The seeds obtained in the manner just described were placed on sand, and after germinating were planted in pairs,—­three crossed and three self-fertilised plants on the opposite sides of four pots.  When the leaves were 2 or 3 inches in length, including the foot-stalks, the seedlings on both sides were equal.  In the course of a month or two the crossed plants began to show a slight superiority over the self-fertilised, which steadily increased; and the crossed flowered in all four pots some weeks before, and much more profusely than the self-fertilised.  The two tallest flower-stems on the crossed plants in each pot were now measured, and the average height of the eight stems was 9.49 inches.  After a considerable interval of time the self-fertilised plants flowered, and several of their flower-stems (but I forgot to record how many) were roughly measured, and their average height was a little under 7.5 inches; so that the flower-stems on the crossed plants to those on the self-fertilised were at least as 100 to 79.  The reason why I did not make more careful measurements of the self-fertilised plants was, that they looked such poor specimens that I determined to there them re-potted in larger pots and in the following year to measure them carefully; but we shall see that this was partly frustrated by so few flower-stems being then produced.

These plants were left uncovered in the greenhouse; and the twelve crossed plants produced forty capsules, whilst the twelve self-fertilised plants produced only five; or as 100 to 12.  But this difference does not give a just idea of the relative fertility of the two lots.  I counted the seeds in one of the finest capsules on the crossed plants, and it contained seventy-three; whilst the finest of the five capsules produced by the self-fertilised plants contained only thirty-five good seeds.  In the other four capsules most of the seeds were barely half as large as those in the crossed capsules.

Table 6/91.  Cyclamen persicum:  0 implies that no flower-stem was produced.

Heights of plants measured in inches.

Column 1:  Number (Name) of Pot.

Column 2:  Crossed Plants.

Column 3:  Self-fertilised Plants.

Pot 1 :  10 :  0. 
Pot 1 :  9 2/8 :  0. 
Pot 1 :  10 2/8 :  0.

Pot 2 :  9 2/8 :  0. 
Pot 2 :  10 :  0. 
Pot 2 :  10 2/8 :  0.

Pot 3 :  9 1/8 :  8. 
Pot 3 :  9 5/8 :  6 7/8. 
Pot 3 :  9 5/8 :  6 6/8.

Pot 4 :  11 1/8 :  0. 
Pot 4 :  10 5/8 :  7 7/8. 
Pot 4 :  10 6/8 :  0.

Total :  119.88 :  29.50.

In the following year the crossed plants again bore many flowers before the self-fertilised bore a single one.  The three tallest flower-stems on the crossed plants in each of the pots were measured, as shown in Table 6/91.  In Pots 1 and 2 the self-fertilised plants did not produce a single flower-stem; in Pot 4 only one; and in Pot 3 six, of which the three tallest were measured.