THE CONGRESS OP FRUITGROWERS. 



Nothing could well be more satisfactory 

 than the late session of this body at Castle 

 Garden, New-York, during the first week 

 of October. 



The past season, so unusually unfavora- 

 ble, not only to the production of fine fruits, 

 but to the collection of information respect- 

 ing them, led us to anticipate a very indif- 

 ferent attendance on this occasion, and a 

 want of that lively interest in the topics to 

 be discussed which grows out of poor crops 

 and disappointed hopes. 



Great was our surprise, therefore, on 

 finding the large hall, devoted to this par- 

 pose, filled with delegates from almost 

 every portion of the United States — from 

 Maine to Georgia, and as far west as Illi- 

 nois ; and greater still our gratification, to 

 see that these were not merely so called 

 delegates, representing the different horti- 

 cultural, pomological and agricultural so- 

 cieties in various sections of the Union, but 

 men of the highest stamp, as regards prac- 

 tical skill and pomological knowledge — the 

 concentrated experience and knowledge of 

 the country on these subjects ; so that the 

 officers of the meeting had only to call for 

 information, regarding the success or the 

 failure of any tried variety of fruit, and 

 Maine, Massachusetts, Ohio, or New- York, 

 or some other state, was there, in the per- 

 son of her most experienced cultivators, 

 ready to give her evidence either to damn 

 an outcast fruit to the "rejected list," or 

 to raise it to the company of good and tried 

 names, worthy of a place in the orchard or 

 garden of all seeking and doubting horti- 

 culturists. Every one attending that con- 

 vention must have been struck with the 

 great value, to the horticulture of the coun- 

 try, of this array of experience from so 



wide a range of the Union, and with the 

 far greater importance and utility of the 

 meetings of such an association, over those 

 of any local horticultural society. 



The first step was to appoint a commit- 

 tee, to meet another committee sent by the 

 N. A. Pomological Convention, for the pur- 

 pose of uniting those two bodies into a sin- 

 gle one, of a completely national charac- 

 ter. We are glad to be able to say that 

 this was done by unanimous consent, and 

 so entirely was the whole convention of 

 the opinion that there should be but one 

 body of the kind, that the consolidation 

 was effected immediately, and with the 

 largest spirit of good will and fraternity on 

 all sides. The consolidated association is 

 to be known hereafter as the American Po~ 

 mological Congress, and is to hold its next 

 session at Cincinnati, in September, 1S50. 



After this, the chairman of the general 

 fruit committee brought forward a " re- 

 jected list" of fruits, considered unworthy 

 of large cultivation. Notwithstanding a 

 little opposition from a few of our friends, 

 who are pomological universalists, and 

 think that not even choke pears are worthy 

 of eternal condemnation, the Congress en- 

 tered very heartily into the consideration 

 of the list, and made an excellent begin- 

 ning of a good work, by passing sentence 

 on a pretty large number of sorts which 

 have been extensively tried, and found 

 wanting. In order to give the arraigned 

 culprit the benefit of a doubt, an objection 

 from any member of the Congress was suf- 

 ficient to prevent his being sentenced ; but 

 if no one spoke in his behalf, he was voted 

 unworthy of longer good fellowship in any 

 catalogue, garden, or orchard. 



After dispatching this rejected list, which 



