Bud-variation is the last point to be taken up. It seems to be very rare
with stocks, but some instances have been recorded in literature. Darwin
mentions a double stock with a branch bearing single flowers, and other
cases are known to have occurred. But in no instance does the seed of
such a bud-variant seem to have been saved. Occasionally other
reversions also occur. From time to time specimens appear with more
luxurious growth and with divergent instead of erect pods. They are
called, in Erfurt, "generals" on account [339] of their stiff and erect
appearance, and they are marked by more divergent horns crowning the
pods. They are said to produce only a relatively small number of doubles
from their seeds, and even this small number might be due to
fertilization with pollen of their neighbors. I saw some of these
reversionary types; when inspecting the nurseries of Erfurt, but as they
are, as a rule, thrown out before ripening their seed, nothing is
exactly known about their real hereditary qualities.
Much remains to be cleared up, but it seems that one of the best means
to find a way through the bewildering maze of the phenomena of
inheritance, is to make groups of related forms and to draw conclusions
from a comparison of the members of such groups. Such comparisons must
obviously give rise to questions, which in their turn will directly lead
to experimental investigation.
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