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VOLUME IX

HE law that has made it possible for so many people to acquire possession of timber lands in the Northwest for speculative purposes was passed by Congress in 1878, and distinctly stated that land secured under its provisions was not for speculation. At first it applied only to the States of California, Oregon, Washington and Nevada, but an amendment in 1892 extended its scope to all public land states. The intention of this law was to open to public use mountainous land unfit for cultivation and valuable chiefly for its timber, which could not be settled under the homestead law. But its provisions have not always been clearly understood by persons seeking timber claims, nor always insisted upon by officials of the land office. It is the purpose of this article to show the requirements of this law and to note some phases of its workings in the States of the Northwest.

Under the homestead law only heads of families, or unmarried persons over twenty-one years of age, can make application for land. But the privileges of the timber law are extended to every adult citizen of the United States. But no person can secure title to more than 160 acres, and this must be all in one body. The Government price for land available under this act is uniformly

A TWELVE-FOOT FIR AND ITS DESTROYERS

A man to each foot,

Copyright, 1901. by Darius Kinsey, Sedro-Woolley

$2.50 per acre, besides incidental fees.

After one has secured a location, with the assistance of an experienced