May 6, 1904.] 



SCIENCE. 



739 



with ' American Wonder ' peas when the char- 

 acter of soil favorable for the most desirable 

 type is the opposite of that favorable for the 

 best ' Extra Earlies.' 



Seedsmen commonly believe that, in the case 

 of peas, the character of the soil has a marked 

 influence over the character of the plant, and 

 that this influence extends to and is carried 

 by the seed, but that such soil influence is 

 decidedly cumulative in its efliects, so that in 

 practice they attach little importance to it for 

 one season, but carefully avoid the use of 

 stock seed which has been submitted to such 

 influence for consecutive years. 



Again in the case of garden beans, the tend- 

 ency of rich, moist, heavy soil is to produce 

 thick, fleshy pods slow to mature, while that 

 of warm sandy land is to the production of 

 flatter, less fleshy and quicker maturing pods. 

 I can best illustrate this by experience. Some 

 ten years ago I sent each of two growers living 

 within a mile of each other, seed of ' Valen- 

 tine ' bean of precisely the same stock grown 

 the previous year in the same field, which was 

 a rich clay loam. One of these, whom I will 

 call Cj, planted on rather heavy, rich soil, the 

 other, S, on a light warm but rich sandy one. 

 The next season C received seed grown by S 

 gnd 8 seed grown by C, while a third man, M, 

 some five miles away, on rich loam soil, re- 

 ceived equal parts of both. When I visited 

 the fields I noticed that in C's field, which I 

 supposed was planted wholly with seed grown 

 by S, there were ten rows which differed from 

 the rest and were such as I would expect if 

 seed from was planted, and I tried to ac- 

 count for them by extra manure, etc. ; but I 

 learned, that as there was not quite enough of 

 the seed from 8 sent him, he had filled out 

 with some of his own, and I had detected the 

 exact row where the seed was used. I then 

 visited M on loam soil, and while I could tell 

 that one part of the field was planted with G 

 stock and the other with 8, I could not detect 

 the line between them. 



These experiences seem to indicate that in 

 leguminous plants soil does have an influence 

 which is carried in the seed, and is cumulative 

 in character, but in all my experience I have 



never seen any influence of the climate over 

 the seed of legimiinous plants. 



The only gramineous plant with which I 

 have had a large experience is sweet com, and 

 here the case of legumes is reversed. I have 

 never been able to detect any influence of soil 

 over the character of the seed produced, but I 

 believe that climatic condition does have a 

 marked influence, and that the difference be- 

 tween stock grown east and that grown west is 

 the result of climatic rather than soil condi- 

 tion. People who use large quantities of 

 sweet corn are very positive in their belief 

 that seed produced in the eastern states gives 

 a better product than that grown at the west. 

 Some seedsmen agree with them, others main- 

 tain that if eastern stock seed is used just as 

 good corn can be grown in the west. It seems 

 to me that that if not only undermines their 

 contention, but shows that seedsmen have a 

 practical belief in the cumulative influence of 

 soil and climate. 



Turning now to cucurbits, in my experience 

 I could never detect any effect of either soil 

 or climate on seed of cucurbitaceous plants of 

 the same stocTc. I don't wish to be understood 

 as saying that soil and climate have no influ- 

 ence over the fruit, for they do quite as much 

 as with any plant, but that this difference is 

 not carried in the seed. As an illustration 

 the writer has knowledge of a case where seed 

 from small but select fruits grown in Mich- 

 igan was sown in Oklahoma by the side of seed 

 from large plants of the same pedigree grown 

 in Oklahoma, and the result was equally large 

 fruit in both cases. Also, in another case an 

 old and experienced grower in Michigan, who 

 claimed that he should be paid more for seed 

 grown in Michigan, because earlier and better, 

 was given seed of the same stock, grown for 

 three generations in Michigan and for four 

 generations within 200 miles of Gulf of 

 Mexico, to plant side by side, and told that if 

 he could detect any difference in the crop, his 

 request would be considered, but he was un- 

 able to do so. 



I have had the spme sort of results with 

 cucumber, muskmelon and squash, and it has 

 made me think that seed of cucurbits do not 

 carry influences of soil and climate, even when 



