ON TEXTILE PLANTS 



numberless other problems of plant development 

 that have been solved in the same way. 



And here, also, we may reasonably assume, aid 

 may be secured through the careful cross-poUeniz- 

 ing of resistant individuals, even if no resistant 

 species can be found with which to effect hybrid- 

 ization. It is reported that a tree cotton indigenous 

 to southern Mexico is partially resistant to the 

 weevil. 



It will be of interest to determine whether the 

 peculiar characteristic as to growth of new tissue 

 that makes the individual cotton plants resistant 

 to the weevil constitutes a unit character that will 

 be transmitted along Mendelian lines, comparable 

 therefore to immunity and susceptibility to rust as 

 revealed in Professor Biffen's experiments with 

 the wheat. 



Whether or not such is the case, it may be 

 expected that the cotton plants that show resist- 

 ance will transmit this propensity to some of their 

 offspring. It is obvious that an Investigation of 

 the hereditary tendencies of the cotton in this 

 regard, coupled with experiments looking to the 

 improvement of the quality of the fiber itself, 

 should have at once a high degree of interest for 

 the plant developer and the promise of large 

 reward to both grower and consumer. 



The geographical location of my experiment 



[129] 



