XIII.] SEED - PRODUCTION VS. AMELIORATION. 253 



for larger tubers ; but the cultivation, of itself, is not 

 opposed to seed -production. 



The case of the banana is unique in this section, 

 inasmuch as the rootstock is not the part especially 

 demanded by man. Yet there is reason to believe that 

 in this case selection, rather than cultivation, has had 

 the most to do with the seedless character of this sin- 

 gular fruit. Perhaps a discussion of this case should 

 fall more properly under the next caption. 



3. Seed -production hears no immediate relation to 

 cultivation in those plants which are cultivated for the 

 flesh or pulp of their so-called fruits. As a rule, the 

 cultivated varieties of apples contain more seeds than 

 the wild apples of Europe do. Forty specimens of the 

 wild crab {Pyrus Malus) of Central Europe produced 

 an aggregate of two hundred and fifty -six seeds, or an 

 average of six and two -fifths seeds to each fruit. 

 Forty Northern Spys contained four hundred and 

 eighty -one seeds, or an average of twelve and one- 

 fortieth to the fruit. Normally, the apple should 

 contain ten seeds, two in each carpel, but some of 

 these Spys had fifteen seeds and one had eighteen. 

 Yet some other varieties of apples contain fewer than 

 the normal number, while some are almost entirely 

 seedless. There is generally a slight increase in seed- 

 production as fruits develop away from the first type, 

 especially if the fruits become larger. This is a nat- 

 ural consequence of the increase in size, though it 

 bears no constant ratio to this increase. I am disposed 

 to regard the seedless apples and pears in the light of 

 seminal sports, exactly analogous to red apples, long 

 apples, or other forms of variation ; and I should not 

 expect to find this character to possess much stronger 



