Poutra v. Sapp

181 S.W. 792, 1915 Tex. App. LEXIS 1243
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedDecember 10, 1915
DocketNo. 6968. [fn*]
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 181 S.W. 792 (Poutra v. Sapp) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Poutra v. Sapp, 181 S.W. 792, 1915 Tex. App. LEXIS 1243 (Tex. Ct. App. 1915).

Opinion

McMEANS, J.

E. E. Sapp and H. B. Sapp, plaintiffs, brought this suit against Joseph Poutra, defendant, for damages alleged to have resulted to them by reason of misrepresentations of fact by defendant concerning the condition of a farm rented to them by Poutra. They alleged in their petition, substantially, that on the 10th day of January, 1911, Poutra, claiming that he was the owner of a tract of land, represented that the land was good clean land adapted to the cultivation of rice, and that it was free from any and all poisonous or obnoxious grasses that would render it unsuited for cultivation in rice; that on said day they were shown the land by defendant, and that defendant then advised them that he would lease the land to them for the sum of $4 per acre; that, relying upon said representations of defendant, both as to the condition of the land and its adaptability to cultivation in rice, they executed a contract in writing with the defendant, by the terms of which plaintiffs obligated themselves to pay the defendant the sum of $4 per acre, it being provided therein that plaintiffs should execute their promissory note, dated January 14, 1911, for the sum of $2,400, payable to the order of the defendant, to bear 8 per cent, per annum interest after maturity, and stipulating that if a survey should disclose that there were less than 600 acres in the land so leased to plaintiffs, the defendant would indorse on the note a credit of the shortage at the rate of $4 per acre; that in accordance with their contract they executed said note to defendant, which by its terms matured December 1, 1911; that, relying upon said representations made by defendant, they entered upon and undertook to cultivate in rice the land shown to them by defendant, which land, upon a survey thereof, was found to'contain 495 acres; that at the time of the execution of said contract, and at the time the land was shown to plaintiffs, they were wholly unacquainted with the character or condition of defendant’s land, as to whether the same contained any poisonous or obnoxious grasses, or the seeds thereof, which would render the same unsuited or unfit for the cultivation thereof in rice, and that it was not possible at that time for plaintiffs to ascertain the adaptability of such land for the cultivation of rice, •or whether there was present in the land any poisonous or obnoxious grasses, or the seed thereof, which would render the same unfit for the cultivation of rice. Plaintiffs further alleged that at the time defendant made said representations to them, and for a long time prior thereto, said land was poisoned with numerous obnoxious grasses, and that principally said land was filled with ■the seeds of an extremely poisonous grass, commonly known to rice farmers as “hoorah grass,” which, plaintiffs allege, is “a grass which, when it comes, takes possession of the land, renders it wholly unfit for the cultivation of rice, in that said grass retards the growth of rice and causes it, in a large measure, to die and perish from the land, if not to do .so entirely”; that this condition of the land was well known to defendant, and should have been known to him by the use of ordinary care.

Plaintiffs further alleged that the said representations so made by the defendant were false and fraudulent, and were made with a view of deceiving and defrauding the plaintiffs and to induce them to enter into the occupancy of said land, and to cultivate the same in rice, and to make the contract and execute the note, well knowing that if the plaintiffs were informed or knew that the land was poisoned with such grass, they would not undertake to cultivate it, or execute the contract, or note; and that plaintiffs having faith and confidence in the representation of defendant, and in reliance thereon, at his request executed the note and contract; that had plaintiffs known or been informed by defendant that “hoorah grass,” or the seeds thereof, were upon the land, or had the defendant not made such representations as to the character and condition of the land, plaintiffs would not have entered into the contract of lease or executed said note; that, relying upon said representations, they undertook to cultivate rice upon the land, and that they did and had done all the necessary work and labor upon 495 acres thereof, and incurred all the necessary expense through the planting of said land in rice, when the “hoorah grass” made its appearance about March and April of the year of the lease; that plaintiffs, having at said time expended vast sums of money for work and labor in the cultivation of the rice, undertook and did everything known to rice farming to cultivate and grow a crop of rice upon the land, notwithstanding the presence of said grass, and to such end re-plowed about 270 acres thereof at further great cost and expense to them, and that they undertook throughout the growing season to raise a crop of rice upon the land, having already at the time the grass appeared expended vast sums of money and practically the necessary sum to grow and harvest a full crop.

Plaintiffs further alleged that they had contracted for water to irrigate the land, but that said grass had taken 270 acres thereof, and that it was useless to water said number of acres, in that the rice planted thereon had been crowded out by said grass, but that upon the remaining 225 acres the plaintiffs undertook to grow rice, notwithstanding said grass, and produced thereon about 1,400 sacks of the alleged value of $3 per sack; that in the cultivation of said land they incurred the reasonable and nec *794 essary expense of $5,872, so that the plaintiff will sustain a loss, aside from the value of their own services in and about the crop, about the sum of $2,500, not including therein the payment of said note or any part thereof; that if the land had been free from poisonous grasses, as represented by defendant, under the conditions existing in and abQut said land during the growing and harvesting season, they could and would have raised and harvested upon the entire tract of land 12 sacks of rice per acre; that with the amount of money expended by them upon the land in an effort to cultivate it, together with such additional expenses as would have been necessary to cultivate and harvest a crop of 12 sacks per acre, the plaintiff, after payment of all expenses, including the rental agreed to be paid for the land, would have realized a profit upon the crop of not less than $7,500, that defendant was well acquainted with the expenses necessarily incurred in the cultivation of rice, and knew that plaintiffs, in reliance upon his representations, would incur such expense, and, knowing that the land was poisoned with said grass, knew that they would not be enabled to raise and harvest sufficient rice on the land to amount to or pay the expenses of doing so.

Plaintiffs prayed for judgment canceling the note and contract, and for a recovery of $7,500 profit, as alleged they would have made had the representations of defendant been true, or, in case they were not entitled to that relief, that they recover their losses occasioned by the defendant’s misrepresentations, in addition to the cancellation of the note and contract, in the sum of’$2,500, and for general relief.

The defendant Poutra answered, denying the making of the representations alleged by plaintiffs, and by cross-action sought to recover of plaintiffs the amount due'upon said note.

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Bluebook (online)
181 S.W. 792, 1915 Tex. App. LEXIS 1243, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/poutra-v-sapp-texapp-1915.