Pomological Convention. 567 
POMOLOGICAL CONVENTION. 
It would seem that the article headed Pomological Convention, 
over the signature of " Fidelius," published in our November No. 
has given great offence to some of our friends as well as some of 
the officers and members of the convention. It has, we must con- 
fess, attracted much more notice than we supposed it entitled to. 
In justice to ourself, however, we would beg leave to state that 
the article alluded to was received by us in good faith, viewing it 
as a criticism on the acts and doings of a public body, and we pub- 
lished it as such. If we have been deceived by the writer, with 
whom we have no acquaintance, and if he has made false state- 
ments, we regret its publication. 
We did not visit the sittings of the Convention, neither are we 
acquainted with the officers or leading members thereof; there- 
fore we had no feelings to gratify, nor any particular object in its 
publication. 
Since the above was written, we have received the following 
communication from Mr. Parsons, one of the secretaries of the 
Convention, in reply to Fidelius, which we cheerfully publish, 
giving the party aggrieved an opportunity to refute or contradict 
the statements made by Fidelius. 
Under the above caption there appears in the last number of 
the Journal, an article so replete with error and mis-statement, and 
so abusive of the most valuable members of the convention, that 
it seems to devolve upon me, by virtue of my office as secretary 
of that body, to correct these statements as far as lies in my power. 
It is at best an unpleasant task, for I cannot, with a due preserva- 
tion of self respect, descend to a style similar to that in which the 
article is couched — emanating as it evidently does from one whose 
character is somewhat notorious among those who have planted 
or purchased trees, and w^ose consciousness of the position in 
which the convention, witl\ a proper discrimination of character 
had placed him, has engendered the bitterness which is displayed 
in the article in question. In any individual matter I should en- 
tirely decline any notice of an article of this character, but ray 
duty as an officer of the body assailed, leaves me no choice. The 
article states that all the operations of the convention were pre- 
arranged by an "eastern clique," to the exclusion of those who 
were prominent in the State Agricultural Society, or in the Buffalo 
