Bava Batra 71b — the Talmud in English

But trees, which weaken the ground,

for sometimes they damage the ground around them, the seller of the land, when he retains two trees for himself, is concerned about a future claim by the buyer against him if he does not also retain for himself the ground around them. And therefore he is also concerned lest the trees die, in which case, since he has no ownership of the ground,

if it is so that he did not retain it,

if he does not retain ground around them for himself, he must be concerned lest

he say to him,

the buyer, the owner of the ground:

Uproot your tree

that has died,

take it and go,

take it for yourself and go from here, for you have no right in the ground to plant another in its place.

And the Gemara raises an objection against Rav Huna from our Mishna:

We learned: Rabbi Shimon says: One who consecrates the field—

did not consecrate

with it all the things that are not sold with it,

but the grafted carob tree and the sycamore trunk.

And it was taught concerning it,

we learned concerning these words of the Mishna in a beraita:

Rabbi Shimon said: What is the reason

that he consecrated the carob tree and the trunk, whereas he did not consecrate the other things that are not sold with it?

Since

they

draw nourishment from consecrated property.

And when he consecrated the field, he consecrated all the ground of the field [for he consecrates the ground itself generously], and he did not retain for himself the ground around the carob tree and the trunk. It follows that they draw nourishment from consecrated ground, and therefore they are consecrated.

And if it enters your mind

as Rav Huna says, that one who sells two trees

retains

for himself the ground around them, it follows that one who consecrates ground containing a sycamore trunk and a carob tree also retains for himself the ground around them. And if so, it is difficult: Why are the carob tree and the trunk consecrated? After all,

—

when they draw nourishment, they draw nourishment from themselves,

the nourishment of the carob tree and the trunk is from the ground that the one who consecrated retained for himself, and not from consecrated ground. And why are they consecrated!

By force of this objection, the Gemara retracts what it said earlier—that the innovation of Rav Huna is that even Rabbi Akiva holds that one who sells land and retains trees in it retains for himself the ground around them—and answers:

Rabbi Shimon, who says in accordance with Rabbi Akiva,

his teacher, that every seller sells generously, and does not retain for himself even the ground surrounding the trees. Likewise, everyone who consecrates consecrates everything that is sold with it. Therefore the ground surrounding the carob tree and the trunk is consecrated, and since they draw nourishment from it, they are consecrated by virtue of the nourishment.

And

if

Rav Huna,

who holds that he retains for himself the ground surrounding the trees,

who says in accordance with the Rabbis,

that one who sells, and likewise one who consecrates, sells or consecrates begrudgingly, and retains for himself the ground surrounding the trees.

But now the Gemara is astonished: How can it be said that Rav Huna came to state his position

in accordance with the Rabbis!?

For

it is obvious

that this is what the Rabbis hold, for they hold that a seller sells begrudgingly!

And the Gemara answers that there is an innovation in Rav Huna’s statement even according to the Rabbis:

The practical difference

in Rav Huna’s statement, beyond what is explicitly explained in the words of the Rabbis, is

that if they fall,

if the trees fall, or grow old and dry up,

he may plant them again.

He may plant other trees in that same place in their stead. This is not explicit in the words of the Rabbis, for it could have been said that his entire right to the surrounding ground exists only as long as the trees exist, as with a pit and a cistern: after the pit and the cistern have collapsed and become blocked, and it is impossible to repair them, he no longer has a right of access to them. Therefore Rav Huna innovated that according to the Rabbis he has a right to the ground forever.