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prevailing as to the requirements of proper notice to quit. Repeating here extracts from that judgment:
"I turn now to the evidence of the two witnesses who spoke as to the custom. It is clear from these witnesses that the time notice is given is fixed with reference to the reaping of the second rice crop, which occurs about the 10th moon, and notice is given after the second harvest. Tang Ying Lung mentions that the notice is given at this time, irrespective of whether the land is cultivated with rice or vegetables. It would appear then that in the case of land used for planting rice, the time at which the tenant gives up the land is limited to some 1 1/2 months. During the period from the second harvest until next spring, the land may be lying fallow; if, however, there are vegetables on the land, the tenant can occupy the land for a further period to enable him to get the full benefit from the vegetables which have already been planted, when notice is given. This does not inconvenience the landlord in any way because he will not begin to plough the land until about the 3rd moon. My understanding of the evidence of the custom is that such tenancies are annual; all the landlord is required to do is to notify the tenant after the reaping of the second harvest that he is terminating the tenancy at the end of the year. That is sufficient notice; obviously, there can be no objection if he notifies him he will require the land back at the end of the following year. The custom does not require him to add words to the effect that if the tenant has vegetables on the land, he (the landlord) will give him a further few months. It may well be that the landlord is unaware in what way the tenant is cultivating the land. The tenancy terminates at the end of the Chinese year, but, as the landlord will not require to start work on the land until about the time of the spring planting, the tenant may continue during the early months to remove crops planted at the time of the notice.
The tenancy is, by custom, annual, and it is sufficient for the landlord to give notice to terminate the tenancy at the end of a year.”
This matter was also considered by a land officer sitting at Ping Shan in 1954, and he described it thus:
"There is a Chinese custom, of which I take notice, that a landlord of paddy fields, in the absence of a written agreement, may give verbal or written notice to the tenant on receiving rent after the second harvest and before the Winter Solstice. The land shall be returned by the tenant