HERBERT R. O'CONOR, GOVERNOR. 1429

annual rent therefor shall be such sum as in the judgment of
the Department is proper and commensurate with the value of
the leased land; provided, however, that no such land shall be
leased at a price less than One Dollar ($1. 00) per acre. At the
expiration of any lease in force on January first, nineteen hun-
dred and forty-five, there shall be allowed an additional period
of three years to all such lessees, and at the expiration of such
three-year additional period, the lessee, upon written request
to the Department, may be granted a renewal of said lease
upon the payment of re-survey and recording fees of Five Dol-
lars ($5. 00) and Two Dollars and Fifty Cents ($2. 50) respec-
tively. If no such written request be made, the leased area
shall revert to the State, and any one desiring to lease said
area shall proceed in the same manner as though the land had
never been leased.

(n) Termination of Lease. If any part of the rent required
by a lease remain unpaid for more than sixty days after the
same becomes due, such lease may at the option of the Depart-
ment be declared null and void, in which event the land shall
revert to the State and may be leased again in accordance with
the provisions of this section. The Department may, on the
written request of the lessee, if it appears equitable to do so,
cancel any lease either in whole or in part, and may diminish
or cancel the annual rental to an extent commensurate with the
area still under lease.

(o) Marking of Leased Land. Each lessee, immediately
upon completion of a lease, shall cause the land designated as
leased to him to be plainly marked out by stakes, buoys or
monuments, under the supervision of the Department of Tide-
water Fisheries; at least four of such stakes, buoys or monu
ments shall have the initials of the lessee plainly marked upon
them; and such stakes, buoys or monuments shall be main-
tained at all times by lessee or his legal representative.

(p) Rights of the Lessee. The lessee of any land leased for
the purpose of planting and cultivating oysters shall have
exclusive ownership of and title to all the oysters planted by
him or existing on the land leased; and the relationship of the
State and the lessee shall be that of landlord and tenant, and
so long as such lease shall be in force, both the State and the
lessee shall have all the rights and privileges of landlord and
tenant as defined in the laws of Maryland, except as follows:

First: Land leased under this sub-title shall be used only
for th6 purpose of planting and cultivating oysters;

Second: Residents of this State shall have the right to
crab or fish upon all leased areas, provided they do not
, remove or destroy oysters thereon;