What is the test for an agreement to purchase a farm described as nine acres?

Gray v. Chadwick (1922), 49 N.B.R. 144 (Ch.D.) is another farm case. The agreement to purchase a farm described the property as "nine acres of land ... as marked by stakes on the front of the farm ... it being the full front of said farm excepting thirty feet on the westerly side ... ". Upon discovering that the farm was only 7.14 acres, the purchaser sued for an abatement of the purchase price, claiming that the agreement warranted that the land comprised nine acres. The vendor contended that the real transaction was for the farm within the stated boundaries and that "nine acres" was merely descriptive. The court first dealt with the nature of the bargain. Hazen C.J. said (at p.151): The question of whether the purchase was by acreage or not is purely a question of fact, as is admitted by the learned counsel for the plaintiff, and having regard to all the circumstances of the case and the language of the agreement, I have in the first place to determine whether the sale was made on an acreage basis or whether it was a sale of the property enclosed within the stakes or monuments set up upon the ground, irrespective of the number of acres which it contained. and further (at pp.160-1): Having carefully considered all the evidence, I have come to the conclusion, with reference to the first contention made by the plaintiff, that the agreement for sale was not for the purchase of the property on an acreage basis, but for the purchase of the property included within the monuments or marks that were set up on the land, which had been seen by the plaintiff and by other members of the syndicate which he was representing.