ON PEAS AND BEANS 



I have cited this case in detail, not because it 

 is of exceptional importance in comparison with 

 other of my plant developing experiments, but 

 simply because it illustrates the possibility of 

 developing quite rapidly a particular plant to meet 

 a specific commercial need. 



But to understand fully the conditions met even 

 in this single experiment, it is necessary to add 

 that I did not confine attention to the production 

 of the single variety just described, even in the 

 line of experiments that were undertaken specific- 

 ally for the purpose of producing that variety. 

 On the contrary, while scrutinizing the vines for 

 small peas of uniform size, I kept vigilant watch 

 also for other vines that varied in the opposite 

 direction. 



Peas Modified in Other Directions 



By carrying forward several series of selections 

 at the same time, a number of varieties were simul- 

 taneously developed that differed widely both 

 from one another and from the original stock. 



I found, for example, in the observation of the 

 early generations grown from the seed, that some 

 plants would produce four or even five times as 

 much as others. This habit of productiveness was 

 carried to the next generation with a good deal of 

 certainty. So it proved possible, by careful selec- 

 tion, in three years, to develop new forms of peas 



[83] 



