The five crossed plants average 93.7 inches, and the five
self-fertilised only 50.4, or as 100 to 54. This difference, however, is
so great that it must be looked at as in part accidental. The six
crossed plants (the diseased one here included) yielded spontaneously
101 capsules, and the six self-fertilised plants 88, the latter being
chiefly produced by one of the plants. But as the diseased plant, which
yielded hardly any seed, is here included, the ratio of 101 to 88 does
not fairly give the relative fertility of the two lots. The stems of the
six crossed plants looked so much finer than those of the six
self-fertilised plants, that after the capsules had been gathered and
most of the leaves had fallen off, they were weighed. Those of the
crossed plants weighed 2,693 grains, whilst those of the self-fertilised
plants weighed only 1,173 grains, or as 100 to 44; but as the diseased
and dwarfed crossed plant is here included, the superiority of the
former in weight was really greater.]

THE EFFECTS ON THE OFFSPRING OF CROSSING DIFFERENT FLOWERS ON THE SAME
PLANT, INSTEAD OF CROSSING DISTINCT INDIVIDUALS.

In all the foregoing experiments, seedlings from flowers crossed by
pollen from a distinct plant (though in the later generations more or
less closely related) were put into competition with, and almost
invariably proved markedly superior in height to the offspring from
self-fertilised flowers. I wished, therefore, to ascertain whether a
cross between two flowers on the same plant would give to the offspring
any superiority over the offspring from flowers fertilised with their
own pollen. I procured some fresh seed and raised two plants, which were
covered with a net; and several of their flowers were crossed with
pollen from a distinct flower on the same plant. Twenty-nine capsules
thus produced contained on an average 4.86 seeds per capsule; and 100 of