Some of these features I will now try to describe,
in order to show what still remains to be done, and in what manner the
stocks may clear the way for the study of the ever-sporting varieties.
The first point, is the question, which seeds become double-flowered and
which single-flowered plants? Beyond all doubt, the determination has
taken place before the ripening of the seed. But though the color of the
seed is often indicative of the color of the flowers, as in some red or
purple varieties, and though in balsams and some other instances the
most "highly doubled" flowers are to be obtained from the biggest and
plumpest seeds, no such rule seems to exist respecting the double
stocks. Now if one half of the seeds gives doubles, and [335] the other
half singles, the question arises, where are the singles and the doubles
to be found on the parent-plant?
The answer is partly given by the following experiment. Starting from
the general rule of the great influence of nutrition on variability, it
may be assumed that those seeds will give most doubles, that are best
fed. Now it is manifest that the stem and larger branches are, in a
better condition than the smaller twigs, and that likewise the first
fruits have better chances than the ones formed later. Even in the same
pod the uppermost seeds will be in a comparatively disadvantageous
position.
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