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THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



SHEEP WARRANTY: IMPORTANT TO FARMERS 



On Wednesday, May 9, the following case was tried at 

 the Salisbury County Court, before the Judge, Edward 

 Everett, Esq. It has excited great interest in the counties 

 of Somerset and A^'ilts : 



John Strong v. Charles Phillips. 



This was an action to recover the sum of £33 4s. Cd., for 

 a breach of warranty on the sale of some sheep by the de- 

 fendant to the plaintiff. The case was originally tried in 

 this court in January last, when a verdict was given for the 

 defendant. At a subsequent court, an application was made 

 for a new trial, on the ground that the verdict found by the 

 jury was contrary to evidence. His Honour granted the 

 application on condition that the costs of the first hearing 

 should be paid by the plaintiff. The case accordingly came 

 on for re-hearing on Wednesday last, before a jury, and the 

 court was crowded throughout the trial, which lasted from 

 twelve until after seven o'clock. Mr. Edlin, of the Western 

 Circuit, instructed by Mr. Balch, of Bruton, and Messrs. 

 Squarey and Whatman, of Salisbury, was counsel for the 

 plaintiff'; and Mr. T. W. Saunders, of the Western Circuit , 

 instructed by Messrs. Hoddings, Townsend, and Lee, waa 

 counsel for the defendant. 



Mr. Edlin, in opening the case, said that Mr. John 

 Strong, the plaintiff, was a farmer living at Evercreech, in 

 the county of Somerset, and Mr. Charles Phillips was also a 

 farmer living at Burford St. Martin, in the county of Wilts ; 

 and the action was brought for a breach of warranty respect- 

 ing the sale by the defendant to the plaintiff of 52 ewe sheep 

 at Wilton Fair, on the 12th of September, 1859, which the 

 defendant warranted sound. His case was, that this was a 

 false warranty, that the sheep were unsound, and that his 

 client was entitled to recover damages for the loss which he 

 had sustained by reason of such nnsoundness. 



John Strong deposed — I live at Small Down Farm, in the 

 parish of Evercreech, Somerset. On the 12th of September 

 last I was at Wilton Fair, when I agreed to purchase 52 

 sheep of Mr. Phillips, at £1 13s. 6d. per head. I asked him 

 how it was they were so poor, when he replied, " If you had 

 seen the downs on which they have been feeding, you would 

 not wonder at that, as they have run on the poorest down in 

 Wiltshire." I asked him whether the sheep were sound, 

 and he said, "Hear! I'll warrant them sound." Upon 

 that warranty I bought the sheep and paid for them. Mr. 

 Coles, a farmer, was present at the time. I paid the de- 

 fendant in a refreshment booth £87 23. for the sheep. They 

 got home to my house on the 14th of September. I put 

 them on a piece of ley. On the 18th of September — four 

 days after the arrival of the sheep— one of them died. 

 Another died on the 26th, a third on the 30th, and a fourth 

 on the 7th of October, On the 4th of November one died, 

 and another on the 6th. Mr. Ashford examined that one. 

 I lost another also on the 17th of November. On the 26th 

 of that month I sent for Mr. Hoddinott to kill one of the 

 sheep. I examined the liver. I also examined the livers of 

 the sheep which were shown to Mr. Ashford. They were 

 all in a similar state, and there were flukes in the livers Of 



all the three sheep. About a fortnight after Wilton Fair I 

 bought twenty sheep of Mr. Green, at Shepton Mallet mar- 

 ket, and they were depastured with the other sheep. 

 Nothing happened to them, and they are uU now doing well. 

 My land is dry and healthy, and shesp have been depastured 

 ttere in consequence of its healthiness. In my father's time, 

 twenty years ago, I remember 200 ewes, belonging to Mr. 

 Whittaker, of Bratton, wintering there. These sheep were 

 tested in going in and coming out. Two of them were 

 killed, and they were in a sound condition. I sent for Mr. 

 Hoddinott, who came and killed a sheep. Afterwards I 

 instructed my solicitor to apply to the defendant, and in 

 consequence of his not meeting my views, I ordered the re- 

 mainder of the sheep to be sold by auction. They fetched 

 altogether £57 Is. 6d. I have known the defendant for 

 many years, but never had any dealings with him before. 



After hearing other evidence in support of the case, Mr. 

 Saunders addressed the jury for the defence. He contended 

 that no warranty was given j and secondly, that the sheep 

 were not unsound when they were sold, but became so after 

 they were in the possession of the' plaintiff. He should 

 shew that these 52 sheep were only a portion of a larger 

 flock which had fed upon the defendant's farm ; that he had 

 sold 70 of this flock to a person named Noyce, two to a but- 

 cher at Barford, and others to a person named Millard, at 

 Salisbury, all of which were sound. Mr. Phillips would 

 swear that he had never had an unsound sheep upon his 

 farm since he had lived there, and if these statements were 

 true, they went to show that the sheep were sound when 

 they were sold, and they must have got diseased after they 

 were out of his possession. He suggested that the sheep 

 were driven an unreasonable distance for one day, and that 

 they had taken the disease either on the road from Hindon 

 to Batcombe, or when at the latter place, which had a bad 

 reputation for bane sheep. 



Mr. Charles Phillips, the defendant, deposed — I live at 

 Barford Farm, about three miles from Wilton. Before 

 Wilton fair I had a flock of about 600 sheep. I sold 70 of 

 these to Noyce. They all fed on the same land— sometimes 

 on the arable, and sometimes on the down. Three days be- 

 fore the fair 1 sold two sheep to Mr. Lever, and on the 7th 

 ot November I sold 10 of the same flock to butcher Millard, 

 of Salisbury. They were all fed on the same place, I 

 never had any baned sheep on my farm. J will swear that 

 most positively. On the 12th of September, at Wilton fair, 

 I sold Mr. Strong 52 sheep, at £1 13s. 6d. a-head. I never 

 warranted these sheep. I believe the sheep were sound when 

 I sold them. I am quite sure that I said nothing about a 

 warranty. Several other witnesses, including two veterinary 

 surgeons, were also examined. 



His Honour then summed up to the jury. He observed 

 that there was no denial that the sheep were diseased ; the 

 only question was when they became so diseased. There 

 were two points in the case. First, was there a warranty 

 or not ? If there was no warranty given at the time of the 

 sale, then the defendant was not liable, and the plaintiff 

 must put up with a bad bargain. But secondly, the ques- 



