The above pairs, whilst
still in flower, but with some capsules already formed, were afterwards
cut down and weighed. The crossed weighed 90.5 ounces; and an equal
number of the self-fertilised only 19 ounces, or as 100 to 21; and this
is an astonishing difference.
Seeds of the same two lots were also sown in two adjoining rows in the
open ground. There were twenty crossed plants in the one row and
thirty-two self-fertilised plants in the other row, so that the
experiment was not quite fair; but not so unfair as it at first appears,
for the plants in the same row were not crowded so much as seriously to
interfere with each other's growth, and the ground was bare on the
outside of both rows. These plants were better nourished than those in
the pots and grew to a greater height. The eight tallest plants in each
row were measured in the same manner as before, with the following
result:--
TABLE 4/36. Reseda lutea, growing in the open ground.
Heights of plants to the summits of the flower-stems measured in inches.
Column 1: Crossed Plants.
Column 2: Self-fertilised Plants.
28 : 33 2/8.
27 3/8 : 23.
27 5/8 : 21 5/8.
28 6/8 : 20 4/8.
29 7/8 : 21 5/8.
26 6/8 : 22.
26 2/8 : 21 2/8.
30 1/8 : 21 7/8.
Total : 224.75 : 185.13
The average height of the crossed plants, whilst in full flower, was
here 28.
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