From E. L. Sturtevant 4 December 1879
So Framingham, Mass.
Dec. 4. 1879.
Charles Darwin, F.R.S. etc.
Dear Sir;
I wish to communicate to you briefly the result of an experiment in selection which I do not remember to have seen tried before: selecting in opposite directions.
This spring I planted my corn (maize) field with corn carefully selected for the best. I also planted a small lot with seed of the worst character. The result was:-
1. {300 Bus.1 of ears, of which 9 bus. were defective or about 3 per cent.
2 {181 ears, of which 179 were defective or 99%.
The appearance of the field and the plot offered as great contrast in the grain or earing as the figures show, but in the fodder growth there was no observable difference.
Please not feel it necessary to acknowledge receipt, as I know your time must be very much called upon.2
Sincerely yours | E Lewis Sturtevant
CD annotations
Footnotes
Bibliography
Sturtevant, Edward Lewis. 1894. Notes on maize. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club, 20 August 1894, pp. 319–43; 24 December 1894, pp. 503–23.
Summary
Observations on maize.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-12341
- From
- Edward Lewis Sturtevant
- To
- Charles Robert Darwin
- Sent from
- Framingham, Mass.
- Source of text
- DAR 177: 270
- Physical description
- ALS 1p
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 12341,” accessed on 23 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-12341.xml