SECTION III.

PROFESSIONAL QUERIES.

CXCII.

METROPOLITAN MANAGEMENT ACT, 1862.

(For Replies to this Query, see pp. 476, 477.)

Section 61 provides that any person may with the consent of the board or vestry make or branch any drain into the public sewer, "such "drain being of such size, materials, and other conditions, and branched "into such sewer in such manner and form of communication in all "respects, as the board or vestry shall direct or appoint."

Does this apply to such part only of a house drain as may be considered to form the connection with the public sewer, or does it give the vestry power to regulate the whole arrangement of drainage, and make regulations as to the formation of inspection and turning 'chambers; the form of traps and gullies to be used; sizes of pipes and materials of which they must be made; bedding drain in concrete; ventilation of drains; &c., &c.?

The particular case in question is where the surveyor to one of the London vestries compels the use of a 9-inch stoneware drain, laid in the form of a huge syphon trap, and bedded in concrete, for the combined drainage of two houses with three w.c.'s each, instead of an ordinary 6-inch stoneware drain (quite ample for two houses with three w.c.'s) with properly arranged disconnection chamber. It seems that the function of such an arrangement of a 9-inch pipe would bear greater resemblance to a cesspool than a drain, which results may demonstrate.

OXCIII.

TENANT FOR LIFE-DILAPIDATIONS.

(For a Reply to this Query, see p. 477.)

To what extent can a reversioner require a tenant for life to reinstate property (particularly as regards painting) left under a will containing the following clause :-"subject, nevertheless, to the payment

"thereof from time to time of all such sums as may be necessary for "keeping the several estates and premises in repair"?

Would old and badly-cracked York stone paving be required to be reinstated with new, or would jointing the old with Portland cement be considered sufficient?

CXCIV.

BOUNDARY-RIVER BANK.

(For Replies to this Query, see p. 478.)

A covenants with B to sell a close of land at £300 per acre, the measurement of the said close to be afterwards determined.

(1) The southerly side of the land is bounded by higher ground 10 feet above A's land, with a thorn hedge at the top of the bank. The higher and lower ground are occupied by the same tenant, though owned by two distinct landlords, and no information can be had as to ownership of fence.

The lower land (A's) appears to be alluvion from the adjoining river, or at some time has been the course of the river.

There is a public footpath running on the top side of the fence, and, owing to the danger of falling down the bank, it would be necessary to have a fence there, even though there was one at the bottom of the bank. Can A claim beyond the foot of the bank?

(2) On the northerly side the river has washed away the bank all along the frontage, and in several places to the depth of 20 feet. A has at different times had stakes driven in the river, which he claims as the extent of his boundary.

Can A claim beyond the natural water mark of the river, which is not tidal?

The normal level of the river is about 6 feet below the field.

CXCV.

DISEASE IN BEECH TREES.

(For a Reply to this Query, see p. 478.)

I shall be much obliged for any information concerning the disease affecting beech trees, which resembles blight or mildew, and appears on the bark of the stem and limbs, and which in advanced stages causes the bark to separate from the wood. It is, I believe, due to some insect. I especially wish to know if it often proves fatal, and whether there is any cure or means of prevention. The trees in question are in North Wales, and the soil is a loam, and the subsoil mostly gravel. I have noticed the disease in several parts of the country.

CXCVI.

AGRICULTURAL HOLDINGS ACT-REFEREE-WASTE-LAND TAX

REDEMPTION.

(For Replies to this Query, see pp. 478, 479.)

1. Is it necessary that a referee under the Agricultural Holdings Act, 1883, be a licensed valuer, or, can an ordinary land agent who is not a licensed valuer act as a referee ?

2. In counterclaiming under the above Act where no claim is made for manures, what can be claimed under the term "waste"?

3. Is there any record kept of the land that has been redeemed of land tax, and, if so, how is it to be obtained?

CXCVII.

IRRIGATION.

(For Replies to this Query, see p. 480.)

What should be the inclination of the ridges in ridge and furrow irrigation on grass land?

I propose to have the ridges 30 feet wide, but I cannot find it stated anywhere what the difference in level between the crown and furrow should be. I do not want the liquid to run off too quickly, as it is sewage, and my chief object is to purify it; but, at the same time, I do not want it to stagnate, and rot the grass.

I should also be glad of advice as to what length the ridges should be, and what fall they ought to have in the direction of their length.

CXCVIII.

AGRICULTURAL HOLDINGS ACTS, 1875 AND 1883.

(For Replies to this Query, see pp. 481, 482.)

The lease of an English farm, dated 1888, for seven years, contains the following clause :-"That all allowances for unexhausted improve"ments shall be regulated and valued according to the modes "specified in the Agricultural Holdings Act, 1875."

Does this in any way affect the tenant's right to claim under the Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883, and, if so, in what way?

CXCIX.

ARCHITECT'S LIABILITY FOR QUANTITIES.

(For Replies to this Query, see pp. 483, 484.)

A contractor's estimate is accepted for the erection of some new buildings, his figures being based on quantities taken out by the

architect, and the clients embody in their contract a condition that "the quantities were not guaranteed, though they were believed to be accurate, and great care had been taken in their preparation; but the "contractor, whose tender was accepted, would be expected to satisfy "himself as to their accuracy before signing the contract, and any "claims for inaccuracies were to be made before signing the contract or commencing the work. After the contract was signed or the "work proceeded with, the contractor was to be wholly responsible for any errors, if any should afterwards be discovered in the bills of quantities."

No time was allowed the contractor to check them (for a £10,000 job), though he did not ask for it, as he relied on the great care observed, but the details were not prepared had he wished it.

The work was proceeded with, and on completion it was obvious there was a big mistake somewhere. The building is measured, and it is found that there are great inaccuracies, and many items left out. The architect then repudiates everything, the client's solicitor advising that he cannot enter into the items on his behalf.

Is not the architect responsible for his own work, as he has received the usual fees-a consideration?

WATER RIGHTS-EASEMENT.

(For a Reply to this Query, see p. 484.)

A, the original owner of an estate, supplied a field with water about 35 years ago from a stream on an adjoining field. A sold the field from which the water supply was drawn to X, some 10 or 15 years since; but, it seems, made no reservation.

A has since sold the remainder of his estate to B. The pipe which supplies the water from the land of X to that of B has recently stopped, and X refuses to allow B, who is willing to pay surface damages, to relay the pipe, unless he pays an annual acknowledgment for taking the water, of which there is sufficient for both. Is X right?

AGRICULTURAL HOLDINGS ACT, 1883, SECTION 44.

(For Replies to this Query, see p. 485.)

I am expecting to have to distrain upon a tenant whom a generous landlord has allowed to be in arrear at the present time to the extent of one year's rent, legally due last Michaelmas, but not paid at the date of collection of the other rents on the estate, early in December last, nor since; and of course now another half-year is legally due on 25th March last, but not payable till June next. Can I any time before June distrain for the year's rent to Michaelmas last?

COII.

RATING OF HOARDINGS.

(For a Reply to this Query, see p. 485.)

A hoarding was let at £120 per annum, and the rating surveyor has arrived at an assessment thus:

Rent £120 per annum.

25% allowed for rates = £90 gross.

5% allowed off that = £86 rateable.

And this is put forward as a custom in his parish.

Is this a fair way of arriving at the rateable value of such property, having regard to the terms of the Advertising Stations (Rating) Act, 1 889? Is it more or less than is usually allowed in London parishes?

COIII.

AGRICULTURAL HOLDING-DEFINITION.

(For Replies to this Query, see p. 486.)

Is a holding comprising a private house and offices, with gardens and shrubbery and ten acres of pasture land, let to a person not deriving his living from agriculture, pasturage, or market gardening, but who, nevertheless, stocks the land, and disposes of such stock partly by sale and partly for domestic purposes, an agricultural holding within the meaning of the Agricultural Holdings (England) Act, 1883, or is the pasture land alone, and separately from the house, garden, and shrubbery, so?

CCIV.

SURFACE WATER-DEFINITION.

(For Replies to this Query, see pp. 487, 488.)

Is water falling upon a roof properly called "surface water"? For certain consideration, the owner of an estate partly in and partly outside the borough of B. obtained the right of draining the whole of the houses on his estate into the Corporation sewers. The agreement affecting this arrangement contains these words, "The "owner shall, so far as practicable, exclude surface water from the "said sewer."

It is desired to connect the drains of a house outside the borough with the main sewer inside the borough, and the Corporation refuse to allow the main sewer to be tapped, because they say that the water from the roof of the house goes into the drains, and that is surface water. Not a particle of water from the surface of the ground goes into the drain.

The Corporation have no separate system of surface drainage, all the water falling upon the roads being by them taken into their

sewers.