Shoemaker

Plaintiff and defendant Cooke, on January 10, 1919, entered into a written contract whereby the former agreed to sell and the latter agreed to buy a parcel of land. The purchase price was $15,000 and the sum of $500 was paid at the execution of the agreement. The balance was to be paid in installments of $1,500 on or before July 1, 1919, $1,000 on or before December 1, 1919, and certain later installments not necessary to be mentioned. The agreement provided that the vendee should be let into the immediate possession of the property; that time was of the essence of the contract; that the vendee’s failure to pay any installment when due should work a forfeiture of his right to the property and a forfeiture of all payments theretofore made; and that the vendee would, immediately upon the execution of the agreement make to the vendor a chattel mortgage upon all crops to be grown upon the property in 1919 and 1920 to secure the installments due during those years. The vendee entered into the possession of the property on the day of the execution of the agreement for purchase and sale.

The present action, commenced for the purpose of ejecting defendant Cooke from the land described in…