[383] From all these and other reasons some plants will be favored by
the external conditions from the beginning, while others will be
retarded, and the effects will gradually increase until at last they
become sufficient to account for a considerable amount of individual
variability. There is no doubt that the difference in the strength of
the plant and in the size of the capsules, going from 5-10 grams for a
single fruit, are for the most part due to these unavoidable
circumstances. I have tried all conceivable means to find remedies for
these difficulties, but only by sowing my seeds in pans in a glass-house
have I been able to reach more constant and equal conditions. But
unfortunately such a method requires the planting out of the young
seedlings in the beginning of the summer, and this operation is not
without danger for opium-poppies, and especially not without important
influence on the monstrosity of the pistilloid variety. Consequently my
sowings of this plant have nearly always been made in the beds.
In order to show how great the influence of all these little things may
become, we only have to make two sowings on neighboring beds and under
conditions which have carefully been made as equal as possible. If we
use for these controlling experiments seeds from one and the same
capsule, it will soon become evident that [384] no exact similarity
between the two lots may be expected.
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