1907. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
379 
TALKS WITH A LAWYER. 
Removal of Manure. 
I rented a farm, by the year. There was 
a total absence of manure on the place at 
time of taking possession. I now have 
notice either to buy or leave the farm. I 
am leaving this Spring and wish to know if 
manure can lawfully be removed which has 
been made on the place from my own cattle 
and straw brought on the place by me. 
J. E. H. 
It is the universal law in the Un'ted 
States that manure produced on the farm 
is a part of the realty, and cannot be sold, 
destroyed or removed either by a tenant 
or by vendor after sale of the farm. The 
reason for this rule is that this product 
was produced by the crops of the farm, 
and it should go back to the soil, also be¬ 
cause the law favors good husbandry. The 
rule is otherwise with livery stables or 
city barns, where all the forage and feed 
are brought to the premises. 
Security for Rent. 
In renting farm to tenant how can land¬ 
lord best secure payment of his rent in New 
York ? g. 
The landlord may require a chat¬ 
tel mortgage from the tenant on sufficient 
personal property to secure the rent. The 
instrument should recite that it is to se¬ 
cure the payment of the rent, otherwise it 
would be unfair to the tenant to admit a 
debt which may not exist. This should 
be filed with the town clerk. Another 
method is to recite in the written contract 
with the tenant the statement that all crops 
produced on the farm arc to be the sole 
property of the landlord until the rent is 
paid. This also should be filed with the 
town clerk as notice to tenant’s creditors. 
In drawing contract with tenant on share 
care should be exercised not to create a 
co-partnership, otherwise landlord is liable 
for debts of tenant. 
A Fencing Question. 
Can I compel my neighbors to fence 
against my sheep? They do not keep sheep, 
and refuse to build their division fence close 
enough to hinder them from walking through. 
I am not interested in the State laws relat¬ 
ing to stock fence. I keep sheep and I want 
to know if I can compel adjoining land own¬ 
ers to build their fence sufficiently close to 
turn sheep. My farm is iu New York State. 
A. L. B. 
Neither the statutes nor the decisions 
contain a crumb of comfort for A. L. B., 
for apparently sheep, swine and poultry 
were not in the mind of our legislators 
who framed the fence laws, nor the judges 
who interpret it in the suits before them. 
“Agree with thine adversary.” 
Removal of Temporary Building. 
Can a small building be built on another 
person’s property and built on blocks and 
taken away at any time, or built on to an¬ 
other person’s building and fastened with 
screws and taken off at any time? 
A. R. H. 
As A. R. II. does not mention the State 
he lives in we will cite the general rule in 
England and in the United States. A 
tenant may put up fixtures which are 
easily removed, readily taken down and 
which removal will not injure the realty. 
Much depends on how its removal will 
affect the land. A tenant would not be 
permitted to tear down a partition having 
a stone foundation, leaving an eyesore, 
but in case cited above the rem val doing 
no harm and the building being only tem¬ 
porary it would be proper to remove same. 
The spirit of the law is to encourage a 
tenant to make improvements, and he can 
take them away unless the removal does 
hurt to the place. But it is always safer 
to have an understanding with the land¬ 
lord. Make assurance doubly sure by a 
written consent. 
Farm Leases. 
Please state tbe legal rule about contracts 
to lease farms. Must they be written and 
saaied, or will a verbal agreement hold? 
If. J. K. 
A contract to lease for one year or less 
is valid. But it is much wiser to have 
such matters reduced to writing so as to 
insure against misunderstanding. A brief 
statement in general terms of the condi¬ 
tions covering all essentials signed by both 
parties will always hold. The idea is to 
guard against misunderstanding. But a 
layman usually omits many important 
terms, believing them to be implied. In 
this connection it should be remembered 
that neither party can introduce evidence 
to change the terms of a written contract, 
therefore put all your contracts in writing. 
Liability for Road Drain. 
I own a farm here and the public road 
runs the width of the south side of my 
place. On this public road there is a dip 
near the southwest corner of my farm with 
no drain to take care of the water, which 
during very heavy rain floods this said corner. 
A draiu of about 300 feet would take care 
of this water. This drain would have to be 
run across this southwest corner of my land. 
Could I compel the township authorities to 
put this drain in, or stand for part of the 
cost? P. G. D. 
F. G. D. has a right to place drains on 
his land following the natural flow of the 
surface wash even if such drains injure 
the owner of the lower land. We do not 
think that you cayi compel the township to 
put in a drain and bridge, but it would 
be wise to urge the town officials do this 
as a precaution against bad roads, delay to 
travelers and perhaps damages for any 
injury done to those using the road when 
badly washed. In your case it is better 
to exhaust persuasion before you appeal 
to the courts. 
Sheep Worried by Dogs. 
On December 22, 1905, a neighbor drove 
two dogs out of our sheep pasture. These 
dogs had killed or bitten 11 sheep so that 
they died, and wounded two more, besides 
Injuring flock badly. This neighbor says he 
drove both dogs to their homes, one under 
stoop to owner’s house and the other to the 
owner's barn. One neighbor offered to pay 
for half of dead and wounded sheep, but the 
other said he could prove that his dog was 
not in sheep pasture when sheep were being 
chased and bitten. I then, December 23, 
1905, sent for two assessors, who appraised 
the damage and gave a certificate for the 
same. The damage was appraised as follows: 
eight sheep at $7 per head, $50: three lambs 
at $4 per head, $12; two wounded sheep, 
$2 per head, $4; damage to flock (93 sheep), 
$16; pay of assessors (I paid them) $4; 
total, $92. I then sued the neighbor, who 
said he could prove where his dog was the 
day the sheep were bitten and killed, for the 
full amount of damage. The verdict was 
no cause for action, both he and his son 
swearing that they knew where their dog 
was, and that he did not go away from their 
place on the day that the sheep were chased. 
My lawyer told me that I need not sue the 
other neighbor, as the cases were alike, and 
the one suit practically settled both, but he 
said I must present my certificate of dam¬ 
age to our town board at their annual meet¬ 
ing in November. This I did, but they re¬ 
fused to pay, stating that they were not sat¬ 
isfied that I had been unable, to collect my 
damages, etc.; in other words, that I must 
sue the other neighbor and try to collect 
from, him liefore they would pay it. Now, 
must I sue this neighbor or can I collect it 
from the town? Also did the assessors have 
a right to assess any damage to the flock? 
It would be easy to prove that the flock was 
badly damaged. I live over a mile from the 
place where these sheep were kept, and had 
hired this young neighbor to watcli them; 
also our town board had offered a reward ot 
$10 to anyone who found a dog or dogs 
chasing and killing sheep, provided the owner 
of the dog or dogs was found and proved 
This secures the death of the dogs and saves 
the town the amount of damage if the own¬ 
ers of dogs are worth it. Where must I look 
for my pay for sheep killed, etc., and did the 
assessors have a right to assess damage to 
the flock? H. c. 
New York. 
H. C. is at liberty to sue the other 
owner as the first verdict is no bar to the 
second action, but you must have" clear 
proof. You should proceed in the county 
court, or if you have a qualified justice 
in a neighboring town you could sue 
there. The dogs’ previous good conduct 
is not material. The law provides that 
any two fence viewers of the town may 
call, examine witnesses under oath and 
certify to the town clerk as to their find¬ 
ings. Their report is good evidence. If 
you cannot recover from either man you 
can present your claim to the town board. 
Error in Fence Line. 
Some time ago I bought a farm in Somer¬ 
set Co., N. J. I had the farm surveyed and 
found that one of my neighbors had his line 
three feet or more on my laud. We each 
have the line fence to make. My part of 
fence that I have to make was three or mon- 
feet on my land. The fence is poor; we have 
to make new fences. Should I put my part of 
fpnce that I have to make right on the sur¬ 
veyed line? What shall I have to do with 
my neighbor’s? Should I notify him by let¬ 
ter and give him a certain amount of time 
to put the fence on his line? He gave it out 
that I had' not money enough to make him 
move the fence. What is the right way to go 
to work about it? h. l. 
We advise H. L. to write a friendly 
letter to his neighbor, citing the facts, 
and ask that he do what is right, keeping 
a copy of the letter. If he refuses to do 
anything you can call on two disinterested 
township committeemen to bear witness 
that you have to take down the old fence, 
and that you will have to build a new one; 
they will certify to the cost of the new 
fence, file it with town records. You can 
then recover the share of this cost from 
your neighbor, who must pay for the erec¬ 
tion of the fence which he failed to put 
up. But be sure the survey is right, and 
give him an opportunity to do his part 
first. This is the practice in New Jersey. 
Property Without Right of Way. 
I have purchased a 14-acre farm in Rock¬ 
land County, N. Y., surrounded by private 
property, and have no deed in my possession 
Stating a right of way through any of this 
surrounding land. Can these neighbors keep 
me from crossing their land and in order to 
reach my farm, and if so, what do you advise 
me to do? h. d. 
If the seller of the land to H. U. still 
owns land between his farm and a high¬ 
way, H. U. may go over the land of the 
seller to reach the road, because the law 
implies or imputes a way of convenience 
upon the seller. If the seller does not 
select a way or road then H. U. may pick 
out a road for himself and use that. If 
those facts do not exist it may be that the 
previous owner used a certain private road 
for 20 years; if so, then H. U. may use 
the same on the theory of prescription. 
If that does not exist, then H. U. must 
use tact and judgment with his neighbors 
to secure means of egress. We will dis¬ 
cuss more fully on recital of more facts. 
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