LEGAL DEPARTMENT. 6oi 



expiration of the term for which the person is hired, either by mutual 

 consent, by the death of either party, or by the employed being unable 

 to perform his duty on account of siclcness or some permanent dis- 

 ability, the farmer must pay for the services rendered up to the time of 

 the termination of the services, and in case of death, personal represen- 

 tatives of the laborer are entitled to recover from the employer what 

 the services were reasonably worth. 



BOUNDARIES AND FENCES. 



Under the laws of all the States, every conveyance of land must be 

 in writing, and this conveyance should accurately describe the land 

 intended to be conveyed, so that its boundaries from the deed may be 

 correctly determined, and so clear and comprehensive that the parcel 

 conveyed may be distinguished and separated from all other land. If 

 the description is hopelessly uncertain, the conveyance will be void and 

 no title will pass. The boundaries are usually determined by monu- 

 ments, courses, distances and quantity of land conveyed. The monu- 

 ments will control courses and distances, and courses and distances 

 will control the quantity of land. This, however, is not the invariable 

 rule; natural monuments, naturally permanent, are the most reliable, 

 such as trees, streams, ponds, and lakes, beaches and shores, and also 

 walls, fences, streets and highways are regarded as reliable monuments. 

 Frequently an adjoining lot or farm is referred to as a monument in 

 the description of the land conveyed, and monuments consisting of 

 stakes and stones, when placed, will control courses and distances. 



The general rule is where land is described as bounded by a stream 

 which is non-navigable the center of the stream is the line, and when 

 described and bounded on the bank or shore of the stream, then the 

 bank or shore is the boundary. If the stream is navigable, in which 

 the tide ebbs and flows, the boundary is high-water mark on the shore. 

 In those States in which there are large navigable rivers in which the 

 tide does not ebb and flow, the boundary line is held to be low water 

 mark; in either case the upland proprietor has a right as appurtenant 

 to his land to erect wharves and piers extending to low-water mark, or 

 into the channel of the stream, subject to the supervision of the gov- 

 ernment for the benefit of the public, and as an appurtenance to said 

 lands, the owner has the right to a passageway to and from the main 

 channel of the river. Lands bounded by arms of the sea run only to 



