daf bit: Bava Batra 69

[cellio]

Continuing the theme of what is and isn't included in property sales, today's daf discusses fields and trees. A mishna on the previous daf says that when a man sells a field the sale automatically includes young carob and sycamore trees but not mature ones. In the g'mara Rabbi Yehudah said: when a man sells a field he should write in the deed "acquire hereby the date trees, other large trees, small trees, and small date trees", and goes on to explain the consequences of being imprecise. For example: if he says "I sell you the land with the date trees" and there are no date trees on the land, he has misrepresented the sale and that's fraud. On the other hand, if he says "I sell you land and date trees", then if he has any date trees he must transfer two -- but if he doesn't, he must buy two date trees so he can transfer them. (69b)

(I don't know what's special about date, carob, and sycamore trees that they are at various points called out.)

Comments

[ralphmelton.livejournal.com]

How portable are date trees? If the seller sells date trees he doesn't have, can he reasonably buy two date trees to transfer them?

[cellio]

I think this probably means buying stationary trees (along with whatever right-of-way arrangements apply; see comment above), not transplanting full-grown trees (which I imagine would be difficult without modern equipment).