Nutrition and 



FACTORS OF TNCREAvSE 101 



velopment of the particular side of the plant 

 to which the crop in question belongs. 



But it is not from the standpoint of the cul- 

 tivator that the present article was written, 

 but rather from that of the evolutionist, al- 

 though the illustrations being drawn from 

 cultivated plants make it easy to see prac- 

 tical applications of the conclusions. 



It has been pointed out that among the 

 lower animals, a sudden check to growth in- 

 creases reproduction. I wish to expand that 

 statement into the much broader and more development 

 widely applicable generalization that a de- 

 creasein nutrition during the period of growth 

 of an organism favors the development of the 

 reproductive parts while abridging the vege- 

 tative parts. The converse, that an increase 

 in nutrition favors the vegetative parts while 

 abridging the reproductive parts, is equally 

 true. 



Unimpeachable statistics are not abundant, 

 for experiments bearing directl3^ upon the 

 problem have not been undertaken, and ser- 

 viceable data culled from the supplementary 

 records of other experiments are not very 

 complete or numerous. Enough are obtain- 

 able, however, to lend very material aid to- 

 ward establishing the generalization. 



The cultivator employs no method so fre- 

 quently for enhancing the value of his harvest 



