HERBERT R. O'CONOR, GOVERNOR. 1427

fall short of the minimum area or exceed the maximum area
herein specified as follows:

Chesapeake Bay.......... 5 acres to 500 acres

Tangier Sound............ 1 acre to 100 acres

Worcester County......... 1 acre to 50 acres

All other Counties........ 1 acre to 30 acres

(h) Application for Lease. Any person wishing to lease sub-
merged lands of this State, in accordance with the provisions of
this section, shall apply to the Department of Tidewater
Fisheries for a blank application form, and said form shall be
executed by the applicant to show his place of residence, the
estimated area of the submerged land for which a lease is
sought and a description in detail of the location of said land.

(i) Application Fees and Advertisement. Upon receipt of
application and an application fee of Five Dollars ($5. 00), the
Department of Tidewater Fisheries shall proceed to advertise
the application once a week for four successive weeks in a
newspaper published in the county in which or nearest to
which the area applied for is located; said advertisement to
describe the location of the area applied for and to give the
name and residence of the applicant; and said Department
shall have no authority to issue any lease without such adver-
tisement. The application fee shall remain with the Depart-
ment until final disposition of the application, and, whenever
for any reason, an applicant is not granted a lease said appli-
cation fee shall be returned to the applicant.

(j) Protest Against Lease. Any three or more residents of
this State may, within the period of thirty days after the last
insertion of said advertisement, file a protest in writing against
such application in the Circuit Court of the county in which,
or nearest to which, the area applied for is located, and the
Clerk of said Court shall thereupon docket a suit at law in
which the protestants are the plaintiffs and the Department of
Tidewater Fisheries is the defendant. The Court, or any Judge
thereof, shall thereupon pass an Order directing summons to
issue for the defendant, to be served in the same manner as
summons in action at law, and returned by some day to be
named in said Order. Said Court or Judge shall also furnish the
defendant with a copy of the petition and the defendant shall
answer said petition within fifteen days after the return day
to which it is summoned, unless the Court, for good cause, has
extended time for answering it. After filing of said answer,
or in default of answer within the time fixed, the Court shall
proceed promptly to hear all evidence adduced by the parties,
or either of them, and shall decide whether the area described
in said petition is or is not a natural bar, and judgment shall