Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, and SarL 
35 
Land is held in various ways, either as farms on lease 
paying annual rent, or as freeholds for ever. In the former 
case the lease cannot extend beyond nine consecutive years ; 
the conditions of leases are simple, generally commencing on 
Christmas-day : the tenant binds himself to pay to his land- 
lord at a stated time the yearly rent, to till and manure the 
land well, observing the customary rotation of crops : on the 
other hand, the proprietor is bound to keep the house, farm- 
buildings, fences, and so on, in tenantable and good condi- 
tion. A freehold is acquired by various means, either by 
paying down the full amount agreed upon, or by what is com- 
monly done, paying a part only, and converting the remainder 
into what are termed quarters of rent, it being a sort of mort- 
gage due on the property : formerly these rents were paid in 
corn, but they are now commuted for specific sums into money ; 
each quarter being estimated at 15s. 5c?. English money per 
annum. In all cases of purchase the purchaser is bound to ]my 
down at least one-fourth of the gross amount, either in money 
or in quarters of rent In such a case, when only part of the 
price of purchase has actually been paid down, and the remainder 
is due in annual rents, the purchaser is, to all intents, as much 
the proprietor as if he had paid down the full amount, and so 
long as he continues to pay the said rents regularly he is never 
disturbed, but he as well as his successors remain in perpetual 
possession of the property as freehold. The rents are guaranteed 
to the seller by the property sold, as well as by all other real 
property free from encumbrance held by the purchaser at the 
moment of purchase. Rents being always a property much in 
demand, and transferable, it follows that they can at any time be 
converted into cash readily. By this means the original owner 
reaps the income of his property, secured by the property itself, 
and which he can at all times re-obtain in case of non-payment ; 
while on the other hand the purchaser, by regularly paying the 
rents charged, becomes the lawful and perpetual owner, and. 
moreover, he can at any time when his means increase get rid of 
his debt by purchasing rents of a similar nature, and assigning them 
to the original proprietor, though still continuing to be the lawful 
guarantee for the rents so assigned. This mode of tenure, com- 
plicated as it may seem, has proved good, for many persons 
without much means, but merely through industry and economy, 
have sprung up and become more wealthy than former proprietors, 
who, after disposing of their estates, lived on the income derived 
therefrom. 
The great subdivision of property has caused farms to be of 
very small extent. The law of the island does not permit land 
or rents inherited to be devised by will, but they must follow the 
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