Nov. io, 1913 
Alkaloidal Content of Belladonna Plants 
133 
Since one picking showed such a wide range of variation among the 
24 plants, 35 additional plants were staked out the following spring. 
Twenty-six of these were in the same plat as the first plants, while the 
remaining 9 were in a neighboring plat on practically the same kind of 
soil and were separated from the others by a space of only about 100 feet. 
These 9 plants are distinguished in Table II by the letter “ w.” 
Table II represents the results of the second and third years. In 1911, 
five pickings were made, extending from May 12 to October 17. At each 
picking the height of each plant was measured, until the full stage of 
development had been reached. At the first picking, on May 12, nine of 
the plants were not sufficiently advanced to furnish samples of leaves. 
Some of the more advanced plants were beginning to have flowers. On 
May 22, when the second picking was made, the plants were all in the 
full flowering stage. The third picking was made on June 17, when the 
flowering was mostly over and the berries generally were well developed. 
The plants had made considerable growth since the previous picking, 
but by the latter part of June they had reached their maximum growth. 
At the time of the fourth picking, September 6, they had assumed their 
characteristic late-summer and fall appearance. The berries were ripe 
and the leaves were small and sparse. At this stage the picking of the 
leaves is a very tedious process. Later in the fall, after the berries are ripe, 
new leaves begin to appear on the plant. Many of them develop on the 
new sprouts which mature during the summer, and not a few appear 
as the result of suckers which sprout directly from the roots. It has 
frequently been observed that some plants develop so many of these 
suckers that they have the appearance of plants just before flowering. 
At this stage, October 17, the fifth and last picking was made. 
