MAGISTRATE'S COURT.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LX, Issue 143808, 5 June 1912, Page 2

MAGISTRATE'S COURT.

A DEAL IN CARROTS. Tlie danger of entering into a deal without a written agreement was well exempiiiivd on T ue-wuay in a dispute over a verbal agreement an to cue terms under which a small patch oi carrots should be put in on snares, ana occupied the time oi the court nearly the whole day. Charles Cuisou, the plaintiff, for whom Air. A. If. Johnstone appeared, claimed the sum of £ls from the defendants, Barribail Bios. (Air. Cpiilliam;. Fiaiutili swore that tlie agreement which lie made with defendants was that they should put the crop in, keep the weeas down, and maKO tlio fences secure against the breaking in of slock. Deienaanls were to have the use of his horses and mu* chinery for the purpose of putting in the crop, and were to give him naif Uio returns; he was also to supply seed

and manure, ilc had offered them £:2 to help them with tho weeding, but this was only by way of giving them some extra help, and had notiling to do with the agreement proper. Charles .Haskell said that in the course of a conversation with him Barribaii told him that Colson had to find the manure, pay for putting in the seed, and they were to keep the crop clean and to half the crop. 11. Bieiuwski, corroborated this vci'siou of the deal. Thomas Bishop, a farmer on Egiuont Road, slated that the crop was a fair one. but had been eaten down by. Jiarribalfs cactie, and that very little weed T lag had been dune. lie estimated the value of a fair crop ol carrots at 3J.-> per ton, and that 10 tons per acre would be a fair crop. Barnball, in his evidence, swore that Colson had intended to crop a piece of land w hich ho was grubbing for him, but decided that it was too rough. Colson them suggested to him that lie Humid get one of his own paddocks ploughed. He (Barribaii) said that he had no horses, and Colson told him to get the work done. He pointed out that if he did this the agreement would have to bo altered. Accordingly they made a fresh one, whicl| was that each should keep his own half of the crop Hear of w eeds and go halves iu repairing the fences. He hired Haskell to do the work, and paid him for it. Colson was to send his drill as soon as the land was ready for the seed, but he failed to do so. and it was tiroo weeks before the seed could bo put nr in consequence of this delay, ana by that time tho weeds had a start. Colson came up one Sunday and they examined tho crop, which Colson thought- was worth wooding, and authorised him to offer £5 to get it done. Ho found that it could not be done for less than ,£7. This Colson said was too much, and they agreed to do Hie Avork themselves. Colson was to come up next day and help, but he did not arrive, but sent up ins boy on tho 'Tuesday; he, however, saw Barribaii senior and tried to arrange with him to do the work on his behalf. This the latter did not do, because he hoard that Colson had promised to do the work himself, and his sous wore waiting for him to arrive. .Subsequently cattle got into tho crop, which had boon partly weeded by Barribaii, and tho latter alleged that he had done his best to keep them pint, but admitted that he had not repaired the fence where the cattle got through, although ho only estimated the cost of repair at Bs. Three of defendant's brothers corroborated this version of the agreement. IJ.is Worship deferred his docision.