§328 Expenditures and cultivation requirements

Summary

People cannot get official title to desert land under these entry rules unless they or the person who transferred it spend at least $3 per acre on needed irrigation, reclamation, farming, permanent improvements, and buying water rights. They must spend at least $1 per acre in the first year after entering the land, $1 per acre in the second year, and $1 per acre in the third year, until the full $3 per acre is spent. Each year they must file proof with the government official named by the Interior Department. The proof must include sworn statements from at least two reliable witnesses saying $1 per acre was spent and how. At the end of year three they must also file a map or plan of the improvements. If they fail to file the yearly proof, the land goes back to the United States, the 25 cents advanced payment is forfeited, and the entry is canceled. They may get the patent earlier if they already show $3 per acre has been spent and that one-eighth of the land is cultivated.