JOURNAL 



OP THE 



Royal Hoetioultuml Society. 



Vol. XXXVII. 1911. 

 Part I. 



SINGLE SEED SELECTION. 

 By G. F. Scott-Elliot, M.A., B.Sc, F.L.S. 

 [Being the fifth ' Masters Lecture,' delivered February 28, 1911.] 



In modern botanical literature, perhaps no questions have aroused 

 greater interest and been more thoroughly investigated than the develop- 

 ment of the ovule and the cytological phenomena which accompany 

 fertilization. 



The results achieved are, no doubt, of the greatest value, but they 

 do not give any explanation, at least so far as my information is con- 

 cerned, on one special mystery which has always fascinated me. 



What connexion exists between the developing embryo and the 

 mother plant ? 



In some cases one might almost say that the young seed behaves 

 like a parasite. It is nourished at the expense of the mother, very 

 muiCh. as; parasitic fungi or cecidia might be. There is apparently no 

 obstacle, nothing to prevent the freest possible interchange between the 

 developing gerrn and the tissues of the ovule. 



The effect of fertilization cannot, of course, be minimized, but, how- 

 ever great may be the influence of the sperm nucleus, it is surely certain 

 that the protoplasm, the enzymes, and the proportions existing between 

 these enzymes, of the developing embryo must be dependent on those 

 which exist in the mother plant. 



Even after fertilization has occurred and after the palisade of cun- 

 ningly-designed strengthening cells has separated off the future seed, 

 it is very hard to understand how there can be any essential difference 

 between the cell structure, enzymes, and protoplasm of the seed and 

 those of the original plant. 



It may seem at first sight unnecessary to dwell upon this point, but 



- VOL. XXXVII. B 



