In the Canton of Vaud the sale and acquisition of landed property are as unrestricted as in that of Bern. One-half of it is at the disposal of the testator, the other half must go to the children in equal proportions. Failing of issue, and if the deceased dies intestate, and be unmarried or a widower, his brothers and sisters succeed to half of the property and his parents to the other half. If none of these members of the family survive, the property is divided equally among the ascendants in the paternal and maternal line. In this Canton, where the breeding of cattle forms so important an industry, certain legislation closely allied to the occupation of the soil is worthy of a passing notice. This is known as _Cheptel_,--the contract by which one party undertakes to supply another with a certain number of cattle to tend and feed under specified conditions. The _Cheptel_ is of several kinds. In one, the hirer has the right to the milk, work, and manure of the cattle, the increase and loss being equally divided. It is illegal for the two parties to enter into any contract by which the hirer undertakes to bear all losses. Then there is _Cheptel à moitié_,--where two owners of cattle, who do not possess a sufficient number to lease them, each on his own account, join together and lease their stock to a third party, sharing the profit and loss with him on the same condition and terms as in the case first described. The third class of _Cheptel_ is where the tenant farmer rents the landlord’s cattle in conjunction with the farm, on the condition of his taking all risks, and that when the lease expires he shall leave behind a herd of cattle of the same value as that at which the original herd was estimated; all the profits from these cattle go to the farmer until the lease expires; the manure, however, belongs to the farm, and must be used for its exclusive benefit.