Lassell v. Reed
Lassell v. Reed
Opinion of the Court
The opinion of the Court was read at the ensuing September term in York, as drawn up by
Upon examination of the lease referred to in the statement of facts, we do not perceive any covenants on the part of Reed which have any direct bearing on the questions submitted for our decision. Nothing is said as to the management of the farm iu a husband-liko manner, or surrendering it at the end of the year in as good order and condition as it was at the commencement of the lease. The lease is also silent on the subject of manure. The same kind of silence or inattention has been the occasion of the numerous decisions which arc to be found in the books of reports between lessors and lessees, mortgagors and mortgagees, and grantors and grantees, or those claiming under them, in relation to the legal character and ownership of certain articles or species of property, connected with or appertaining to the main subject of the conveyance or contract. A few words, inserted in such instruments, expressive of the meaning of the parties respecting the subject, would have prevented all controversy and doubt. In the absence of all such language, indicating their intention as to the particulars above alluded to, courts of law have been obliged to settle the rights of contending claimants, in some cases according to common understanding and usage j thus window blinds, keys, &c. are considered as part of the real esfate, (though not strictly speaking fixtures,) or rather as so connected with the realty as always to pass with it. In other cases,
What then does policy and the public good dictate and require in the present case ? Before answering the question we would observe that we do not consider the case in any way changed by the fact that a part of the fodder was carried on to the farm by the defendant, and a part of the cattle on the farm were those leased -, for the purposes of the lease, such fodder and such cattle must be considered as belonging to the tenant during the term ; and he must be considered as the purchaser of the fodder growing on the land, by the contract of lease, as much as if he should purchase it elsewhere on account of the want of a sufficiency produced by the farm j because a farm not yielding a sufficiency would command the less rent on that account. Numerous cases shew that a tenant, at the termination of his lease, may remove erections made at his own expense for the purpose of carrying on his trade ; because it is for the public good that such species of enterprise and industry should be encouraged; and where th'e parties are silent on the subject in the lease, the law decides what principle best advances the public interest and accords with good policy, and by that principle settles the question of property. It is our duty to regard and protect the interests of agriculture as well as trade. It is obviously true, as a general observation, that
We do not mean to be understood by this opinion, as extending the principles on which it is founded to the case of tenants of livery stables in towns, and perhaps some other estate, having no connexion with the pursuits of agriculture ; other principles may be applicable in such circumstances j but as to their application or their extent we mean to give no opinion on this occasion.
The case most nearly resembling the present is that of Kittredge v. Woods, 3 N. Hamp. Rep. 503, in which it was decided that when land is sold and conveyed, manure lying about a barn upon the land, will pass to the grantee, as an incident to the land, unless diere he a reservation of it in the deed. The Chief Justice observ
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