XIII. 



THE RELATION OF SEED -BEARING TO 

 CULTIVATION/ 



There seems to be much confusion of opinion con- 

 cerning the supposed relations between seed -production 

 and amelioration. There is a very general notion that 

 production of seeds lessens in direct proportion to the 

 departure, through cultivation, of the plant from the 

 first or wild type. This supposition, it occurs to me, 

 is but partly true, and even when true, is misleading. 



For the present purpose, the relation of seed -pro- 

 duction to cultivation can be sufficiently studied under 

 three general heads, the first of which discusses selection 

 more particularly. By the term seed -production, I 

 mean to refer to the seed product of the individual 

 fruit, not to that of an entire inflorescence or plant. 



1. i^eed -production has increased, as a rule, in those 

 plants which are cultivated for their seeds. Man would 

 naturally and almost unconsciously select for sowing 

 those seeds which are borne in the most productive 

 fruits. In this way a slow, but continuous, selection 

 has augmented seed -production, and many times, no 

 doubt, almost independently of cultivation. Examples 

 of this increase may be found in certain tropical plants, 

 and in beans and peas. Of course, the converse of this 



'Proceedings of the Twenty-first Session of the American Pomoloij^ical Society, 

 120 (1887) 



(251) 



