(a) The adjoining owners or possessors of embanked marshes or meadows shall be obliged to join in cutting division ditches at least 8 feet wide and 21/2 feet deep, and in making fences at least 2 feet high within 1 foot of the edge of the ditches, at their common cost. The division ditches shall be well cleansed at least once a year and the fences kept in good repair, and they shall be deemed lawful fences.
(b) If any owner or possessor refuses or neglects to join in making the ditch and fence, or to keep the ditch in good order and repair, the adjoining owner or possessor may make or cleanse and repair the same, and may recover the proportion of the cost thereof as the fence-viewers determine the party neglecting ought to pay.
(c) A guardian shall be allowed any sum so expended or paid for that guardian's ward, and a lessee or tenant may deduct the same from his rent, unless otherwise stipulated by the contract. This section shall not be construed to repeal any special law respecting the improvement of marsh or meadow whereby any other provision is made concerning dividing ditches or fences.