ACCESSION. The right to all which one's own property produces, whether that property be movable or immovable, and the right to that which is united to it by acces sion, either naturally or artificially. 2 Kent, Comm. 360; 2 Blackstone, Comm. 404.
2. If a man bath raised a building upon his own ground with the materials of another, or. on the contrary, if a man shall have built with his own materials upon the ground of another, in either case the edifice becomes the property of him to whom the belongs; for every building is an accession to the ground upon which it stands ; and the owner of the ground, if liable at all, is only liable to the owner of the materials for the value of them. Inst. 2. 1. 29, 30 ; 2 Kent, Comm. 362. And the same rule holds where trees, vines, vege tables, or fruits '(re planted or sown in the ground of another. Inst. 2. 1..31, 32.
3. If the materials of one person are united by labor to the materials of another, so as to form a single article, the property in the joint product is, in the absence of any agreement, in the owner of the principal part of the ma terials by accession. 7 Johns. N.Y. 473; 5 Pick. Mass. 177; 6 id. 209; 32 Me. 404; 16 Conn. 322; Inst. 2. 1. 26. But a vessel built of materials belonging to different persons, it has been said, will belong to the owner of tits keel, according to the rule, proprietas totius navis caring causam sequitur. 2 Kent, Comm. 361; 6 Pick. Mass. 209 ; 7 Johns. N. Y. 473 ; 11 Wend. N. Y. 139. It is said to be the doctrine of the civil law, that the rule is the same though the adjunction of materials may have been dishonestly contrived; for, in determi ning the right of property in such a case, re gard is had only to the things joined, and not to the persons, as where the materials are changed in species. Wood, Inst. 93 ; Inst. 2.
1. 25. And see ADJUNCTION.
4. Where, by agreement, an article is manu factured for another, the property in the article, while making and when finished, vests in him who furnished the whole or the prin cipal part of the materials ; and the maker, if he did not furnish the same, has simply a lien upon the article for his pay. 2 Den. N. Y. 268; 10 Johns. N. Y. 268; 15 Mass. 242; 4 Ired. No. C. 102.
The increase of an animal, as a general thing, belongs to its owner; but, if it be let to another, the person who thus becomes the temporary proprietor will be entitled to its increase, 8 Johns. N. Y. 435; Inst. 2. 1. 38; though it has been held that this would not be the consequence of simply putting a mare to pasture, in consideration of her services. 2 Penn. St. 166. The Civil Code of Louisiana, following the Roman law, makes a distinction in respect of the issue of slaves, which,though born during the temporary use or hiring of their mothers, belong not to the hirer, but to the permanent owner. La. Code, art. 539:
Inst. 2. 1. 37 ; and see 31 Miss. 557 ; 4 Sneed, Tenn. 99; 2 Kent, Comm. 361. But the issue of slaves born during a tenancy for life be long to the tenant for life. 7 Harr. & J. Md. 257.
5. If there be a sale, mortgage, or pledge of a chattel, carried into effect by delivery or by a recording of the mortgage where that is equivalent to a delivery, and other materials are added, afterwards, by the labor of the vendor or mortgagor, these pass with the prin cipal by accession. 12 Pick. Mass. 83 ; 1 R. I. 511.
If, by the labor of one man, the property of another has been converted into a thing of different species, so that its identity is de stroyed, the original owner can only recover the value of the property in its unconverted state, and the article itself will belong to the person who wrought the conversion, if he wrought it believing the material to be his own. Such a change is said to be wrought when wheat is made into bread, olives into oil, or grapes into wine. Inst. 2. 1. 25 ; 4 Den. N. Y. 332 ; Year B. 5 H. VII. 15 ; Brooke, Abr. Property, 23. • 6. But, if there be a mere change of form or value, which does not the identity of the materials, the original owner may still reclaim them or recover their value as thus improved; Brooke, Abr. Property, 23; F. Moore, 20; 2 N. Y. 379. So, if the change have been wrought by a wilful trespasser, or by one who knew that the materials were not his own ; in such case, however radical the change may have been, the owner may reclaim them, or recover their value in their new shape: thus, where whiskey was made out of another's corn, 2 N. Y. 379; shingles out of another's trees, 9 Johns. N. Y. 362 ; coals out of an other's wood, 6 Johns. N. Y. 168 ; 12 Ala. N.
s. 590; leather out of another's hides, 21 Barb. N. Y. 92; in all these cases, the change having been made by one who knew the ma terials were another's, the original owner was held to be entitled to recover the property, or its value in the improved or converted state. And see 6 Hill, N. Y. 425 ; 2 Rawle, Petra. 427; 5 Johns. N. Y. 349 ; 21 Me. 287 ; 30 id. 370; 11 Mete. Mass. 493; Story, Bailm. 40; 1 Brown, Civil and Adm. Law, 240, 241.
In International Law. The absolute or conditional acceptance, by one or several states, of a treaty already concluded between other sovereignties. Merlin, Rdpert., Accession.