No. 1. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 171 



would not authorize the person to continue to use it for all purposes 

 after the wood had been taken off. 



A right of way may also arise by act and operation of law. For, 

 if a man grants me a piece of ground in the middle of his field, he at 

 the same time tacitly and impliedly gives me a way to come to it, and 

 I may cross his land for that purpose and not be a trespasser; for 

 when the law giveth anything to one, it giveth impliedly whatsoever 

 is necessary for enjoying the same. 



By the law of the Twelve Tables at Rome, when a man had the 

 right of way over another's land, and the road was out of repair, he 

 who had the right of way might go over any part of the land he 

 pleased, which was the established rule in public, as well as in pri- 

 vate ways; and the law of England, in both cases, seems to corre- 

 spond with the Romans. 



The waj's, of which we have been speaking latterly, are termed 

 "ways of necessity," and are always strict "necessity." 



The necessity must not be created by the party claiming the 

 right of way. It never exists where a man can get to his property 

 through his own land, and it will be to no purpose for him to set 

 up the plea that a road through his neighbor's land would be a better 

 one, more convenient, or less expensive; neither will it do for him 

 to claim that a road through his own land would be too steep or too 

 narrow, as the case might be. It is only where there is no way 

 through his own land, that his right of way over the land of another 

 exists, and a right of way, of necessity, extends only to a single 

 way. 



But, whereabouts shall be the wav? The owner of the land over 

 which it exists, has a right to locate it in the first instance, with 

 this limitation, that it must be a convenient wav. If he fails or 

 refuses to locate, or makes an inconvenient way, or unreasonable 

 location, the right devolves upon the grantee of the way. 



The right of way, of necessity, ceases with the necessity which 

 gave rise to it; so that if a public road is opened, or the grantee 

 purchases other lands which give him a way, or it becomes suddenly 

 impassable by natural causes, such as the overflowing of a stream, 

 or the falling of trees in a storm, he would have a right to deviate 

 to oneside until the stream would fall, or he had an opportunity to 

 remove the obstruction. 



All these rights of way are liable to become nuisances to the 

 farmer, and may frequently lead to litigation, and it is important 

 to know that it matters not in what manner a right of way is ac-" 

 quired over your land, you have the right, in the absence of any stipu- 

 lation to the contrary, to erect suitable gates or bars at the entrance 

 thereto from the highway; and if another party leave them open. 



