darwin.RdDarwin's cross-fertilized and self-fertilized plants
These data are from Charles Darwin's study of cross- and self-fertilization. Pairs of seedlings of the same age, one produced by cross-fertilization and the other by self- fertilization, were grown together so that the members of each pair were reared under nearly identical conditions. The aim was to demoostrate the greater vigour of the cross-fertilized plants. The data are the final heights of each plant after a fixed period of time. Darwin consulted Galton about the analysis of these data, and they were discussed further in Fisher's Design of Experiments.