משנה: הַמּוֹכֵר זֵיתָיו לָעֵצִים וְעָשׂוּ פָחוּת מֵרְבִיעִית לַסְּאָה הֲרֵי אֵילּוּ לְבַעַל הַזֵּיתִים. עָשׂוּ רְבִיעִית לַסְּאָה זֶה אוֹמֵר זֵיתַיי גִּידֵּילוּ וְזֶה אוֹמֵר אַרְצִי גִידֵּלָה יַחֲלוֹקוּ. שָׁטַף הַנָּהָר זֵיתָיו וּנְתָנָם לְתוֹךְ שְׂדֵה חֲבֵירוֹ זֶה אוֹמֵר זֵיתַיי גִּידֵּילוּ וְזֶה אוֹמֵר אַרְצִי גִידֵּלָה יַחֲלוֹקוּ. MISHNAH: Somebody sold his olive trees for their wood27It is forbidden to cut down fruit bearing trees (Ševi‘it 4:9, Notes 109–113). But one is permitted to cut down a fruit tree which does no longer yield a commercially useful crop, or if its wood is more valuable than its crop.. If they produced less than a quartarius [of oil] per se‘ah28If the yield in oil is < 1/96 of the volume of olives harvested. This is such a minute quantity that nobody is supposed to quarrel about it., it belongs to the owner of the olive trees. A quartarius [of oil] per se‘ah, one says, my olive trees grew [the olives], the other says, my land grew them: they shall split evenly29The buyer, instead of cutting down the tree for its wood, left it standing on the seller’s ground until the next harvest. Then the seller may claim part of the yield..
If a river flooded his olive trees and carried them to another’s field30The Mishnah presupposes not that the trees were torn away by the flood but that the flood eroded the earth around the trees which then were carried away with their roots still embedded in the original owner’s earth. Then the owner of the parcel on which they were deposited can dig a hole in which to set the tree with its original earth and hope for a normal harvest.
When the flood swept land away, it becomes ownerless since the owner is presumed to have abandoned hope of recovery (Halakhah 2:1); it does not have to be returned (Tosephta 2:2; Šeqalim 7:3).; one says, my olive trees grew them, the other says, my land grew them: they shall split evenly.
הלכה: הַמּוֹכֵר זֵיתָיו לָעֵצִים כול׳. רִבִּי יוֹחָנָן בְּעֵי. הִרְטִיבוּ מַה הֵן. HALAKHAH: “Somebody sold his olive trees for their wood,” etc. Rebbi Joḥanan asked, what is their status if they become moist31If the olives only contain 1% of recoverable oil, they probably are not edible. What is the status of the crop if somehow they become edible? The question is not answered.?
רַב הוּנָא אָמַר. בְּשֶׁשָּֽׁטְפָן בְּגוּשֵׁיהֶן. רִבִּי יוֹסֵי בֶּן חֲנִינָה אָמַר. שְׁנֵי עָרְלָה בֵּינֵיהֶן. 32This refers to Mishnah 7. Rav Huna said, if it swept them away in their earth. Rebbi Yose ben Ḥanina said, the years of ‘orlah are their dispute33In the Babli, 101a, the entire discussion is in the name of R. Simeon ben Laqish.
If the trees are swept away with their roots exposed, the farmer who replants them on his property must observe the first three years as ‘orlah(Mishnah ‘Orlah 1:3). There is no yield to quarrel about. Therefore, the Mishnah presupposes that the earth in which the tree was planted was eroded and the tree was swept away with it, as explained in the Mishnah. R. Yose b. Ḥanina notes that the original owner has a claim only for the three years in which the new owner would not have had any yield, were it not for the original owner’s earth in which the roots were embedded. After three years the entire harvest is the second owner’s..