The Inheritance of Quantitative Characters in Maize 93 
INHERITANCE OF TOTAL LENGTH OF STALKS PER PLANT. 
For the studies of height of plants, only the main stalk of 
each plant was measured and for the studies of number of stalks 
per plant every stalk, whether tall or short, was counted. 
Neither of these sets of data gives a very good idea of the total 
amount of stalk produced. While it certainly would have been 
desirable to determine the dry weight of each plant, that could 
not be done. Doubtless a fair notion of the amount of substance 
per plant could be obtained from a knowledge of the total length 
and average diameter of stalks per plant, but no determinations 
of diameters were made. The only measurements of total length 
of stalks were made in 1911. The data are given in Tables 37 
and 38. 
Table 37 affords a comparison of Missouri dent, California pop. 
and F x and F 2 generations of a cross of these varieties. While 
the different families of the same parent or hybrid generation 
differed considerably from one another, there were also fairly well 
marked differences between the different generations. The short- 
stalked California pop, Xos. 834 and 835, owing to its large num- 
ber of stalks per plant, had a greater total length of stalk per 
plant than did the much taller Missouri dent. Xos. 833 and 838. 
The increased vigor of the F, generation, Xos. 836 and 837. re- 
sulted in a total length of stalk considerably greater than that of 
either parent. Xone of the F 2 families had an average total length 
of stalk equal to F 1 nor did any of them much exceed the California 
pop parent in this respect. Some of the F 2 families, however, 
equaled in range of variation the combined range of the parents 
and F v Whether a type breeding true to a total stalk length 
greater than that of either parent could be isolated by selection 
from among the F 2 's can be told only by further breeding. 
Similar data for the cross of Missouri dent and Tom Thumb 
pop are presented in Table 38. Xo F 1 generation of this cross 
was grown in 1911, but the parent and P 2 generations will serve 
for comparison with the various F 3 families. The unfavorable 
early season and previous inbreeding combined to make the total 
length of stalk of Tom Thumb pop. Xo. 1126, unusually small, 
only about one-fifth that of Missouri dent. Xos. 1129. Ii30. and 
1148. The average total length of stalks of the P 2 families. Xos. 
1127 and 1128, equaled or exceeded somewhat that of the Missouri 
dent parent. The range of variation in F 2 was considerably 
greater than in the parents. In some of the F a families the 
range of variation was even greater than in F 2 , while in others it 
was little if any greater than in the parent varieties. The mean 
total length of stalk of the F 3 families varied from about midway 
between the parents to somewhat over twice that of the larger 
