1428 LAWS OF MARYLAND. [CH. 929

be entered accordingly. The hearing in said Circuit Court shall
be before a jury unless jury trial be waived by all parties, in
which event the hearing shall be before any Judge or Judges
of said Court. An appeal to the Court of Appeals of Maryland
may be taken by either party to said cause from the judgment
of said Circuit Court within thirty days thereafter, and the
Court of Appeals shall have the power to review all questions
of fact or law involved. If the final decision shall be that the
area in question is a natural oyster bar or bed, Charts of the
Oyster Survey of 1906 to 1912, on record in the office of the
Department of Tidewater Fisheries, shall be amended accord-
ingly. The parties filing petition in the Circuit Court, as
herein provided, shall first file a bond, with sufficient surety, in
the sum of Twenty-five Dollars ($25. 00), conditioned to pay
Court costs incurred in the event said petition is dismissed,
and the costs are imposed upon the petitioners; and the party
or parties taking the appeal to the Court of Appeals shall file
a similar bond in such sum as the Lower Court may fix, condi-
tioned to pay Court costs incurred in the event the appeal to
the Court of Appeals is dismissed, and costs are imposed upon
the appellant.

(k) Survey of the Area Proposed for Leasing. Immediately
after the termination of the respective periods prescribed for
the filing of petitions or appeals, as above provided, or imme-
diately after the final decision upon any protests or appeals
that the area in question may be lawfully leased, it shall be the
duty of the Department of Tidewater Fisheries to notify the
applicant by letter that said Department is ready to issue the
lease applied for; and upon the payment by the applicant of a
further fee of Two dollars and fifty cents ($2, 50) as a record-
ing fee, the said Department shall cause an accurate survey to
be made of the area, shall execute a lease, shall enter such
lease upon a book to be known as the "Register of Titles to
Oyster Lands", and shall mail said lease to the applicant for
his signature.

(1) Completion of Lease. If the applicant accept the lease,
he shall sign and return the same together with the first annual
rental as specified in the following sub-section. If the appli-
cant fail to accept the lease and pay within sixty days all fees
herein provided, the application and the lease shall become
null and void, and all payments theretofore made by the appli-
cant to the Department shall be forfeited; provided, however,
that the Department may, for good cause shown, extend the
time for acceptance of the lease for an additional period of
sixty days.

(m) Duration and Renewal of Leases. The term of leases
provided under this section shall be twenty years and the