Atwood v. Freund

It is conceded that if the contract between Atwood and Clay was a cropper’s contract, as distinguished from a lease, the judgment must be affirmed.

In case of a lease the possession of the land is in the lessee, while in a cropper’s contract the possession is in the landowner. A cropper may live on the land, but such possession as he has is incident to the performance of his contract of service, and is deemed to be for the landowner and to be his possession. The cropper’s possession is not the legal possession. The legal possession is in the landowner, and as incident to this legal possession…