* * *" Swetland Bldg. Co. v. Children's Home, 127 Or. 188, 192, 270 P. 927 (1928).See also Weddle v. Parrish, 135 Or. 345, 295 P. 454 (1931). It is also a general rule that any ambiguity in an agreement should be resolved against the party using the ambiguous language.
Morgan Morgan, Lewiston, for respondents. A lease terminable by sale of premises, may be terminated only in strict compliance with prescribed conditions. 51 C.J.S. Landlord and Tenant ยง 93, p. 661; 35 C.J. 1054-1055; Weddle v. Parrish, 135 Or. 345, 295 P. 454-455; Diamond Cattle Co. v. Clark, 52 Wyo. 265, 74 P.2d 857-866, 116 A.L.R. 912; 35 A.L.R. 518; 116 A.L.R. 932. If there is any doubt as to the effect or meaning of the terms and conditions, the lease is to be construed most strongly against the lessor and in favor of the lessee.
"In Weddle et al. v. Parrish, 135 Or. 345, 295 P. 454, we said: "* * * the word `crop' usually does not apply to grass growing on depastured lands: Moore v. Hope Natural Gas Co., 76 W. Va. 649, 656 ( 86 S.E. 564)."
"Any renewal" as used in the lease in my opinion implies more than one renewal. If the lessors had intended only one renewal, it was within their power to have the lease so written. Where a lease is doubtful or uncertain as to its meaning, it will be construed in the tenant's favor. Weddle v. Parrish, 135 Or. 345, P. 295, 454. Construing the lease in its entirety and considering the unexplained alteration of the lease in a clause pregnant with significance, I am of the opinion that the parties intended successive renewals of the lease, until the $100 a month rental payment absorbed the $26,000 purchase price, unless the option was sooner exercised.
The plaintiffs and appellants may not sue for damages to the land but only for injuries to agricultural improvements or agricultural crops. In Weddle v. Parrish, 135 Or. 345, 295 P. 454, 456, the court said: "The word `crop' in its more general signification is said to mean all products of the soil that are grown and raised and gathered annually during a single season.
Their position is untenable when viewed in the light of the contract. Appellants strongly rely upon Weddle v. Parrish, 135 Or. 545, 295 P. 454 to support the proposition that they are entitled to the benefit of the pastures. There the lease in question was principally a grass lease intended to be used for late pasturing of sheep.
See E. D. Metcalf Co. v. Gilbert, 19 Wyo. 331, 116 P. 1017; Gartner v. Corwine, 57 Oh. St. 246, 48 N.E. 945. While it is said that a clause in a lease giving the lessor the option to cancel the contract before the expiration of the term should be construed strictly against the lessor (Woods v. Postal Telegraph-Cable Co., 205 Ala. 236, 87 So. 681, 27 A.L.R. 834; Weddle v. Parrish, 135 Or. 345, 295 P. 454; 35 C.J. 1055; 16 R.C.L. 699, ยง 188), and there are dicta indicating that the word "sale" as used in a clause like that in the case at bar, means a sale completed by conveyance of title (Ela v. Bankes, 37 Wis. 89; Aydlett v. Pendleton, 114 N.C. 1; Lewis v. Agoure, 8 Cal.App. 146, 96 P. 327; Cross v. Ramdullah, 274 Fed. 762), there are a number of cases holding that an agreement of sale as distinguished from a completed sale is sufficient. See Luse v. Elliott, 204 Ia. 378, 213 N.W. 410, and cases cited.
Similarly, the parties appear also to dispute whether a lessor of farm property can have any emblement rights in crops that her tenant rather than she has caused to be planted. See Weddle et al. v. Parrish, 135 Or. 345, 349, 295 P. 454 (1931). We note those issues only to emphasize that we need not and do not resolve them.
" Id. at 424. In Weddle v. Parrish, 295 P. 454, 455 (Ore., 1931), it was held that the "management of live stock, such as depasturing and feeding sheep is embraced within the term `agriculture' or `farming'." In Porter v. Yakima County, 77 Wn. 299, 137 P. 466 (1914), a case involving the imposition of personal property taxes, the Supreme Court of Washington said that, "A tract of land devoted to the breeding, grazing, shearing, and lambing of sheep is a farm as much as a tract that is devoted to the growing of grain or to diversified farming.