Abstract
1. Heritability of three quantitative characters was estimated in two eggplant crosses. The degrees of heritability for the period from seeding to flowering, fruit shape index, and fruit weight were 65-78, 60-75 and 40-60 per cent respectively.
2. Heritability for the fruit shape index and fruit weight estimated by parent-offspring regressions was relatively low, as compared with heritability for them in broad sense, when the variances of F1 were used for the estimation of the enviromental variances. In connection with this finding, it was concluded that the F1 variances used as enviromental variances of the segregating generations give too large or too small values, according to the traits.
3. The remarkable differences between the F2 variances of both crosses were interpreted as due to, effects of genes (polygenes or major gene) governing such traits. This assumption was verified by the frequency distribution in F2, and its appropriateness was emphasized on the basis of the relationships between the effects of genes and the degree of heritability.
4. The number of effective factors was estimated by the procedure proposed by Mather (4). The estimates were generally low and they were not so reliable, but it was found that the factors having plus or minus effects are probably concentrated within one parent.
5. Various segregants or recombinants were observed in the F3of the cross Fl×Se, and the range of that segregation was occupying almost the whole range of variation of the cultivated varieties. It may be expected in practical breeding to obtain many new variants from such cross combinations.
