786 Fluctuations 



inspection of the seeds which of them will yield 

 the desired individual. But what is impossible 

 in the inspection of the seeds may be feasible, 

 at least in important measure, in the inspection 

 of the plants which bear the seeds. Whenever 

 such an inspection demonstrates differences, in 

 manifest connection with the quality under con- 

 sideration, any one will readily grant that it 

 would be useless to sow the seeds of the worst 

 plants, and that even the whole average might 

 be thrown over, if it were only possible to point 

 out a number of the best. But it is clear that 

 by this inspection of the parent-plants the prin- 

 ciple of repeated selection is introduced for two 

 succeeding generations, and that its application 

 to a larger series of generations is only a ques- 

 tion of secondary importance. 



Summing up our discussion of this first point 

 we may assert that repeated selection is only 

 selection on a small and practical scale, while a 

 single choice would require numbers of indi- 

 viduals higher than are ordinarily available. 



A second discussion in connection with our 

 pedigree-culture of corn is the question whether 

 the amelioration obtained was of a dur- 

 able nature, or only temporary. In other 

 words, whether the proe:eny of the race would 

 remain constant, if cultivated after cessation 

 of the selection. In order to ascertain this, I 



