Montague

The plaintiffs appeal from a judgment for defendant, entered on demurrer to the complaint. The suit was brought to foreclose a lien on land of the defendant for amounts alleged to be due on a' written contract between the parties, of date May 21, 1893. The only question involved is as to the construction of the contract.

By the terms of the contract, the plaintiffs agreed to plant the land described in the contract in Muscat grapes, and to cultivate the same for the period of three years; and the defendant agreed, in consideration of the premises, “to pay them the sum of sixty dollars (per acre) in gold coin of the government of the United States, . . . said payment to be made in manner hereinafter specified, to wit:—”

The paragraphs of the agreement following (numbered for convenience), provide as follows:—

The plaintiffs entered upon and continued in the performance of the contract up to the time of the filing of the complaint, October 13,1898. But, as it turned out, the land (with the exception of a trifling amount) yielded no proceeds, and it is alleged that it will be impossible in the future to make it do so. The contention of the plaintiffs is, that the contract is to be…