- 

 vent him from submitting satisfactory proof. In such a case, however, 

 should the entry be cancelled for any reason prior to patent, the mortgagee 

 would have no claim on the land or against the United States for the 

 money loaned. 



The following table shows the amount of imappropriated and unreserved 

 public land in each land district July i, 1913, together with a brief sum- 

 mary of the general character of the acreage of each county, showing the 

 amount of land open, and is taken froiu Circular 259 of the general land 

 office : 



— Not a bank in Montana issued clearing house certificates in 1907. 



