305] The Condition of the Western Farmer. 27 



moved away. This relinquishment of pre-emptions occurred 

 almost entirely in the fall of '74, when the time given by law 

 for " proving up " had expired, and the holders found them- 

 selves unable to pay the amounts required to complete their 

 title under the pre-emption laws. It must be remembered 

 that this land being within the Union Pacific ten-mile limit, 

 pre-emptors were obliged to pay the government the double 

 minimum price, $2.50 per acre. 



Facts given in Appendix A will show how it sometimes 

 happened that several entries were made upon the same tract 

 of land. To illustrate the number sometimes so made, we 

 may take the case of the northwest quarter of section 

 eighteen in this township, on which ten entries were made, 

 the first in '72 and the last in '82. 



The last entry made on government land in the township 

 was in February, 1884. In all 159 entries had been made, of 

 which ninety-seven were homesteads, fourteen soldiers' home- 

 stead declaratory statements, twenty-five pre-emptions, and 

 twenty-three timber claims. 



We have noticed above the number of entries made on 

 land in the various months. By referring to these figures it* 

 will be evident that the number- of entries in August and 

 September, 1872, formed nearly half of the total number in 

 that year. Now, many of those who made entries at this 

 time did not actually enter into possession of the land until 

 the following spring, and, evidently, those who took pos- 

 session in the fall could do little more than get some kind of 

 habitation in readiness, and a very little, if any, breaking 

 done, before winter set in and put a stop to work. So their 

 first year saw, practically, no farming undertaken. 



Those not familiar with the subject sometimes think of 

 the conditions of colonization under our present land laws as 

 having been of such a character that the empty-handed settler 

 could, through the mediation of the government, soon be- 

 come the possessor of a well-equipped farm. But a very little 

 reflection shows us that the gift of the soil is by no means 

 all that is needed as the foundation for a farm. To convert 



