STATE PO-MOLOGICAL SOCIETY. IO3 



ably two distinct strains of Keiffer pears. Yet when we take 

 into consideration the countless thousands of buds of these 

 varieties that have been taken for propagating purposes, we 

 cannot help concluding that any heritable changes in the germ 

 plasm of these fruits are very, very rare ; so rare, indeed, as to 

 render the term "pedigree" fruit a catch phrase founded upon 

 unsound principles. The J. H. Hale peach may be a true germ- 

 inal variation of the Elberta. Time alone will tell. 



To conclude, I will again state my position in regard to the 

 whole matter of "pedigree" fruits. I believe that as a general 

 principle for commercial practice there is absolutely no virtue 

 in the practice of picking out the best bearing trees in our 

 orchards to propagate from. I believe that from either a com- 

 mercial or a scientific point of view, there is nothing of intrinsic 

 value to recommend the practice of cutting scions from bearing 

 trees in order to propagate nursery stock. 



Every fruit grower and every nurseryman ought to be con- 

 stantly on the watch for variations in fruit that give promise 

 of improvement over the parent variety ; but he should be very 

 careful not to confuse the influences of environment with the 

 influences of heredity. And he should not forget that out of 

 the many millions of buds produced by any variety of fruit, 

 the bud whose variation has its origin in the germ plasm is a 

 rarity. 



"Pedigree" nursery stock is a catch commercial phrase and 

 the claims of nurserymen offering such stock for sale should be 

 given absolutely no credence by the fruit grower. 



VALUE OF HOME ECONOMICS. 



By Prof. Frances R. Freeman, Orono. 



I think we may consider in the first place the things that we 

 teach in home economics. Perhaps it is not quite clear to all 

 of us. In one division we may say we have the applied subjects, 

 that is, the cooking and sewing, household management, sanita- 

 tion, and so on. In what we call cookery, we consider the nutri- 

 tive value of foods, their composition and the methods under- 



