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Plant Material Suitable for Research 
In the search for fundamental principles it is essential to work 
with material best suited to yield the information sought after. 
If, in pure science work, we experiment with cereal grains or 
with peas, for example, it is because those plants, by virtue of 
certain characteristics, facilitate the search after fundamental 
facts. Among the diereeqewates which make a plant suitable 
material for experimental study are the following: 
1. They should be Annuals, thus yielding a larger number of 
generations in a given period of time than perennials such as 
shrubs and trees, or such as Iris, Peonies, Dahlias, Lilies, and 
other herbaceous perennials. 
2. They should be comparatively Small Plants, so that a large 
number of individuals may be grown in a small area. 
3. They should Breed True to Seed. 
4. They should Produce Seed in Abundance, so as to supply a 
large number of individuals in each generation. 
5. They should be Easy to Cultiwate. 
6. They should be plants that may be Readily Subjected to 
Experimental Conditions, without suffering in loss of vigor or 
otherwise. 
7. They should have many Well-Marked and Easily Distin- 
gutshable Differences. 
8. They should be Easy to Cross, giving a high percentage of 
successes. 
It so happens that the Cereal Grains, the Sorghums, and the 
garden Pea possess the above characteristics in marked degree. 
Under experimental conditions it is possible to secure two 
generations of the cereals and of the pea in one year. 
The information obtained by these studies is of a general and 
fundamental .nature, applicable not only to all plants but in 
some cases to all forms of life, including man. In the search for 
this foundational knowledge it would be easily possible to choose 
plant material that would only unnecessarily confuse or baffle 
the investigator. Mendel’s foresight in the choice of his material 
(the garden Pea) for his experimental study of heredity was just 
as much a sign of his genius in his chosen work as was his expla- 
nation of the results he obtained and their formulation into 
general laws. 
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