PLANT HYBRIDIZATION BEFORE MENDEL 9 



existence of variation in cultivated plants, a fact which renders 

 selection possible, and in a manner also there was learned the fact 

 of the existence of sex in plants, upon which "plant breeding" is 

 based. 



5. The Discovery of Sex in Plants. 



We have seen that the Assyrians and Babylonians understood 



: '*m':^f^i^:^fiSffif^^f^.&&^<iKi-^yyy. 



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Plate IX. Assyrian bas-relief. Priest wearing winged apparel and a bird-headed mask, 

 with pollination basket in left hand and staminate inflorescence of date palm in the 

 right. Slab 40, Nimrud Gallery, British Museum. 



