U.S. Code

An Act entitled “An Act to amend an Act entitled ‘An Act to encourage the growth of timber on the western prairies,’ ” approved June 14, 1878, and all laws supplementary thereto or amendatory thereof are repealed: Provided, That this repeal shall not affect any valid rights accrued or accruing under said laws but all bona fide claims lawfully initiated prior to March 3, 1891, may be perfected upon due compliance with law, in the same manner, upon the same terms and conditions, and subject to the same limitations, forfeitures, and contests as if this section had not been passed: Provided further, That the following words of the last clause of section 2 of said Act, namely, “That not less than twenty-seven hundred trees were planted on each acre,” are repealed: Provided further, That in computing the period of cultivation the time shall run from the date of the entry, if the necessary acts of cultivation were performed within the proper time: Provided further, That the preparation of the land and the planting of trees shall be construed as acts of cultivation, and the time authorized to be so employed and actually employed shall be computed as a part of the eight years of cultivation required by statute: Provided further, That if trees, seeds, or cuttings were in good faith planted as provided by law and the same and the land upon which so planted were thereafter in good faith cultivated as provided by law for at least eight years by a person qualified to make entry and who has a subsisting entry under the timber-culture laws, final proof may be made without regard to the number of trees that may have been then growing on the land: And provided, That any person who has made entry of any public lands of the United States under the timber-culture laws, and who has for a period of four years in good faith complied with the provisions of said laws and who is an actual bona fide resident of the State or Territory in which said land is located shall be entitled to make final proof thereto, and acquire title to the same, by the payment of $1.25 per acre for such tract, under such rules and regulations as shall be prescribed by the Secretary of the Interior, and such officers as the Secretary may designate shall be allowed the same fees and compensation for final proofs in timber-culture entries as is now allowed by law in homestead entries: And provided further, That no land acquired under the provisions of this section shall in any event become liable to the satisfaction of any debt or debts contracted prior to the issuing of the final certificate therefor.