The Choice of Seeds in Selection. 335 
this way the plantlets derived from a single clump could 
be compared with one another throughout the whole 
course of their development. The largest seed becomes 
the largest seedling which produces the finest beet, and 
lastly the most fertile seed-parent. The relative weights 
of the five seedlings of a clump at the end of germination 
were as follows: 100 74 67- -51 46. The heaviest 
seedling weighed 5.8 milligrams. The full-grown beets 
derived from a single clump weighed in one case 1156, 
859, 574, 344, 310 grams, and they furnished respectively 
241, 167, 202, 239, 104 grams of seed at the end of their 
second year. 
E. SCHAAF considers a very important advantage of 
the so-called "cutting"-culture in beets to be the exclusive 
development of the largest seed of each clump which is 
effected by the close proximity of the plants during the 
production of the clumps. 1 
Amongst cereals the matter has been most thoroughly 
investigated and I refer the reader to the literature on 
the subject which I have already cited. The heaviest 
grains are situated at the middle or somewhat below the 
middle of the ear. FRUWIRTH showed this to be true 
for barley, rye, wheat, spelt, and also for maize. 2 There 
proved to be certain subordinate differences characteristic 
of the various varieties and species. 3 BRUYNING found 
that in oats the lower grains of the lateral ears are far 
1 E. SCHAAF, Blatter fiir Zuckerrubenbau, Jahrg. VII, No. 24, 
Dec. 1900. 
~ C. FRUWIRTH, Ueber den Sits des sclnvcrstcn Kornes in den 
Fruchtstdnden beim Getreide, in WOLLNY'S Forschungen anf dem 
Gebiete der Agric.-Physik, XV, 1892, p. 49. 
3 E. NOTHWANG, Unters. iiber die Vcrtheilung d. Kornergeurichtes 
an Roggcnahrcn, Diss., Leipsic, 1893; Bot. Centralhlatt, 1895, II. p. 
263. 
