My first experiment consisted in fertilising many flowers on long-styled and short-styled plants with their own pollen, and other flowers on the same plants with pollen taken from distinct plants belonging to the same form; so that all the unions were illegitimate.  There was no uniform and marked difference in the number of seeds obtained from these two modes of self-fertilisation, both of which were illegitimate.  The two lots of seeds from both forms were sown thickly on opposite sides of four pots, and numerous plants thus raised.  But there was no difference in their growth, excepting in one pot, in which the offspring from the illegitimate union of two long-styled plants exceeded in a decided manner in height the offspring of flowers on the same plants fertilised with their own pollen.  But in all four pots the plants raised from the union of distinct plants belonging to the same form, flowered before the offspring from the self-fertilised flowers.

Some long-styled and short-styled plants were now raised from purchased seeds, and flowers on both forms were legitimately crossed with pollen from a distinct plant; and other flowers on both forms were illegitimately fertilised with pollen from the flowers on the same plant.  The seeds were sown on opposite sides of Pots 1 to 4 in Table 6/95; a single plant being left on each side.  Several flowers on the illegitimate long-styled and short-styled plants described in the last paragraph, were also legitimately and illegitimately fertilised in the manner just described, and their seeds were sown in Pots 5 to 8 in the same table.  As the two sets of seedlings did not differ in any essential manner, their measurements are given in a single table.  I should add that the legitimate unions in both cases yielded, as might have been expected, many more seeds than the illegitimate unions.  The seedlings whilst half-grown presented no difference in height on the two sides of the several pots.  When fully grown they were measured to the tips of their longest leaves, and the result is given in Table 6/95.

Table 6/95.  Primula sinensis.

Heights of plants measured in inches.

Column 1:  Number (Name) of Pot.

Column 2:  Plants from legitimately Crossed seeds.

Column 3:  Plants from illegitimately Self-fertilised seeds.

Pot 1 :  8 2/8 :  8. 
From short-styled mother.

Pot 2 :  7 4/8 :  8 5/8. 
From short-styled mother.

Pot 3 :  9 5/8 :  9 3/8. 
From long-styled mother.

Pot 4 :  8 4/8 :  8 2/8. 
From long-styled mother.

Pot 5 :  9 3/8 :  9. 
From illegitimate short-styled mother.

Pot 6 :  9 7/8 :  9 4/8. 
From illegitimate short-styled mother.

Pot 7 :  8 4/8 :  9 4/8. 
From illegitimate long-styled mother.

Pot 8 :  10 4/8 :  10. 
From illegitimate long-styled mother.