4 .s' YS 7 EM A TIC I'oMolJ) Y 



in any conntry or any time is largely .systematic pomolopry, sinro 

 it is cliiefly discussions of the kinds of fruits. 



7. Plant distribution as a part of systematic pomology. — 

 The |)(>mol()^nsl \s knowled^^' coveriufr any fruit is not satisfac- 

 tory until tlie limits of its profital)le cultivation are determined. 

 The fruit-grower must have this information set forth as defi- 

 nitely as possible before he can choose intelligently for a com- 

 mercial plantation. A notable advance can be made in fruit- 

 growing when the systematist can give accurately the curving 

 boundaries of several hundred well-defined varieties of the differ- 

 ent fruits. From this material could be established plant com- 

 munities which would give about the best expression possible to 

 fruit-growers, farmers, and to botanists of the climates, soils, 

 and the ranges of plants. It would constitute a definite state- 

 ment of the lines of isothermals, altitudinal contours, degrees 

 of humidity, and boundaries of geological formations. This is 

 a field for further investigation that w^ould yield results of high 

 industrial and scientific importance. 



8. Relation of systematic pomology to plant-breeding. — 

 In the arts of crop-production, this may well be called the 

 era of plant-breeding. New knowledge enables breeders to im- 

 prove plants as never before. New fruits must be put in their 

 proper places with existing fruits in systems of classification. 

 In turn, fruit-breeding is dependent on systematic pomology. 

 The characters of plants are entities, more or less independent, 

 which are thrown together in various relationships in groups. 

 The systematist discovers and describes these ''elementary or 

 unit characters"; thus he lays a foundation for the plant- 

 breeder. Moreover, he collects and codifies the facts of varia- 

 tion, a matter of utmost importance to breeder and grower since 

 neither now knows what the kinds of variation are, nor what 

 may be their relations to heredity. As an illustration, the in- 

 heritance of bud-variations puzzles growers and breeders and 

 can hardly be solved until looseness of statement and incorrect- 

 ness of inferences are made less possible by better definitions 

 from systematists as to w^hat variations are. The histories and 

 accounts of origins of varieties which belong to systematic 

 pomology are also helpful to plant-breeders. 



