88 REPORTS ON INVESTIGATIONS AND PROJECTS. 



The work in progress may be classified into the following depart- 

 ments : 



i. Investigations into inheritance and variability of plants. 



2. Investigations into inheritance and variability of insects. 



3. Investigations into inheritance and variability of other inverte- 



brates. 



4. Investigations upon aquatic vertebrates. 



5. Studies on inheritance in domesticated animals. 



6. Investigations into the cytological basis of heredity. 



7. Cooperation with other investigators. 



8. Work of subsidiary departments. 



9. Care and development of the plant. 



INVESTIGATIONS INTO INHERITANCE AND VARIABILITY IN 



PLANTS. 



Since plants get their food from the soil and air, their maintenance 

 is less expensive than that of animals ; since they are stationary, less 

 caging is required ; but, on the other hand, since their fertilizing 

 element is for the most part scattered by the wind or by insects, 

 interbreeding is more difficult to control. Moreover, it is necessary 

 to fight the other plants, weeds, with which they come into com- 

 petition, parasitic plants and animals, and meteoric conditions of 

 precipitation, temperature, and wind. About 2^2 acres of land are 

 devoted to the rearing of pedigreed plants. The fundamental phys- 

 ical conditions of the soil are satisfactory, and sufficient manure can 

 be purchased in the vicinity. One laborer has been able to keep the 

 ground cultivated. Danger from drought will be henceforth avoided 

 by the new water system about to be installed. The out-door temper- 

 ature favors growth during the season, and the growing season for 

 certain plants will be continued through the year by the propagating 

 house now nearly completed. The advantage of plants for studies in 

 inheritance depends on the great number of characters that they offer 

 and the comparative ease with which cross-fertilization, even between 

 distantly allied forms, may be secured. On account of these advan- 

 tages they have been more used for studies in heredity than animals. 



The botanical investigations are at present being carried on by Dr. 

 G. H. Shull alone. The work has been so multifarious as to demand 

 an immense amount of his time. His report is given on pp. 96-100. 

 As Dr. Shull reports, we have cooperated in our plant-breeding with 

 Drs. Britton and MacDougal, of the New York Botanical Garden. 

 Visits between the Station and the Garden by the staff of each have 

 been numerous, and consultations on matters of mutual interest have 

 been repeatedly held. 



