Bern has two separate codes; the western or Jura district having adopted the code Napoleon, while the other portion of the Canton still adheres to the old Germanic code, with some alterations and improvements grafted on to it. The sale of land is absolutely free and unrestricted; the only formality consisting of a contract drawn up and signed by both parties and deposited at the cantonal registry office, for which there is a small registration fee, divided between the Canton and Commune. The ordinary duration of an original lease is from five to ten years. The lessee is in no way bound to any particular rotation of crops, and any attempt to exhaust the soil unfairly is very unusual. The outgoing tenant must deliver to his successor the farm in no worse condition than that in which he found it; and if the requisite amount of manure, etc., is not forthcoming, he must replace the deficiency. Only one-third of the landed property is at the absolute disposal of the testator, the remaining two-thirds must be divided in equal portions among the children. The only way a testator may favor a child is to bequeath to him that portion (one-third) which the law allows him to dispose of _ad libitum_, as an addition to his distributable share. Should, however, the wife survive her husband, she enjoys the absolute use of all of his property for her life, with no power to alienate or deal with it in any way, save with the consent of the Committee of Wards, a body to be found in every Bernese Commune. Failing of wife or children, the property is divided equally among the heirs at law, should there be no will disposing of the available one-third. There is an exception, not embodied in the code, but founded in an immemorial custom, which prevails in the extensive valley of the Emmenthal, where the youngest son inherits by right all the landed property at the decease of both parents, subject to an annual indemnity paid to his brothers and sisters, who in this way hold a preferred lien on the land. The origin of this custom is thus explained: Motives of safety formerly induced the proprietors of land to live within the walls of Bern, where they had their house and establishment, which passed to the eldest son, instead of land. The custom has held together the exceptionally large farms in this valley, some running up to a hundred and fifty acres each.