§ 366. Estates for life.-Estates for life are next in importance. These outrank estates for hundreds of years, because it is said that no one knows how long a man may live. Where an estate for life is carved out of a fee the land comes back to the grantor when the estate for life ends, and that which the grantor has is an estate in reversion; if, however, a grant is made for life to one, and at his death to another and his heirs, this latter takes a remainder in fee. An estate for life may be for the life of the grantee or for the life of another. An estate for life in this country terminates with the natural death of the person. Civil death, as it is called in England, is not now known in this country. When one entered a monastery he was civilly dead, and in this country under the first general bankrupt law the bankrupt was regarded as civilly dead.

§ 367. Rights of life tenant.-The life tenant has certain rights determining the use he may make of the property. He may take such wood and timber as may be necessary to keep up the buildings and inclosures and to supply him with fuel. He has no right to cut down timber and sell it for mere profit, but if there is a disproportion of woodland to arable land he may make a clearing; that is, he may remove the growing timber and dispose of the same so as to increase the arable land. The general rule is that he is entitled to the temporary use of the estate as he finds it, but in the United States, whether cutting any kind of trees in any particular case is waste seems to depend upon the question whether the act is such as a prudent farmer would do with his own land, having regard to the land as an inheritance, and whether the doing of it would diminish the value of the land as an estate.

$368. Emblements.-On the death of a life tenant his representatives have a right to the growing crops upon which the tenant has bestowed his labor. In fact, whenever one holds lands for an uncertain term, and dies, the emblements, or growing crops, which are the fruit of his labor, go to his representatives. The mere preparation of the land for sowing will not give such right unless the tenant has planted.

§ 369. Taxes and interest.-The life tenant who receives the profits of the land must keep down the taxes, and if when he comes to the estate it is incumbered, he must pay the interest on the incumbrance, though he is not bound to discharge the principal.

§ 370. Waste.-If a life tenant commits or permits waste, he may be enjoined at the suit of the remainderman or reversioner. If he permits taxes to become delinquent, so that the estate is in danger of being sold, the courts will sometimes, upon a proper showing, decree a forfeiture of the life estate.

§ 371. Estates for years.-An estate for years is where one is entitled to the possession and profits of land for a certain period. This estate is always created by the acts of the parties. The instrument creating it is termed a lease, and the parties are landlord and tenant. The execution and delivery of the lease perfects the title of the tenant. Sometimes these leases are practically interminable, though in form and theory they are for a fixed term, as where one leases lands for a term of ninety-nine years, renewable forever. It is quite common for railway companies to lease their lines to other companies for a period of nine hundred and ninety-nine years, and yet in law such estates and terms are deemed

to be of less dignity than a life estate. In some particulars the rights of the tenant for years are the same as those which belong to the tenant for life. The tenant for years has no right to emblements, for the term of his tenancy is fixed, but he may take timber sufficient for fuel and to keep up the repairs of buildings and enclosures, and he may sublet the premises, unless that right is cut off or restricted by the terms of the lease, and he is liable in damages for waste, and may be enjoined in equity from committing or permitting it.

§ 372. Rent.-Rent, according to Blackstone, is "a certain profit issuing yearly out of lands and tenements corporeal," or it is a periodical compensation in money or otherwise agreed to be given by the tenant to the landlord for the use of realty, the payment of which may be enforced like any other demand. One occupying the land of another, where there is no contract to pay a specific rent, is liable not for rent as such, but for the use and occupation of the premises, the amount to be reasonable, and in cases of dispute to be fixed by the jury.

If a tenant is evicted by a title superior to that of his landlord, the obligation to pay rent ceases; but so long as he remains in possession, neither the right of the landlord to demand rent nor the landlord's title can be disputed by the tenant.

A destruction of the premises by some inevitable accident will not exonerate the tenant from liability to pay rent for the unexpired term unless the lease contains a stipulation to that effect. There are exceptions to this rule, as where one rents apartments in a block and the whole structure is destroyed, the obligation to pay rent And it has been held that where the premises are destroyed after the execution of a lease, and before the

ceases.

lessee has taken possession, the tenant is not liable, and so a contract for a term to begin in the future does not bind the tenant to pay rent, if before the beginning of the term the premises are destroyed. And in case of a partial destruction of a building, if the insurance company takes possession to restore the premises, the tenant is not liable for rent, while the insurance company occupies the building for that purpose.

Where a lease provides for a forfeiture for nonpayment of rent when due, a tender or readiness to pay on the premises at any time before sunset on the day stipulated will be sufficient. If a different place for payment is designated in the lease, the payment or tender must be made there.

§ 373. Duration of tenancy.-In ascertaining the time of the beginning and ending of a term where the words "month" and "year" occur in leases the Gregorian calendar is used, by which the beginning of the year is January 1. Prior to the year 1752 the Julian calendar, fixing the beginning of the year on the 25th of March, was used. When the word "year" occurs in a statute or contract it is to be understood as meaning the whole twelve months according to the calendar, unless a contrary intention is clearly expressed. The period of time is always to be settled according to the intention of the parties. At common law a month meant a lunar month, but now it is held to mean a calendar month, both in England and the United States. A natural day is full twenty-four hours, and in legal contemplation the legal day is without fractions, but if two acts are performed on the same day and it is important which was first in time, evidence will be heard to fix the exact hour and minute. This becomes important in disputes as to the priority of liens, deeds, time of recording and the like.

In computing time from the day of the date, or from a certain act or event, the day of the date or act is to be excluded, unless it is clear that the parties to the instrument had a different intent. A week means a full week of seven days, and if by statute or rule of court a notice is to be published for a certain number of weeks, the publication is not completed until the number of weeks has fully expired from the date of the first publication. Thus, if the publication is to be once in each week for six successive weeks, and the first publication is on Tuesday, the publication is not completed without including Monday of the seventh week, which is the fortysecond day, and whatever was to be done dependent on such publication could not be done earlier than Tuesday of that week. When the day for the performance of an act or the payment of money falls on a legal holiday, the next business day following is the one on which performance or payment is to be made; except, however, that where days of grace are allowed, and the last day of grace falls on a legal holiday, the next preceding business day is the day for payment. The computation of time and the meaning to be given to terms such as "month," "year," etc., are often the subject of statutory regulation, and where there is a conflict, statute law supersedes and displaces the common law.

§ 374. Distress.-Distress was a right which the landlord had at common law to seize and hold the tenant's personal property to enforce the payment of rent. It became unpopular in the United States, has been abolished in some of them by statute, and has been superseded by the ordinary remedies for the recovery of money due. Some states give the landlord a first lien upon all crops for the security of his rent.