No. 199.] 197 



Boston, by the President of the Massachusetts Horticultural i?ocicty, 

 a-nil others, and pronounced far inferior to a vast number of other va- 

 rieties. If no other objection was made, they would be considered 

 as rejected. 



Mr, FiiENCH^ of Massachusetts, was not prepared to proceed in this 

 way. The four pears now named, might be worthless enough, and 

 he was willing they should be superseded ; but he feared the course 

 proposed to be taken, might lead to evil results in the end. It ap- 

 peared to him, that it would be enough for this Congress to rule fruits 

 in ; for its members to decide among themselves, what they really 

 approved, and leave to the wise in the community, to say whether 

 they would cultivate other varieties or not. He made these remarks 

 because it might happen that a pear, a third-rate one, perhaps, as the 

 Buffiim, would be erased from the list to be cultivated ; and that 

 such subsequent differences of opinion in regard to it might arise, as 

 to make gentlemen sorry for what they had done. Suppose this 

 Congress should rule a fruit out, and the next should rule it in ; what 

 weight ceuld be attached to the decision of either 1 He knew the 

 catalogue was much too large ; in regard to the apple, for instance, 

 instead of the present cumbersome list, one of about thirty good va- 

 rieties, was as much as any person ought to expect or desire ; but 

 there might be a difference of opinion, even in that. He wished the 

 Congress not to decide upon excluding any fruits, but to rule in, and 

 recommend a few of the best, and leave the public to gather from- 

 them as they chose. 



Mr. Walker, of Massachusetts, observed that the list was made 

 out under the directions of the last convention. There did appear to 

 be a large majority of the members last year, that not only wished, 

 but demanded a list of rejected fruits. He thought, then, that we 

 were not ready for it, but the meeting did request the several State 

 committees to report to the general committee, a list of worthless 

 fruits, in their respective States. The Massachusetts committee had 

 only obeyed these instructions of the convention ; and in so doing, 

 they had .followed the example of the London Horticultural Society, 

 ■which, as every gentleman knew, placed a cipher against the names 

 of worthless fruits in the catalogue. These four pears were among 

 them, and there were about 160 pears rejected, in all, by that Society, 

 if he rightly remembered. It was undeniable, that there were large 



