FOREST POLICY. 27 



rate of one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre away from the rail- 

 roads, and in alternate sections along the railroads at two dollars and 

 fifty cents per acre. 



In Oklahoma, homesteaders settling under the homestead law- 

 must pay from one dollar to two dollars and fifty cents, and in Minne- 

 sota, on the former Chippewa reservation, one dollar and twenty-five 

 cents extra per acre. 



A number of special laws facilitate homesteading for certain 

 applicants and in certain localities. 



Second: Isolated tracts of vacant land are sold upon request of 

 parties interested, after advertising in the local papers, in tracts not 

 exceeding one hundred and sixty acres in extent, at public auction. 

 Minimum price must be one dollar and twenty-five cents. These are 

 the only auction sales of public lands. Sales in 1902 aggregate 80,841 

 acres. 



Third: The Timber and Stone Act, permitting every citizen or 

 prospective citizen to acquire one hundred and sixty acres of land, 

 unfit for either agriculture or mining, at a price of two dollars and 

 fifty cents per acre. 



Sales in 1902, under this act, comprise 545,254 acres. 



Fourth: The Desert Land Act, meant to encourage irrigation and 

 permitting the disposal of public land in quantities not exceeding 320 

 acres. Grantee is not required to reside on the land granted. Wood- 

 land can scarcely be acquired under this act. 



Sales in 1902 comprise 929,230 acres. 



Fifth: The Indian land laws provide that Indian lands ceded to 

 the United States, if agricultural or irrigable, must be opened to 

 homestead entry. 



In 1902, 116,150 acres of Indian lands thus ceded were sold at 

 $2.50 per acre. 



Indian allotments, the President alotting to each member of a 

 tribe from 40 to 160 acres according to its age, are held in trust by 

 the United States for the allottees, to be conveyed in fee, after the 

 lapse of 25 years. Indian Territory and some Indian reservations 

 (New York, Nebraska) are exempted from this rule. 



Indian allotments made in 1902 amounted to 31,190 acres. 



Sixth: The Mining laws distinguish between — 



(i) Placer mines, which are open to entry in tracts not exceeding 

 160 acres, obtainable at $2.50 per acre. 



(2) Lode mines, which are patented to the claimant in tracts not 

 exceeding about twenty acres, on payment of $5 per acre. 



In both cases, claimant must have invested on his claim $500 for 

 labor and improvements before issue of patent. 



In the Lake States, further in Missouri, Kansas, Alabama, mineral 

 land is either sold at public auction or opened to entry like agricul- 

 tural land. 



