TENANTS IMPROVEMENTS

XXXI. This Part of this Act shall apply only to Land let for Agricultural Purposes.

XXXII. The Word '' Tenant" as used in this Part of this Act shall mean a Tenant from Year to Year, and shall include the personal Representatives of such Tenant.

XXXIII. The Word " Owner " as used in this Part of this Act shall mean any Person, or Body of Persons, corporate or unincorporate, having an Estate in Land equal to the Estate by the First and Second Parts of this Act required to constitute a Limited Owner, or having a greater Estate than such Limited Owner.

XXXÏV. Any Tenant of Lands may, upon Compliance with

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Ihe Provisions hereinafter contained, make such Improvements thereon as are hereinafter mentioned, and upon the Completion thereof shall he entitled, by way of Compensation for his Outlay, to an Annuity of such Amount and to he charged in such Manner as is hereinafter mentioned on the Lands on which the Improvements have been made, and any other Lands lying together with the lirst-mentioned Lands, and held of the same Owner, with this Exception, that no Tenant shall be entitled to Compensation under this Act in respect of any Improvements which the Owner might have compelled him to make in pursuance of any Contract or Custom.

XXXV. The Expression " Improvements, " as used in this Part of this Act, shall comprise the following Works (that is to say) ;

(1.) The Thorough Drainage or Main Drainage of Lands :

(2.) Reclaiming Bog Land, or reclaiming or inclosing Waste Land by clearing Land of Rocks or Stones, or by subsoiling by Manual Labour :

(3.; The making Farm Roads or Fences :

(4.) Irrigation :

(5.) Protection of Land by Embankment from Inland Waters :

(6.) The Erection of Farmhouse or any Building for Agricultural Purposes suitable to the Holding, or the enlarging or the extending of any such Farmhouse or Building erected or to be erected thereon, so as to render the same more suitable to the Holding :

(7.) The Renewal or Reconstruction of any of the foregoing Works, or such Alterations therein or Additions thereto as are not required for maintaining the same, and increase durably their Value.

XXXVI. It shall be lawful for any Owner notwithstanding the Terms of any Settlement, to agree with the Tenant for the Execution of such Improvements by the Tenant, and in the Absence of such Agreement it shall be lawful for any Tenant, previously to making any such Improvements, to serve on the Owner or his Agent a Notice under his Hand, stating the Particulars of the intended Improvements, the proposed Manner of effecting such Improvements, the estimated Expense of effecting

llie same, a Description of llie J.and proposed to be charged, and the Time, being not less than Three Months from the Service of such Notice, at which he proposes to commence such Improvements.

XXXVII. The Owner may, within Tliree Months after the Servic-e of such Notice, give Notice in Writing to the Tenant th'at he disapproves of such ])roposed Improvements, or any Part thereof, and no Tenant who has received such Notice shall be entitled to commence any Improvements from which the Owner has so dissented.

XXXVIII. Upon the Completion of the Improvements, or in the event of the Tenant being turned out of the Tenancy by the Owner before such Completion, the Tenant shall lodge with the Clerk of the Peace of the County where such Land lies a Statement of the Expenditure that has been incurred, not exceeding the Amount stated in the Agreement or in the Notice served on the Owner, and a Description of the Lands intended to be charged with an Annuity in respect of such Expenditure, being the whole or -Part of the Land described in the Agreement or in the Notice swved on the Owner.

XXXIX. Upon the Receipt of such Statement the Clerk of the Peace shall serve Notice thereof on the Owner or his Agent, and shall insert in such Notice a Statement of the Time and Place at which the Chairman will be prepared to make his Order charging the Lands mentioned in the Statement with such Annuity as is hereinafter mentioned, unless Cause is shown to the contrary at the Time and Place named, or at some other Time and Place of which Notice may be served on the Owner or his Agent.

XL. Previously to making such Order the Chairman shall hear the Owner, or any Person appearing on his Behalf, and objecting to such Certificate on the Grounds that the Improvements have not been properly executed, or that the Money stated has not actually been expended in the Improvements, or that the Lands proposed to be charged, or a Portion of such Lands, are not Lands subject to be charged in pursuance of this Part of this Act, and if no Appearance is made on behalf of the Owner he shall, previously to making his Order, require Proof of Notice

having been duly served on the Owner or his Agent : The Cliairman may make Inquiries by Valuation Commissioners, Surveyors, or other competent Persons as he may thinlv right, and may direct the Expenses of such Inquiries to be paid by such Person and in such Manner as he may think fit, and may, if he thinks it just, disallow the whole or any Portion of the Expenditure, and may exclude any Lands that appear to him not chargeable under this Part of this Act ; but if satisfied that tlie whole or any Portion of the Expenditure ought to be allowed, he shall make a Provisional Order specifying the Amount of Expenditure allowed, and charging the Lands mentioned in the Order with an Annuity of Seven Pounds Two Shillings for every Hundred Pounds of such Expenditure, and so in proportion for any less Sum ; such Annuity to be limited in favour of the Tenant, his Executors, Administrators, or Assigns, and to be declared to be payable for a Term of Twenty-five Years, commencing from the Date of the Order, on each Anniversary of such Date ; subject to this Proviso, that no Payment in respect of such Annuity shall accrue due until sued Provisional Order has been made absolute.

XLL Where any Improvement, under this Part of this Act, is effected wholly or partially by the Labour of the Tenant or his Family, the Value of such Labour shall be deemed to be Part of the Expenditure incurred in making the Improvement, and may be taken into account accordingly.

XLII. All Improvements in respect of which an Annuity is payable under this Part of this Act shall, during such Time as intervenes between the Date of the Provisional Order and the Date at which such Order is made absolute, in manner hereinafter mentioned, be maintained by the Person who has made the same, his Executors, Administrators, or Assigns, in a proper State of Repair, reasonable Wear and Tear excepted.

XLIIL In the event of the Tenant In whose Favour a Provisional Order has been made being turned out of the Tenancy by the Owner, or by any Person claiming by, through, under, or in trust for him, or any Person claiming any Estate or Interest under the same Settlement as the Owner subsequent to the Estate of the Owner for the Time being, before the Expiration of the

Term of Twenty-five Years mentioned in the Provisional Order, he may apply to the Chairman to make the Provisional Order absolute, and the Chairman shall make the same absolute as from the Date at which the Tenant has been turned out of the Tenancy ; and upon such Order being made absolute the Annuity charged thereby shall forthwith become payable to the Tenant for the unexpired Residue of the Term of Twenty-five Years in the Order mentioned, together with a proportionate Part thereof for such Period, if any, as may intervene between the Time at which the Tenant is turned out of his Tenancy and the First Day appointed for Payment thereof by the Order.

XLIV. No Provisional Order under this Act shall be made absolute by any Chairman, unless the Owner for the Time being whose Lands are proposed to be charged thereby or some Person duly authorized on his Behalf appears before him, or Proof is given to the Chairman that Fourteen Days previous Notice at the least of the Intention of the Tenant to make the Application for an Order Absolute has been served on such Owner or his Agent in manner in which Notices are hereby required to be served, and the Chairman shall hear such Owner or any other Person appearing on his Behalf, and contending that the Tenant is indebted to him for Arrears of Rent or Taxes or in respect of a Breach of Contract, or of the not having maintained in a proper State of Repair the Improvements for which he claims the Annuity, and any Sums in which the Tenant may be so proved to be indebted to the Owner shall be set off against the Annuity payable lo the Tenant, and the Chairman in making the Order absolute shall specify how such Set-off is to be carried into effect, and what Abatement is to be made in the Annuity on account of such Debts.

XLV. If any Tenant dies, becomes bankrupt or insolvent, before he has completed any such Improvements as he is hereinbefore authorized to complete, his personal Representatives or Assignees may complete the Improvements at the Expense of the Estate of such deceased bankrupt or insolvent Tenant, and thereupon shall become entitled to the same Annuity as such Tenant would have been entitled to if he had died, become bankrupt or insolvent.

XLVI. Every Annuity created in pursuance of this Part of this Act shall be a Charge on the Estate of the Owner in the Lands comprised in the Order and on the Estate of every Person claiming by, through, under, or in trust for such Owner, or if the Land is in Settlement, taking any Estate in such Lands subsequent to the Estate of such Owner and under the same Settlement, subject to all Encumbrances on the Land subsisting at the Date of the Provisional Order, but having Priority over all Encumbrances subsequently created by the Owner or by any Person claiming by, under, or in trust for him, or if the Estate is in Settlement, taking any Estate under the same Settlement subsequent to the Estate of the Owner ; and for the Purposes of this Section, the Order Absolute shall be deemed to relate back to the Date of the Provisional Order, and the Word " Owner" as used in this Section shall mean the Person who may be Owner at the Date of the Provisional Order being made.

XLVII. The Clerk of the Peace shall keep an alphabetical Registry in his Office of all Provisional Orders and Orders Absolute made by the Chairman of which he is Clerk in pursuance of this Part of this Act, and shall allow any Person to inspect the same at all reasonable Times on the Payment of One Shilling.