The Agricultural Holdings (^England) Act, 1883. 19 
only sections in which agents are mentioned, and then only for 
the purpose of signifying the consents and receiving the notices 
there specified. According to a well-known rule of construction, 
this express mention of agents as having powers for a special 
purpose, would exclude them from the exercise of powers in 
other parts of this Act where landlords are mentioned alone. 
Tenants, therefore, must bear in mind that, in all cases except 
those just referred to, the Act brings them into direct relations 
with their landlords, to whom all the formal notices and other 
communications required by the Act must be addressed. 
Section 4 provides in the tenant's interest that the landlord's 
undertaking to execute the drainage must be carried out " within 
a reasonable time," whatever period this may cover. When is 
the undertaking itself to be given ? Presumably at any time 
within the three or two months after which the tenant may 
begin the work. It will be hard if the landlord delays to give the 
undertaking until the tenant has been forced to buy materials 
and engage labour. On his side the tenant must begin the work 
before three months have passed after he has given notice of it, 
or he will have to serve a fresh notice and beofin aofain. It will 
be understood that, in default of any agreement, or intervention 
of the owner, after notice, the tenant may do the work, and will 
then become entitled to compensation under the Act. 
As to Agreements. — It may be assumed with some confidence 
that the effect of §§ 3 and 4 will be to force landlords and 
tenants into specific agreements in most cases (and in England 
these are not numerous) in which the former allow their tenants 
to make permanent improvements, or execute works of drainage. 
In such cases valuers will not meet with the difficulty of sharing 
the improved value of a holding between landlord and tenant, 
but they will be confronted with another difficulty hardly less 
serious. 
The view taken by Parliament being that tenants cannot be 
left to protect themselves in dealing with their landlords, it was 
necessary to make void all agreements forced upon tenants with 
a view to oust the Act. Parliament does not forbid agreements, 
but controls them, so as to secure for tenants not necessarily the 
exact statutory compensation now provided, but such adequate 
return for their outlay as will satisfy the spirit of the Act. On 
some holdings, and under special circumstances, especially in 
executing permanent improvements, the new law contemplates 
that it may be well for landlords and tenants to make their own 
arrangements. But lest the policy of the Act should be defeated 
by the permission thus given, " anv contract, agreement, or 
covenant will be void," so far as it deprives a tenant of his 
right to compensation for any of the specified 23 improve- 
C 2 
