Relation to Cultivation. 
399 
selection by weeding out may have to be exercised. Partial 
variations, on the other hand, depend almost as much upon 
the cultivation as upon the seed. The purest seed is no 
absolute guarantee for a satisfactory batch of seedlings, unless 
the treatment has been appropriate. Then again, in the more 
familiar breeds, rarely more than one-third of the individuals 
exactly reproduce the abnormality, the others reverting more 
or less completely to the type. 
With regard now to the raising of plants with partial 
variations. The seed must, of course, be taken from those 
members of each generation which show the abnormality 
(twisting, fasciation, &c.) in the highest degree. The plants 
selected as seed-bearers must be isolated before flowering, 
either by digging up all the rest or by removing all their 
flower-buds. In their cultivation the following points must be 
regarded. In the first place the sowing must be made at the 
proper time, usually in April ; it is best to sow in pans under 
glass. The seedlings should be pricked out when they have 
developed the second leaf, and should either be planted 
out at once in their ultimate position, or be kept singly in 
pots for a few weeks (pots of 8-10 cm., or 3 in., are the best). 
Further, most monstrous plants require an open, sunny situa- 
tion, plenty of space, and much manure. The attempt should 
not be made to grow the plants in a shady place ; sometimes 
it may be successful, but the result is very uncertain. The 
plants should, from the very beginning, be planted so far 
apart that they do not touch or overshadow each other at 
all, or at least not until they have grown so far that 
the monstrosity has made its appearance. The amount of 
manure required obviously depends upon the nature of the 
soil, but it can hardly be given in excess. I made use of 
dried cow-dung, so-called cattle-guano, and horn-meal (crushed 
and steamed horns and hoofs), and gave |-i kilog. of this 
mixture to every square metre of soil. The seed-pans must 
not be manured at all, otherwise Botrytis cinerea , the great 
enemy of all special cultures, will be developed. 
I propose to describe now a series of experiments, all of 
