148 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



inheritance we have no universal dominance. Absolute and uni- 

 versal purity in germ cells has not been determined for any case. 

 The impairment may occur from blended or from mosaic prop- 

 erties. Unexplored nature may reveal cases of purity, as we have 

 reason to believe that they may occur in rare cases. There are 

 also groups where these principles do not apply; nor is it easy 

 to conceive any law of ancestral heredity which can express 

 them. The first cross may be irregular or not intermediate be- 

 tween parental types. There is often some degree of sterility. 



False hybrids may be produced where we have fertilization 

 without transmission of parental characters. In these cases the 

 first cross may show in some respect the character of one parent 

 only, but in its posterity no appearance of the lost character or 

 characters is observed. The nature of such cases is still quite ob- 

 scure. To these uncomformable cases further experiment will add 

 many more, as the phenomena of inheritance is more complex. 

 But Mendel's principle may be extended from hybridization to 

 heredity, though the laws of each case must be determined by 

 separate experiment. 



THE MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



A. \V. SI AS, HARBOK \'IE\V, FLA. 



In the exuberance of his affection for our society, Mr. A. W. 

 - Sias, of Harbor View, Fla., life member for thirty years and well 

 known for his practical work in horticulture in our state in the 

 seventies and eighties, gives voice as follows : 



The Minnesota State Horticultural Society : 

 She's mine alma mater. 



We ne'er brag about old Harvard or Yale, 

 Or of any other subject that's stale. 

 We knocked at her door and received our mail — 

 She's mine alma mater. 



Do we now grow trees as nature revealed? 

 If so, fine is the fruit, and big the yield! 

 We joined the ranks, and unto her appealed — 

 She's mine alma mater. 



We'll grow grape fruit as big as good pumpkins, 

 Without aid from commercial man — Dunkins ! 

 Our college will help, as sure as fate is — 

 She's mine alma mater. 



She's my good, pure, mental food creator ! 

 To the truth, she's no idle spectator. 

 There's a host to love, and none to hate her! — 

 She's mine alma mater. 



— Sam Bacus. 



