120 MILLER: THE PROPAGATION OF MEDICINAL PLANTS 
Number of plants, which had been left undisturbed, showing 
growth, 307. 
The second object of the belladonna investigation, viz., the 
attempt to produce a strain which would yield a uniformly higher 
percentage of alkaloids than the commercial drug, involves another 
method of propagation. In this case, individual plants must be 
examined for their property of yielding certain percentages of 
alkaloids. It is desirable to propagate promising individuals in 
such a manner that the high yielding character will be uniformly 
transmitted to the offsprings. As yet it is not known how such a 
character behaves. Alkaloids are not essential products of meta- 
bolism, and the inheritance of the property of producing a large 
percentage of such products is indeed questionable. 
To investigate this point, both seed and vegetative propaga- 
tion of pure strains must be practiced. The behavior of the 
character in these pure strains and their progeny will throw much 
light on the possibility of developing, propagating, and maintaining 
high yielding varieties through the practice of breeding. 
If the property of an individual plant to produce a definite 
amount of alkaloids when grown under uniform conditions, behaves 
in the same manner as many external characters, the propagation 
of pure bred strains by the vegetative method should yield uni- 
formly according to selection. 
To test this possibility, it was necessary to follow the methods 
of the florist in the propagation of cuttings in sand. This was 
done both in the greenhouse and in the open under cheese cloth 
shade. In the greenhouse the open sand bed was tried as well 
as the glass-covered bed recommended by Bailey. The open bed 
was also tried, with the cheese cloth shade. The best results in 
the greenhouse were obtained with the open bed under the influence 
of a mild bottom heat, and very careful watering. Sterile sand 
had to be used to prevent a total loss of the cuttings from the 
attack of a very small white worm, which fed on the lower ends 
of the cuttings, and prevented callousing until decay would com- 
mence. The best outdoor results were obtained from the us 
of the cold frames protected with cheese-cloth shades. ToP 
cuttings made from the more mature wood of the open grow? 
plants strike root more readily than those from the tender succulent 
wood of plants grown in the greenhouse. 
