FOREST BOUNDARIES. 11 



2. Settlement of Boundaries. 



All forests must be properly demarcated by boundaries. 



The procedure for settling boundaries differs according as 

 they are property or administrative boundaries. Administra- 

 tive boundaries depend merely on the will and pleasure^ of the 

 owner of the estate, and the details regarding them are dealt 

 with under Working -Plans. 



Property boundaries must be accurately denned. This is 

 of the greatest importance to the owner and also to the public, 

 so as to prevent uncertainty and unnecessary work for the 

 executive and legal machinery of the State. Hence in all 



civilised countries the procedure for settling property bound- 

 aries is laid down by law. Evidence as to the correct 

 boundary consists in existing boundary pillars or traces qf 

 where they have been, statements of old people who know the 

 boundaries, and boundary maps. The settlement is best done 

 by a public surveyor, who may be either chosen by the parties 

 concerned, the adjacent owners, or by the executive State or 

 local authority. 



During the boundary settlement the adjacent proprietors 

 should be present personally, or by their legally appointed 

 agents, and boundaries which may be regulated in their 

 absence after a formal summons to be present will be held to 

 have been duly accepted by them. The surveyor should 

 endeavour to lay down the boundary on the ground by friendly 

 agreement between the parties ; if he should not succeed, the 

 competent law-courts or officials must decide disputed points. 



The surveyor should fix the boundary lines as long and 



