BAILMENT 277 



would it be a gift, or a loan? The question could 

 only be answered by coordinating facts. The let- 

 ting of a flock of sheep for a year is a virtual sale. 

 A yoke of oxen hired for a month is a bailment; 

 the same oxen must be returned. 



There are so many possible questions which may 

 arise in the bailment of animals that for mutual 

 protection the contract should be in writing, in 

 the form of a contract, if the bailment is to con- 

 tinue for some time. The contractual form is 

 always to be preferred, but for short terms a re- 

 ceipt, stating terms as understood, would be suffi- 

 cient. (See § 80.) 



230. Bailee's Right to Use Property Bailed. 

 The right of the bailee to make use of the prop- 

 erty bailed must depend upon the exact terms of 

 the agreement. Where the animals are hired out 

 to the bailee, or where he is keeping them as an 

 accommodation for the bailor, it is understood, in 

 the absence of any special agreement to the con- 

 trary, that the bailee may use them as if they were 

 his own.^^ When the bailee is being paid for the 

 care of the animals, in the absence of a supple- 

 mentary agreement, it is understood that he is 

 expected to give them ordinary care, and that he 

 will not use them. Should he make use of them 

 he may be held liable for damages.^ '^ Such a rul- 

 ing would probably not be made for the use of the 

 milk of a milch cow, for proper care would require 

 the milking, and the milk is not of a nature fit for 

 preservation. However, if the contract calls for 



18 Van Zile, Op. eit. 45. 



19 Collins V. Bennett, 46 N. 

 Y. 490; Van Zile, Op. cit. 46. 



