Jackson & Perkins Co. v. Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors

VAN DYKE, P. J.

Appellant corporation appeals from a judgment adverse to it rendered in an action brought by it against respondents to recover ad valorem taxes paid under protest.

Appellant is a Delaware corporation, which does business in California and elsewhere. It is in the nursery business and has approximately 10,000 acres of land in cultivation in various states. In its nurseries it principally raises and sells all types of products produced and sold by such a business, including rose plants. For the latter purpose it operates about 800 acres of land in Stanislaus County. Its president, Mr. Clarence Perkins, testified as follows: Although it is possible to plant rose bushes from seed, that method is followed only for a few varieties because generally roses do not come true from seed. It is necessary to adopt the method of budding on wild stocks and this method has been common for at least 50 years. The nurseryman intending to raise roses first prepares the ground after testing the soil for fertility content. The ground must be leveled for irrigation, must be subsoiled and preirrigated. It is then furrowed and planted to cuttings taken from wild stock. The cutting is first…