By crossing reciprocally the tallest and shortest peas, Knight (17/53.
'Philosophical Transactions' 1799 page 200.) says: "I had in this experiment a
striking instance of the stimulative effects of crossing the breeds; for the
smallest variety, whose height rarely exceeded two feet, was increased to six
feet: whilst the height of the large and luxuriant kind was very little
diminished." Mr. Laxton gave me seed-peas produced from crosses between four
distinct kinds; and the plants thus raised were extraordinarily vigorous,
being in each case from one to two or three feet taller than the parent-forms
growing close alongside them.
Wiegmann (17/54. 'Ueber die Bastarderzeugung' 1828 s. 32, 33. For Mr.
Chaundy's case see Loudon's 'Gardener's Mag.' volume 7 1831 page 696.) made
many crosses between several varieties of cabbage; and he speaks with
astonishment of the vigour and height of the mongrels, which excited the
amazement of all the gardeners who beheld them. Mr. Chaundy raised a great
number of mongrels by planting together six distinct varieties of cabbage.
These mongrels displayed an infinite diversity of character; "But the most
remarkable circumstance was, that, while all the other cabbages and borecoles
in the nursery were destroyed by a severe winter, these hybrids were little
injured, and supplied the kitchen when there was no other cabbage to be had."
Mr. Maund exhibited before the Royal Agricultural Society (17/55. 'Gardener's
Chronicle' 1846 page 601.) specimens of crossed wheat, together with their
parent varieties; and the editor states that they were intermediate in
character, "united with that greater vigour of growth, which it appears, in
the vegetable as in the animal world, is the result of a first cross." Knight
also crossed several varieties of wheat (17/56. 'Philosoph. Transact.' 1799
page 201.), and he says "that in the years 1795 and 1796, when almost the
whole crop of corn in the island was blighted, the varieties thus obtained,
and these only, escaped in this neighbourhood, though sown in several
different soils and situations."
Here is a remarkable case: M. Clotzsch (17/57. Quoted in 'Bull. Bot. Soc.
France' volume 2 1855 page 327.) crossed Pinus sylvestris and nigricans,
Quercus robur and pedunculata, Alnus glutinosa and incana, Ulmus campestris
and effusa; and the cross-fertilised seeds, as well as seeds of the pure
parent-trees, were all sown at the same time and in the same place. The result
was, that after an interval of eight years, the hybrids were one-third taller
than the pure trees!
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account