Book III: Different ways of acquiring property

The lessee of a rural property is obliged, on pain of all costs, damages and interest, to warn the owner of any usurpations that may be committed on the land. This warning must be given within the same period as that which is regulated in the case of summons according to the distance of the premises.

If the lease is made for several years, and during the term of the lease the whole or at least half of a crop is removed by fortuitous events, the farmer may claim a remission of the price of his tenancy, unless he is compensated by the previous crops. If he is not compensated, the estimate of the remission can only take place at the end of the lease, at…

If the lease is for only one year, and the loss is all the fruit, or at least half, the lessee shall be discharged from a proportionate part of the rental price. He shall not be entitled to any rebate if the loss is less than half.

The farmer cannot obtain a remission where the loss of the fruit occurs after it has been separated from the land, unless the lease gives the owner a share of the harvest in kind, in which case the owner must bear his share of the loss, provided that the lessee was not on notice to deliver his share of the harvest. The farmer cannot also claim a remission where the…

The lessee may be charged for fortuitous events by express stipulation.

This stipulation applies only to ordinary fortuitous events, such as hail, fire from the sky, frost or blight. It does not apply to extraordinary fortuitous events, such as the ravages of war, or a flood, to which the country is not ordinarily subject, unless the lessee has been charged with all foreseen or unforeseen fortuitous events.

A lease, without writing, of rural land, is deemed to be made for the time necessary for the lessee to collect all the fruits of the leased inheritance. Thus the farm lease of a meadow, a vineyard, and any other land whose fruits are collected in full in the course of the year, is deemed to be made for one year. The lease of arable land, when it is divided…

The lease of rural hereditaments although made without writing, shall cease at the expiry of the term fixed by the preceding article, only by the effect of a notice given in writing by one of the parties to the other, at least six months before that term. If notice is not given within the period specified above, a new lease shall be entered into, the effect of which is governed…

The outgoing farmer must leave to him who succeeds him in cultivation, suitable lodgings and other facilities for the work of the following year; and conversely, the incoming farmer must provide to him who leaves suitable lodgings and other facilities for the consumption of fodder, and for the harvests remaining to be made. In either case, one must conform to the use of the premises.

The outgoing farmer must also leave the year’s straw and fertiliser, if he received them when he took possession; and even if he did not receive them, the owner may retain them according to the valuation.