PHILLIPS LEE GOLDSBOROUGH, GOVERNOR. 383

to be filed, and when so filed shall be conclusive evidence in all
the Courts of this State as to whether the area embraced therein
is or is not a natural oyster bed, bar or rock, subject, however,
to the rights or resurvey, review and appeal hereinafter pro-
vided.

SEC. 98. After the survey or resurvey provided for herein
shall have been completed, it shall be the duty of the Board of
Shell Fish Commissioners to lease, in the name of the State of
Maryland, tracts or parcels of land beneath the waters of this
State, whether within the limits of the Counties or elsewhere,
in the area to be opened for oyster culture, according to the pro-
visions of this Act; provided that no tract so leased, if situated
within the territorial limits of any County in this State, shall
contain less than one acre of land, and if situated in any other
place, no tract so leased shall contain less than five acres. It
shall be the duty of said Board to require that the tracts so
leased shall be as nearly rectangular as is convenient. It shall
be the duty of the said Board to demand from each lessee pay-
ment of the rent each year in advance. No person shall be per-
mitted, by lease, assignment or in any other manner, to acquire
a greater amount of land than thirty acres situated within the
territorial limits of any of the Counties, or five hundred acres
in any other place; provided, however, that an individual may
acquire a tract not exceeding one hundred acres of land beneath
the waters of Tangier Sound. Leases of such lands shall be made
only to residents of Maryland. The term of such leases shall
be twenty years, and the annual rent reserved to the State shall
be one dollar per acre for each of the first two years of said
term of twenty years; two dollars per acre for the third year;
three dollars per acre for the fourth year; four dollars per acre
for the fifth year and five dollars per acre during the remainder
of the term. On and after April 1st, 1913, the Board of Shell
Fish Commissioners may lease at a rental price which, in their
judgment, is a proper one and commensurate with the value of
the land so leased, any land subject to the provisions of this Act
which has not been applied for or leased up to that time; pro-
vided, however, that no land shall be leased at a less price than
twenty-five cents (25c.) per acre, and the land so leased under
this provisions shall be subject to all other provisions of this
Act. If any part of the rent reserved under such leases shall
remain unpaid for more than sixty days after the same becomes
due, such lease or leases may at the option of said
Board be declared void, and in that event the land