1908.] 



PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 33. 



67 



is that, while the average length of vine is 54.7 centimeters the 

 largest numlier of vines have a height of 60 centimeters. This 

 shows that the typical Excelsior pea vine in this field was 

 nearly 10 centimeters taller than the average ; or, to put the 

 matter another way, a relatively large nmnber of vines run 

 below the typical height. 



"We may now direct our attention to the number of pods to 



Fig. 2. 



the vine. These are shown by Fig. 2. From this we see at 

 once that the typical vine in this field (i.e., the kind of vine 

 most frequently found) contains 3 pods, while the average 

 number is 4.68. This average is brought up by a few vines, 

 represented at the right of the curve, bearing an unusually 

 large number of pods. 



At this point it might be suggested that the practical plant 

 l)recder, in an endeavor to improve this variety of peas, would 

 naturally select seed from those vines bearing 8, 9, 10 or more 

 pods. 



