Jarrett

After certain preliminary negotiations plaintiff and defendant Norton signed an agreement by the terms of which plaintiff leased to Norton a rancho owned by her and upon which she had been residing. The agreement also established a relationship between plaintiff and Norton concerning the livestock and crops then upon and thereafter to be produced upon the property which, if it did not constitute a partnership, authorized Norton to sell and deal in the personal property mentioned for the joint benefit of the two. Although the agreement between the parties was signed, no manual delivery of it was made, and there was a collateral oral understanding that no delivery was to occur until Norton should pay to plaintiff a certain sum of money which by the terms of the written agreement he bound himself to pay upon the “execution and delivery” of the paper. Despite this oral understanding, however, and without the payment of the sum mentioned, plaintiff vacated the rancho immediately after the signing of the written agreement, took up her residence an eighth of a mile distant from it, and permitted Norton to enter into possession of her real property and into the active management of it, as…