630                              Laws of Maryland                       [Ch. 456

19 (b).

Lands which are actively devoted to farm or agricultural use shall
be assessed on the basis of such use, and shall not be assessed as if
subdivided, it being the intent of the General Assembly that the
assessment of farm land shall be maintained at levels compatible
with the continued use of such land for farming and shall not be
adversely affected by neighboring land uses of a more intensive
nature. The General Assembly hereby declares it to be in the general
public interest that farming be fostered and encouraged in order to
maintain a readily available source of food and dairy products close
to the metropolitan areas of the State, to encourage the preservation
of open space as an amenity necessary to human welfare and happi-
ness, and to prevent the forced conversion of such open space to
more intensive uses as a result of economic pressures caused by the
assessment of land at a rate or level incompatible with the practical
use of such land for farming. The State Department of Assessments
and Taxation shall establish criteria for the purpose of determining
whether lands which appear to be actively devoted to farm or agri-
cultural use are in fact bona fide farms and qualify for assessment
under this subsection. Such criteria shall be promulgated in rules
and regulations which shall include, but shall not be limited to, the
following:

(1)  Zoning applicable to the land.

(2)  Present and past use of the land including land under the soil
bank provisions of the Agricultural Stabilization Act of the United
States government.

(3)  Productivity of the land including timberlands and lands used
for reforestation.

(4) The ratio of farm or agricultural use as against other uses
of the land.

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That this Act shall take effect
June 1, 1961.

Approved April 24, 1961.

CHAPTER 456
(House Bill 393)

AN ACT to repeal and re-enact, with amendments, Section 1 of Ar-
ticle 10 of the Annotated Code of Maryland (1957 Edition), title
"Attorneys at Law and Attorneys in Fact", sub-title "Admission
to the Bar", adding to the list of specified persons who are to be
deemed attorneys at law for the purposes of said Article 10, any
person who gives advice in the administration or probate of estates

Explanation: Italics indicate new matter added to existing law.

[Brackets] indicate matter stricken from existing law.
CAPITALS indicate amendments to bill.
Strike out indicates matter stricken out of bill.