WHEAT, OATS, BARLEY 13 



glumes; (3) long grains versus short grains; 

 (4) early habit of ripening versus late habit of 

 ripening. 



As to each of these pairs of characters, the 

 hybrids of the first generation were intermediate 

 between the parents. For example, if a wheat 

 having long grains was crossed with one having 

 short grains, the hybrid bore wheat neither long 

 nor short but intermediate; and if a wheat that 

 ripened early was crossed with one that ripened 

 late, the hybrid offspring ripened their grain at 

 an intermediate season, later than their early 

 parent but earlier than their late one. 



Yet here again and this perhaps is most 

 significant of all there was segregation of char- 

 acters in the second generation along the usual 

 Mendelian lines. That is to say, the first gen- 

 eration hybrids that bore grain of medium 

 length will produce offspring one-fourth of 

 which bear long grain and one-fourth short 

 grain, the other half bearing intermediate grain; 

 and similarly the first generation hybrids that 

 ripened their grain at an intermediate season, pro- 

 duce progeny one- fourth of which ripened their 

 grain early and one-fourth late, the other half 

 ripening their grain at the intermediate season. 



The importance of this observation is that it 

 shows that the Mendelian principle of the segre- 



