The
young crossed plants in the pot at first exceeded by a little in height
the self-fertilised; then equalled them; were then beaten; and lastly
were again victorious. The plants, without being disturbed, were turned
out of the pot, and planted in the open ground; and after growing for
some time, the crossed plants, which were all of nearly the same height,
exceeded the self-fertilised ones by 2 inches. When they flowered, the
flower-stems of the tallest crossed plant exceeded that of the tallest
self-fertilised plant by 6 inches. The other seedlings which were
planted in the open ground stood separate, so that they did not compete
with one another; nevertheless the crossed plants certainly grew to a
rather greater height than the self-fertilised; but no measurements were
made. The crossed plants which had been raised in the pot, and those
planted in the open ground, all flowered a little before the
self-fertilised plants.
CROSSED AND SELF-FERTILISED PLANTS OF THE SECOND GENERATION.
Some flowers on the crossed plants of the last generation were again
crossed with pollen from another crossed plant, and produced fine
capsules. The flowers on the self-fertilised plants of the last
generation were allowed to fertilise themselves spontaneously under a
net, and they produced some remarkably fine capsules. The two lots of
seeds thus produced germinated on sand, and eight pairs were planted on
opposite sides of four pots.
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