LAWS RELATING TO AGRICULTURE. 123 



SEC. 4532. [How obstructions may be removed.] If any owner 

 drive, or permits stakes to be driven, in the channel of such itch, or 

 in any other manner obstruct the ditch at any such fence crossing or 

 other part of such ditch, and permit such obstructions to remain after 

 ten days' notice in writing by the trustees, the trustees shall sell out 

 the work of removing such obstructions and hindrances ';o the lowest 

 responsible bidder, after giving ten days' notice of the time and place 

 of such sale, and the time within which the work is to be performed, 

 by posting up written notices or hand-bills in three of more of the most 

 public places in the township; and when such sale is made the trustees 

 shall take sufficient security for the performance of the work, and after 

 the sale the proceedings to collect the amount necessary to pay the pur- 

 chaser for the work shall be the same as are provided in section forty-five 

 hundred and forty-seven. 



SEC. 4533. [Appeals to the probate court.] Any person inter- 

 ested in the location of such ditch or in the amount of compensation 

 and damages determined upon by the trustees, may take an appeal from 

 the proceedings of the trustees to the probate court of the county, by 

 giving written notice thereof to the clerk of such township within eight 

 days after the decision of the trustees, and by filing with the clerk a 

 bond, with two or more sufficient sureties, conditioned for the payment 

 of all costs made upon such appeal in case the decision of 'the trustees 

 shall be sustained in the probate court ; which bond shall be made to 

 the acceptance of the township clerk and the probate judge of such 

 county, indorsed on the same, and filed by the probate judge with the 

 other papers in the case ; and such clerk shall thereupon, at the request 

 of each person so appealing, his agent or attorney, make and deliver 

 to each such person, his agent or attorney, a full and complete certified 

 transcript of the proceedings had in the case, which shall be filed with 

 the probate judge of such county within ten days from the filing of 

 such bond. 



SEC. 4534. [Consolidation of separate appeals, etc.] When two 

 JOT more persons have taken an appeal, according to the preceding sec- 

 tion, the probate judge shall order the consolidation of such cases, and 

 the rights of all parties interested shall be determined by the jury in 

 the one case thus consolidated, and any one of the appellants may give 

 the notice required in the preceding section ; and the probate judge, 

 upon the filing of such bond and transcript, shall issue a notice and 

 deliver the same to the appellants, returnable on a day therein named 

 not beyond fifteen days, which shall specify the time of meeting of the 

 parties before the court, for the purpose of hearing and determining all 

 preliminary questions pertaining to the case. 



SEC. 4535. [Notice to land-owners.] The appellants shall serve 

 the notice by copy on all persons interested in the location of the ditch 

 residing within the county, and if any person so interested reside out 

 of the county, or can not be served by a copy of the notice, the appel- 

 lants shall cause such notice to be published for three consecutive weeks 

 in some newspaper of general circulation in the county, and proof of 

 such publication shall be filed in the probate court together with proof 

 of the service of such notice on all persons interested as aforesaid, at 

 least three days before the time fixed for impaneling the jury. 



SEC. 4536. [Hearing of preliminary matters on appeal.] At the 



time specified in the notice, the probate judge shall hear and determine 



