﻿554 
  Mutations 
  

  

  As 
  soon 
  as 
  these 
  flowers 
  faded 
  away, 
  and 
  the 
  

   young 
  fruits 
  grew 
  out, 
  it 
  became 
  clear 
  that 
  a 
  

   new 
  type 
  was 
  showing 
  itself. 
  On 
  that 
  indica- 
  

   tion 
  I 
  removed 
  all 
  the 
  already 
  fertilized 
  flowers 
  

   and 
  young 
  fruits, 
  and 
  protected 
  the 
  buds 
  from 
  

   the 
  visits 
  of 
  insects. 
  Thus 
  the 
  isolated 
  flowers 
  

   were 
  fertilized 
  with 
  their 
  own 
  pollen 
  only, 
  and 
  

   I 
  could 
  rely 
  upon 
  the 
  purity 
  of 
  the 
  seed 
  saved. 
  

   This 
  lot 
  of 
  seeds 
  was 
  sown 
  in 
  the 
  spring 
  of 
  1897 
  

   and 
  yielded 
  a 
  uniform 
  crop 
  of 
  nearly 
  300 
  young 
  

   gigas 
  plants. 
  

  

  Having 
  found 
  how 
  much 
  depends 
  upon 
  the 
  

   treatment, 
  I 
  could 
  gradually 
  decrease 
  the 
  size 
  of 
  

   my 
  cultures. 
  Evidently 
  the 
  chance 
  of 
  discover- 
  

   ing 
  new 
  types 
  would 
  be 
  lessened 
  thereby, 
  but 
  the 
  

   question 
  as 
  to 
  the 
  repeated 
  production 
  of 
  the 
  

   same 
  new 
  forms 
  could 
  more 
  easily 
  and 
  more 
  

   clearly 
  be 
  answered 
  in 
  this 
  way. 
  In 
  the 
  follow- 
  

   ing 
  year 
  (1896) 
  I 
  sowed 
  half 
  as 
  many 
  seeds 
  as 
  

   formerly, 
  and 
  the 
  result 
  proved 
  quite 
  the 
  same. 
  

   With 
  the 
  exception 
  of 
  gigas 
  all 
  the 
  described 
  

   forms 
  sprang 
  anew 
  from 
  the 
  purely 
  fertilized 
  

   ancestry 
  of 
  normal 
  Lamarckianas. 
  It 
  was 
  now 
  

   the 
  fifth 
  generation 
  of 
  my 
  pedigree, 
  and 
  thus 
  I 
  

   was 
  absolutely 
  sure 
  that 
  the 
  descendants 
  of 
  the 
  

   mutants 
  of 
  this 
  year 
  had 
  been 
  pure 
  and 
  without 
  

   deviation 
  for 
  at 
  least 
  four 
  successive 
  genera- 
  

   tions. 
  

  

  Owing 
  partly 
  to 
  improved 
  methods 
  of 
  selec- 
  

  

  