Page:Economic History of Virginia Vol 1.djvu/573

 down well-known natural objects as determining points, and then not infrequently sold the plats without the consent of the persons who owned them. So common did this practice become that the Assembly was compelled to interpose with a law, that the written particulars of no survey should be delivered within six months after it was taken. For the violation of this provision, a fine of five hundred pounds of tobacco was imposed for every one hundred acres in the tract, and this was to be paid into the treasury of the county in which the land was situated.

For the purpose of inducing a more competent, scrupulous, and trustworthy class of men to follow the profession of surveying, it was found necessary, in 1666, to double the fees hitherto allowed its members. The scale previously in operation had been twenty pounds of tobacco for every one hundred acres laid off, if the tract exceeded five hundred acres in extent, but if it fell short of that number, then the whole fee for the work was to amount to only one hundred pounds. Under the terms of the law of 1666, the surveyor was permitted to charge forty pounds of tobacco for every one hundred acres determined, in case the plat did not include more than one thousand acres in its limits, and if it did not cover that area of ground, his charge was restricted to four hundred pounds. His fee was paid by the person designing to sue out a patent for the land, but it does not seem to have been delivered ordinarily upon the completion of his work. The owner of the new plantation enjoyed the right of producing one crop of tobacco before the surveyor