sample, and in the presence of both seller and buyer, or justice and buyer, as the case may be, the sample thus drawn shall then be put in a glass or tin vessel and securely sealed, and there shall then be placed on said vessel a label, and on said label shall be inscribed a certificate signed by both parties, setting forth that the enclosed sample is a fair and correct sample; and the vessel shall then be packed and forwarded to the commissioner of agriculture, and the commissioner of agriculture, on the analysis of said sample, shall forward one copy to the seller and one copy to the purchaser of the said fertilizer.

If the analysis of any fertilizer obtained through an inspection, or in the manner above provided, shall fall ten per centum in value below the value of the manufacturer's guaranteed analysis, the commissioner of agriculture shall forbid the further sale in this state of said fertilizer, and the purchaser shall be entitled to recover of the manufacturer or seller the purchase money thereof: provided, the purchase money has been paid by him, and the seller shall be debarred from the recovery of the purchase price of said fertilizer, if the same is then unpaid, but an appeal shall lie from the decision of the commissioner of agriculture to the board of agriculture, who shall give due notice to the manufacturer or seller, and a hearing with full opportunity to produce evidence before them. The decision of the board of agriculture shall be final.

§ 6. The commissioner of agriculture shall have full control of the inspection and analyses of fertilizers. He shall, by and with the advice and consent of the board of agriculture, appoint as many inspectors of fertilizers as may be necessary, including one from each of the five grand divisions of the state, but not more than one from any congressional district, that the salary of each inspector shall not exceed seventy-five dollars per month for the time employed and expenses while so employed, and shall adopt all needful rules and regulations (not inconsistent with this act) as in the said commissioner's judgment may be best for carrying out the provisions thereof, but all such rules and regulations shall be approved by the said board. He shall endeavor to obtain fair samples of all brands of fertilizers offered for sale in this state, and shall have same analyzed by the official chemist of the department, and shall publish said analyses for the information of the farmers.

The copy of said official chemist's analysis of a fertilizer or chemical, when certified to by him, shall be admissible as evidence in any court of this state on the trial of anything involving the merits of said fertilizer.

§ 7. The board of agriculture shall have full and absolute control of all money arising from the fees aforesaid, and shall adopt all needful rules and regulations providing for the collection and disbursements of said fees, and shall require the same to be deposited with the treasurer of the state, and to be drawn therefrom upon warrants issued by the auditor of the state, out of which shall be paid the expense of carrying out the provisions of this act, including a commission of two per centum. to the commissioner of agriculture for collecting and disbursing the said fees: provided, the total amount of commissions so received shall not, together with the salary allowed by law, exceed the sum of two thousand dollars. And any surplus of said funds shall be used by the said board of agriculture for carrying on experiments on the nutrition and growth of plants with a view to ascertain what fertilizers are best suited to the various crops of the state, and whether other crops may not be advantageously grown on its soil, and reporting, publishing and disseminating the result of such experiments.

§ 8. The commissioner of agriculture shall give a good and sufficient

bond in the sum of thirty thousand dollars for the faithful performance of his duty, and shall keep a correct and faithful account of all fees received and certificates issued by him, showing from whom the fees were received, and, as far as practicable, for what fertilizers the certificates were intended to be used, and shall make a quarterly report of receipts and disbursements to the board of agriculture, and the amount of money arising under this act. The said board of agriculture shall make report annually to the governor accompanied by detailed statements of all its receipts and disbursements.

§ 9. The term "commercial fertilizer

or fertilizers, where the same are used in this act, shall not be held to include lime, land, plaster. ashes, or common salt, or tobacco stems, ground and unground. All fertilizers sold or offered for sale in violation of this act shall be seized by the commissioner of agriculture or his agents; shall be delivered to the officer of the court having jurisdiction of the offence, and said fertilizers shall be subject to the disposition made of the same by said court.

All violations of the provisions of this act shall be prosecuted and punished as violations of the revenue law of this state are prosecuted or punished.

§ 10. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent with this act are hereby repealed.

2. This act shall be in force from its passage.

CHAP. 15.-An ACT to enable commissioners in chancery to adjourn proceedings before them from their own county or corporation to any other county or corporation, and there continue such proceedings and take depositions and other evidence and compel attendance of witnesses.

Approved January 11, 1900.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That a commissioner in chancery of any court in this commonwealth to whom has been referred any account or other matter may, if it shall appear to him necessary, adjourn such proceedings from his own county or corporation to any other county or corporation, and there continue such proceeding and take depositions and other evidences in like manner and with like force and effect as if the same were done in his own county or corporation. And such commissioner shall have the power to compel the attendance of witnesses before him in the manner prescribed by the acts of the general assembly of Virginia, approved February twelfth, eighteen hundred and ninety-four, entitled an act to enable commissioners in chancery to compel the attendance of witnesses before them. 2. This act shall be in force from its passage.

CHAP. 41.-An ACT to amend and re-enact the fourth subdivision of section 834, code of Virginia, as amended and re-enacted by an act approved March 3, 1898.

Approved January 11, 1900.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That the fourth subdivision of section eight hundred and thirty-four, code of Virginia, as amended and re-enacted by an act approved March third, eighteen

hundred and ninety-eight, be amended and re-enacted so as to read as follows: Fourth. Provide temporary officers when necessary; insure buildings; fix allowances to officers. To cause the county buildings to be insured in the name of the board of supervisors of said county and their successors in office for the benefit of the county, if they shall deem it expedient, and if there are no public buildings to provide temporarily suitable rooms for county purposes; to determine what annual allowances, payable out of the county treasury, shall be made to the attorneys for the commonwealth, clerks, and sheriffs of their respective counties, so that in counties containing a population of ten thousand and less the allowance to each of said officers shall not exceed three hundred dollars; in counties containing ten and less than fifteen thousand, four hundred dollars; in counties containing fifteen and less than twenty thousand, five hundred dollars; and in counties of more than twenty thousand, six hundred dollars; but in the counties of Henrico and Norfolk the annual allowances for sheriffs may be fixed at a sum not exceeding fifteen hundred dollars; in the county of Chesterfield, a sum not exceeding seven hundred and fifty dollars; and in the counties of Henrico and Norfolk the annual allowance for the attorney for the commonwealth, in the first named county, at a sum not exceeding one thousand dollars, and in the last named county at a sum not exceeding one thousand five hundred dollars, and that the council of Norfolk city shall be authorized to increase the allowance of the commonwealth's attorney to a sum not exceeding fifteen hundred dollars.

2. This act shall be in force from its passage.

CHAP. 49.-An ACT to amend and re-enact section 1271 of the code of 1887, in relation to the securities to be deposited with the treasurer by foreign and home insurance companies.

Approved January 13, 1900.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That section twelve hundred and seventy-one of the code, as amended by an act approved January the fourteenth, eighteen hundred and ninety, and an act approved February the twenty-eighth, eighteen hundred and ninety, in relation to the securities to be deposited with the treasurer by foreign insurance companies, be amended and re-enacted so as to read as follows: § 1271. Securities to be deposited with the treasurer.-Every such company shall, by an agent employed to superintend or manage the business in this state, deliver under oath to the treasurer of this state a statement of the amount of capital stock of said company, and deposit with him bonds of the state of Virginia or of the United States, or bonds of the cities of Richmond, Petersburg, Lynchburg, Norfolk, Alexandria, Danville, Portsmouth, Winchester, Staunton, or Manchester, or Roanoke to an amount equal to five per centum on the said capital stock, and the treasurer shall thereupon give the agent a receipt for the same: provided, that the cash value of the securities so deposited need not be more than fifty thousand dollars, nor shall it be less than ten thousand dollars, and no single bond so deposited shall exceed in amount the sum of ten thousand dollars.

And upon the face value of such deposits, the treasurer of the commonwealth shall be authorized to make an annual assessment of one-twentieth of one per centum, to be by him collected of the general agent of such

company for the state of Virginia, or, if there be no such general agent, then of any local agent doing business for said company in the state, to defray the expenses of his office in the safe-keeping and handling of such securities, and, after the payment of said expenses, whatever remains shall be retained as a compensation to himself for his care and labor in connection with said securities, a detailed statement of which shall be furnished by him to each session of the general assembly. The treasurer shall collect for the year eighteen hundred and ninety in July, eighteen hundred and ninety, and annually thereafter in the month of July. If the bonds so deposited be registered bonds, the company shall at the same time deliver to the treasurer a power of attorney, authorizing him to transfer said bonds, or any part thereof, for the purpose of paying any of the liabilities provided for in this chapter. Upon the exhibition of the said receipt to a commissioner of the revenue of the county, district, or city in which an office of the said company in this state is or is intended to be located, and the payment of the specific license tax, which may be imposed thereon, a license shall be issued in the manner prescribed by law to said company to carry on its business, and if at the end of the period for which a license is given the said company desire another license, it shall only be given on the certificate of the treasurer that the bonds required by this section to be deposited with him are in his possession. The treasurer shall require any such company to make good any depreciation or reduction in value of said securities, and he shall in the month of December in every year examine all securities so deposited with him for the purpose of ascertaining whether any of them have depreciated or been reduced in value. Any insurance company incorporated by this state making a deposit of bonds with the treasurer shall be required to pay the assessment required by this act. 2. This act shall be in force from its passage.

CHAP. 74.-An ACT to amend section 2498 of the code of Virginia, as heretofore amended in relation to the release and satisfaction of liens.

Approved January 17, 1900.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That section twenty-four hundred and ninety eight of the code of Virginia, as amended and re-enacted by an act approved March third, eighteen hundred and niney-eight, entitled an act to amend and re-enact section. twenty-four hundred and ninety-eight of the code of Virginia, as amended and re-enacted by an act approved February twenty-seventh, eighteen hundred and ninety-four, as amended and re-enacted by an act approved February twenty-ninth, eighteen hundred and ninety-six, as amended and re-enacted by an act approved February twenty-eighth, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, be amended and re-enacted so as to read as follows:

§ 2498. When payment or satisfaction is made of a debt secured by mortgage, deed of trust, vendor's or mechanic's lien, it shall be the duty of such lien creditor, unless he shall have delivered a proper release deed, to cause such payment or satisfaction to be entered on the margin of the page in the book where such incumbrance is recorded; and for any failure to do so, after five days' notice, if the note, bond, or other evidence of debt secured by such lien shall be left with the lien creditor, or with the clerk in whose office such incumbrance is recorded, until the

lien is released, as provided by this section, he shall forfeit twenty dollars. Such entry of payment or satisfaction shall be signed by the creditor or his duly authorized agent, attorney, or attorney in fact, and the note, bond, or other evidence of debt secured by such lien, duly cancelled, shall be produced before the clerk in whose office such incumbrance is recorded, or an affidavit shall be filed by the said creditor or his duly authorized agent or attorney, or attorney in fact, with such clerk, to the effect that the debt therein secured and intended to be released or discharged has been paid to such creditor, his agent, attorney, or attorney in fact, who was, when the said debt was so satisfied, entitled and authorized to receive the same, and that such note, bond, or other evidence of debt has been cancelled and delivered to the person by whom it was paid, or has been lost or destroyed and cannot be produced as herein required; and when so signed and the signature thereto attested by such clerk, with a certificate that said note, bond, or other evidence of debt duly cancelled was produced before such clerk, or that the affidavit hereinbefore required has been duly filed with such clerk, the same shall operate as a release of the incumbrance, as to which such payment or satisfaction is entered, as fully and effectually as if the said. marginal entry were a formal deed of release duly executed and recorded. Any person who owns or has any interest in real estate on which such incumbrance exists may, after twenty days' notice thereof to the person entitled to such incumbrance, apply to the county or corporation court of the county or corporation in whose clerk's office such incumbrance is recorded, or to the chancery court of the city of Richmond if it be in the clerk's office of the said court, to have the same released or discharged, and upon proof that it has been paid or discharged, or upon its appearing to the court that more than twenty years have elapsed since the maturity of the lien or incumbrance, raising a presumption of payment, and which is not rebutted at the hearing, such court shall order the same to be entered by the clerk on the margin of the page in the book wherein the incumbrance is recorded, which entry, when so made, shall operate as a release of such incumbrance; and the clerk's fee for so releasing on the margin of the page of the book wherein the incumbrance or lien is recorded shall be twenty-five cents. All releases heretofore made by any court under this section upon such presumption. of payment so arising and not rebutted, shall after the lapse of one year from the passage of this act, if no objection be made during that time be validated. A release of a deed of trust or a reconveyance of the property embraced therein, may in all cases be made to the original grantor, whether living or dead, and any release or reconveyance heretofore or hereafter so made shall enure both in law and in equity to the successors in title of such grantor.

2. All acts and parts of acts, so far as they are in conflict with this act, are hereby repealed.

3. This act shall be in force from its passage.

CHAP. 77.-An ACT to seize, retain, destroy, and attach forged or counterfeit obligations, bonds, or coupons of the state, and to exonerate the officers and employees of the state in making such seizure, retention, destruction and attachment.

Approved December 18, 1899.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That whenever any forged or counterfeit bonds or coupons of the state of Virginia shall in any manner come into the hands or possession of the second auditor