446 BUFFALO LAND. 



grouuded, describing the tract and giving the name of the 

 settler. A day will then be set for hearing the evidence, giv- 

 ing all parties due notice of the time and place of trial. It 

 requires the testimony of two witnesses to establish the aban- 

 donment of a homestead entry. 



Tlie notice to a settler that his claim is contested must be 

 served by a disinterested party, and in all cases when prac- 

 ticable, personal service must be made upon the settler. 



Another entry of the land will not be made in case of re- 

 linquishment or contest, until the cancellation is ordered by 

 the Commissioner of the General Land Office. 



When a party has made a mistake in the description of the 

 land he desires to enter as a homestead, and desires to amend 

 his application, he will be permitted to do so upon furnishing 

 the testimony of two witnesses to the facts, and proving that 

 he has made no improvements on the land described in his ap- 

 plication, but has made valuable improvements on the land he 

 first intended and now applies to enter. 



It is important to settlers to bear in mind that it requires 

 two witnesses to make final proof under the Homestead Act, 

 who can testify that the settler has resided upon and cultivated 

 the tract for five years from the date of his entry. 



Patents are not issued for lands until from one to two years 

 after date of location in the District Office. No patent will 

 be delivered until the surrender of the duplicate receipt, un- 

 less such receipt should be lost, in which case an affidavit of 

 the fact must be filed in the Register's Office, showing how 

 Baid loss occurred, also that said certificate has never been as- 

 signed, and that the holder is the bona fide owner of the land, 

 and entitled to said patent. 



By a careful examination of the foregoing requirements, 



