By Estimation

A term used in conveyances. In sales of land it not unfrequently occurs that the property is said to contain a certain number of acres by estimation, or so many acres, more or less. When these expressions are used, if the land fall short by a small quantity, the purchaser will receive no relief. In one case of this kind, the land fell short two-fifths, and the purchaser received no relief; Ketchum v. Stout, 20 Ohio 453; Stull v. Hurtt, 9 Gill (Md.) 446; Jollife v. Hite, 1 Call (Va.) 301, 1 Am. Dec. 519; Stebbins v. Eddy, 4 Mas. 419, Fed. Cas. No. 13,342; Jones's Devisees v. Carter, 4 H. & M. (Va.) 184; Boar v. M'Cormick, 1 S. & R. (Pa.) 166; Mann v. Pearson, 2 Johns. (N. Y.) 37; Howe v. Bass, 2 Mass. 382, 3 Am. Dec. 59; Snow v. Chapman, 1 Root (Conn.) 528. The meaning of these words has never been precisely ascertained by judicial decision. See Sugden, Vend. 231, where the author applies the rule to contracts in fieri. But this distinction was not accepted in Noble v. Googins, 99 Mass. 234. See More or Less; Subdivision.