As the plants which were self-fertilised in each succeeding generation necessarily became much more closely interbred in the later than in the earlier generations, it might have been expected that the difference in height between them and the crossed plants would have gone on increasing; but, so far is this from being the case, that the difference between the two sets of plants in the seventh, eighth, and ninth generations taken together is less than in the first and second generations together. When, however, we remember that the self-fertilised and crossed plants are all descended from the same mother-plant, that many of the crossed plants in each generation were related, often closely related, and that all were exposed to the same conditions, which, as we shall hereafter find, is a very important circumstance, it is not at all surprising that the difference between them should have somewhat decreased in the later generations. It is, on the contrary, an astonishing fact, that the crossed plants should have been victorious, even to a slight degree, over the self-fertilised plants of the later generations.
The much greater constitutional vigour of the crossed than of the self-fertilised plants, was proved on five occasions in various ways; namely, by exposing them, while young, to a low temperature or to a sudden change of temperature, or by growing them, under very unfavourable conditions, in competition with full-grown plants of other kinds.
With respect to the productiveness of the crossed and self-fertilised plants of the successive generations, my observations unfortunately were not made on any uniform plan, partly from the want of time, and partly from not having at first intended to observe more than a single generation. A summary of the results is here given in a tabulated form, the fertility of the crossed plants being taken as 100.
TABLE 2/18. Ratio of productiveness of crossed and self-fertilised plants. Ipomoea purpurea.
FIRST GENERATION OF CROSSED AND SELF-FERTILISED PLANTS GROWING IN COMPETITION WITH ONE ANOTHER.
Sixty-five capsules produced from flowers on five crossed plants fertilised by pollen from a distinct plant, and fifty-five capsules produced from flowers on five self-fertilised plants fertilised by their own pollen, contained seeds in the proportion of : 100 to 93.
Fifty-six spontaneously self-fertilised capsules on the above five crossed plants, and twenty-five spontaneously self-fertilised capsules on the above five self-fertilised plants, yielded seeds in the proportion of : 100 to 99.
Combining the total number of capsules produced by these plants, and the average number of seeds in each, the above crossed and self-fertilised plants yielded seeds in the proportion of : 100 to 64.
Other plants of this first generation grown under unfavourable conditions and spontaneously self-fertilised, yielded seeds in the proportion of : 100 to 45.
THIRD GENERATION OF CROSSED AND SELF-FERTILISED PLANTS.
Crossed capsules compared with self-fertilised capsules contained seeds in the ratio of : 100 to 94.
An equal number of crossed and self-fertilised plants, both spontaneously self-fertilised, produced capsules in the ratio of : 100 to 38.
And these capsules contained seeds in the ratio of : 100 to 94.
Combining these data, the productiveness of the crossed to the self-fertilised plants, both spontaneously self-fertilised, was as : 100 to 35.
FOURTH GENERATION OF CROSSED AND SELF-FERTILISED PLANTS.
Capsules from flowers on the crossed plants fertilised by pollen from another plant, and capsules from flowers on the self-fertilised plants fertilised with their own pollen, contained seeds in the proportion of : 100 to 94.
FIFTH GENERATION OF CROSSED AND SELF-FERTILISED PLANTS.
The crossed plants produced spontaneously a vast number more pods (not actually counted) than the self-fertilised, and these contained seeds in the proportion of : 100 to 89.
NINTH GENERATION OF CROSSED AND SELF-FERTILISED PLANTS.
Fourteen crossed plants, spontaneously self-fertilised, and fourteen self-fertilised plants spontaneously self-fertilised, yielded capsules (the average number of seeds per capsule not having been ascertained) in the proportion of : 100 to 26.