6 THE MENDEL JOURNAL 



anthers ; the result remained the same, the buds 

 developed into full bloom, the corollas withered, the 

 capsules set, the seed in due time ripened, and if left 

 on the plant long enough the capsules split open and 

 shed their seed. 



My first trial for parthenogenesis was with Nic, 

 tabaccum Cuba, raised from some seed I gathered from a 

 plant in the well-known garden of Casa Loring, near 

 Malaga. The gardener there told me that this plant 

 had grown from seed brought over from Cuba, and 

 that it had been gathered from the finest tobacco 

 plants grown in the island. This plant is taller 

 than other N. tabaccums, and is 6-|ft. to 7ft. in height, 

 and the stems are very thick ; it flowers at first in a 

 terminal cluster and afterwards axially. The limb 

 and tube of the corolla are pure white ; the corolla 

 is sometimes four petalled with four stamens, some- 

 times five petalled with five stamens, and both forms 

 are found on the same plant. It is a freely self-pollin- 

 ating plant, for under protection from insects it will 

 seed every blossom. 



On July 15th, 1909, I cut oil all the anthers from 

 five young green buds on a spray of Nic. tab. Cuba^ 

 and covered them with a wax-paper bag, which was 

 wired on in the usual way. At the same time 

 all the other buds and blossoms on the spray were 

 removed. On July 24th the spray was uncovered 

 and it was found that only one ovary had failed, the 

 other four capsules having set seed. One or two tiny 

 buds were sprouting ; these were pinched off, and 

 the bag replaced over the seed. I at once started a 



