Pot 3 : 21 : 14. Pot 3 : 18 4/8 : 13.
Total : 68.5 : 61.5.
The four crossed plants averaged 17.12, and the four self-fertilised 15.37 inches in height; or as 100 to 90. One of the self-fertilised plants in Pot 3 was killed by an accident, and its fellow pulled up; so that when they were again measured to the summits of their flowers, there were only three on each side; the crossed now averaged in height 32.83, and the self-fertilised 30.16 inches; or as 100 to 92.
20. COMPOSITAE.—Lactuca sativa. (5/19. The Compositae are well-adapted for cross-fertilisation, but a nurseryman on whom I can rely, told me that he had been in the habit of sowing several kinds of lettuce near together for the sake of seed, and had never observed that they became crossed. It is very improbable that all the varieties which were thus cultivated near together flowered at different times; but two which I selected by hazard and sowed near each other did not flower at the same time; and my trial failed.)
Three plants of Lettuce (Great London Cos var.) grew close together in my garden; one was covered by a net, and produced self-fertilised seeds, the other two were allowed to be naturally crossed by insects; but the season (1867) was unfavourable, and I did not obtain many seeds. Only one crossed and one self-fertilised plant were raised in Pot 1, and their measurements are given in Table 5/66. The flowers on this one self-fertilised plant were again self-fertilised under a net, not with pollen from the same floret, but from other florets on the same head. The flowers on the two crossed plants were left to be crossed by insects, but the process was aided by some pollen being occasionally transported by me from plant to plant. These two lots of seeds, after germinating on sand, were planted in pairs on the opposite sides of Pots 2 and 3, which were at first kept in the greenhouse and then turned out of doors. The plants were measured when in full flower. Table 5/66, therefore, includes plants belonging to two generations. When the seedlings of the two lots were only 5 or 6 inches in height they were equal. In Pot 3 one of the self-fertilised plants died before flowering, as has occurred in so many other cases.
TABLE 5/66. Lactuca sativa.
Heights of plants measured in inches.
Column 1: Number (Name) of Pot.
Column 2: Crossed Plants.
Column 3: Self-fertilised Plants.