59 Vt. 104 | Vt. | 1886
The opinion of the court was delivered by
The contention. that the reservation of the crops to be grown upon the premises, to Luceba Bagley, until the note now owned by the plaintiff is paid, made in the deed from Gideon and Luceba Bagley to Myron Dunn, was a conditional sale of such crops by Luceba to Myron Dunn, and required by section 1992 R. L., to be evidenced by a written memorandum signed by Dunn, and recorded in the town clerk’s office, cannot bo sustained. At the time of the conveyance the crops had only a potential existence in the soil of the premises, and were reserved from the operation of the conveyance to Luceba. My) on Dunn acquired no right to them except upon the payment of the note now owned by the plaintiff. TIis right to the crops was contingent upon payment of the note. Payment of the note was a condition precedent to any right to the crops in contention attaching to or inhering in Myron Dunn. The recent cases of Walworth v. Jenness, 58 Vt. 670, and Dickerman v. Ray, 55 Vt. 65, are full authority against this contention.
II. The defendant further contends that the plaintiff, by the purchase of the note, which was to be paid before the crops became the property of Myron Dunn, acquired no legal title to the crops, and for that reason he cannot maintain an action of trespass or trover for the taking and sale of the crops by the defendant, as an officer, on legal process against Myron Dunn.
Smith v. Atkins, 18 Vt. 461, relied on by the plaintiff’s counsel as an authority that the plaintiff can maintain this action in his own name is not in conflict with the doctrine announced,
The judgment of the County Court is reversed, and judgment rendered on the report of the referee for the defendant to recover his costs.