778 IYRANSACTIONS OF SECTION M, 
presence of ammonium humate, which, in addition to being a direct source of 
nitrogen for plants, stimulates their root development in a remarkable manner. 
At Chelsea Physic Garden a plot of radishes watered once with an extract 
of prepared peat gave an increase of 54 per cent. over the untreated plot. 
At Eton School Gardens plots with prepared peat, compared with plots with 
farmyard manure, gave the following increases :—Lettuce, 27 per cent. ; turnips, 
23 per cent.; potatoes, 41 per cent. Pot experiments at Chelsea on wheat 
barley, and oats showed that the prepared peat promotes tillering. : 
6. The Life History of Eriophyes ribis Nab. 
By Miss A. M. Taytor. 
_Comparison was made in this paper of the life-history of Zriophyes ribis on 
Ribes nigrum and Ribes Grossularia respectively as host plants. 
With Ribes nigrum as host plant. 
The embryonic true leaves of the bud are attacked by the mite, and the 
es Seong into a ‘big-bud.’ No injury is caused, however, to the foliage of 
e tree. 
The migration of mites from infested buds to new plant-food is carried out 
mainly by the agency of the wind. 
Observations show that Hriophyes ribis respond to the stimulus of tempera- 
ture by raising themselves to an erect position. When this position is taken, 
successful distribution by wind occurs. 
With Ribes Grossularia as host plant, 
The scale leaves of the bud only are attacked, and no ‘ big-bud ’ is formed. 
It is suggested that the structure of the buds of Ribes Grossularia is such 
that the mites cannot penetrate into the true leaves of the bud. The injury 
caused by the mite to Ribes Grossularia is confined to the foliage of the affected 
tree. 
Distribution by wind is not of general occurrence, migration being mainly 
carried out by the mites crawling from the infested bud to the expanding leaves. 
: It is probable that infection from Ribes Grossularia to Ribes nigrum takes 
place. 
7. Partnership in Agriculture between Landlord and Tenant. 
By Sir Ricuarp Pacer, Bart. 
Agriculture in England at the present time, save in quite exceptional cases, 
is conducted on uncommercial lines. The ordinary landlord and tenant agree- 
ment secures no community of interests between the parties, no division of profits, 
and no opening for outside capital. Farming as a profession is consequently 
limited to the relatively small class of farmers who have sufficient capital of 
their own. 
If agriculture wants more capital, in order that it may be carried on in its 
most profitable manner, it must be brought within the pale of the industries, 
and must offer to capital a fair share of the profits. 
Farming on a share of produce in lieu of rent—such as the métayer system 
on the Continent, or ‘farming on shares’ in Canada, the U.S.A., and Australia 
—certainly gives an opening for capital and enables a farmer to operate without 
capital of his own, but it has the objection that the landlord is only interested 
in the yield of the crop (of which he gets a half, a third, or other agreed pro- 
portion), not in the cost of producing it, since the cost of labour falls on the 
tenant. The interests of the parties are not identical and the system does not 
tend to encourage the most intensive culture. 
The ideal system would appear to be a business partnership wherein the land- 
lord invests the land, the tenant invests what capital he can, and the balance 
necessary for the most efficient cultivation is invested by the landlord, or it 
might be borrowed by the partnership on the security of its assets and the 
guarantees of the partners. 
