BREEDING OF VEGETABLES 



247 



frequently used green for slicing or stuffing, whereas hot peppers 

 more often serve as a condiment in spice mixtures. Number 

 of days to mature is usually given by seeds-men in describing 

 varieties. Color, size, shape, and uniformity of fruit are other 

 important commercial characters. 



A limited number of inheritance studies with this vegetable 

 have been made. Webber (1911) and Ikeno (1913) report 

 the behavior of certain characters in the second generation after 

 a cross. Below is given a tabular summary of a part of the results 

 obtained. 



TABLE LXIV. INHERITANCE IN THE PEPPER 



Contrasted characters 



Fi condition 



Fz behavior 



Violet X white (flower).. . . 



3:1 



Violet (considerable 

 variation in amount of 

 violet coloring) 



Violet flower associated with violet coloring in leaf-stem and ripe fruit. 

 White flower associated with green leaf and stem except for a dark spot 



near attachment of petiole. 

 Umbel X non-umbel (in- 



Non-umbel 

 Red 



Less hairy than hairy 

 parent 

 Pungent 



florescence) 



Red X orange (ripe fruit).. 



Pubescence X non-pubes- 

 cence (stems and leaves) 



Pungent X sweet (fruit) . . . 



3:1 

 3:1 



15 pubescent:! 



non-pubescent 



Approx. 3:1 



In the inheritance of size of leaf, Webber obtained results which 

 clearly indicated that several factor differences were involved 

 and a like result was obtained by both Webber and Ikeno with 

 regard to size of fruit. The character of the peduncle, whether 

 erect or recurved, was found by Ikeno to be dependent on a 

 single factor difference, erect being the recessive condition when 

 the fruit had ripened. During the flowering stage and early 

 development of the fruit the heterozygous individuals for this 

 character-pair showed dominance for the erect peduncle. 



Methods of Breeding Self -Fertilized Vegetables. The vege- 

 tables discussed above together with others which are naturally 

 self-fertilized or which will produce ample viable seed when 

 self ed may be considered as a single group from a breeding stand- 

 point. The method of breeding this group is identical with that 

 already outlined for naturally self-fertilized crops and hence 



