Pre-emptions.--Any person qualified under the homestead laws can pre-empt 160 acres of government land within the limits of a railroad grant, and after an actual residence upon and cultivation of the same for at least six months, can obtain title by payment of $2.50 per acre, or, if outside the limits, $1.25 per acre. It is imperative, however, that the person so pre-empting shall (with his family, if any) reside upon the land. The cultivation of a few acres is sufficient. The same person, after having complied with the requirements of the laws of pre-emption, can homestead 80 acres within the railroad grant, or 160 acres outside the limits. In this way, a soldier or sailor can secure 320 acres within the limits; and it is open to the _world at large_ for _any_ man to acquire his 240 acres. An Additional Homestead.--In addition to the Homestead and Pre-emption laws, a recent act has been passed, whereby every settler, as the fruits of his industry, can obtain another freehold of 160 acres under the following act: An Act to amend an Act entitled “An Act to encourage the growth of timber on western prairies.” “Any person who is the head of a family, or who shall have arrived at the age of twenty-one years, and is a citizen of the United States, or who shall have filed his declaration of intention to become such, who shall plant, protect and keep in a healthy, growing condition for eight years, 40 acres of timber, the trees thereon not being more than twelve feet apart each way, on any quarter section of any of the public lands of the United States, or 20 acres on any legal subdivision of 80 acres, or 10 acres on any legal subdivision of 40 acres, or one-fourth part of any fractional subdivision of land less than 40 acres, shall be entitled to a patent for the whole of said quarter section, or of such legal subdivision of 80 or 40 acres or fractional subdivision of less than 40 acres, as the case may be, at the expiration of the said eight years, on making proof of such fact by not less than two credible witnesses.” How To Pre-empt.--When you have selected the land you wish for pre-emption or homesteading under whatever right, it is better to get a land attorney or clerk in the nearest land office to make out the necessary papers. This saves time, and the danger of mistakes.