t in states where code
practice has not been established, the mode of setting forth one's
grievance or wrong is by a bill or petition, ending with a prayer for
relief. We will now briefly state some of the things for which relief
in equity may be sought.

One of the most common things is to compel persons who refuse to
perform their contracts to execute them. Suppose one has agreed in
writing properly signed to sell his farm to another, but is unwilling
to give him a deed. It may be that he can get more for his farm, or he
has made the discovery since selling it that it is worth much more, is
underlaid with coal or oil, or that a railway is soon to be built
near it that will enhance its value. If he went to a law court, all
that it could do would be to compel the seller to give the purchaser
such damages as he could prove he had sustained from the seller's
failure to execute his agreement. But a court of equity can go further
and compel the seller to give the purchaser a proper deed, the kind of
deed mentioned in the agreement; or, if none was specified, the kind
of deed usually given in such cases.

This remedy cannot be always sought whenever the seller fails to
execute his contracts. The important limitation is, when the law has
an adequate remedy, and the injured person has no need of resorting to
a court of equity. All the ordinary agricultural and manufactured
products fall within this class, cotton, cattle, lumber, fruits, stock
in trade and the like. But if a chattel has a sentimental value to the
purchaser, a court of equity will decree that it must be delivered to
him, because in such a case the damages would obviously be inadequate.
The same rule applies to all articles of a unique or rare value that
cannot be duplicated; also to patented or copyrighted things that
cannot be procured in the open market.

Suppose one has purchased the stock of a bank or railroad company,
which the seller refuses to deliver, has the buyer a legal remedy for
damages, or an equitable remedy to compel the seller to deliver the
stock, or has he the choice of remedies? The courts have divided on
this question. The better rule is, if the stock can be readily bought
in the open market, the buyer has only a law remedy to recover damages
from the seller's failure to execute his contract; if the stock cannot
be thus purchased, a money damage is not an adequate remedy, the
purchaser wants the stock and he can, through a court of equity