Pomological Convention. 
Convention, and there is an evident endeavor to excite feelings of 
rivalry between the Buffalo Convention and the American Con- 
gress of Fruit-growers. That all this is untrue, is evident from 
the fact that Dr. Wendell and others, members of the State Agri- 
cultural Society, and who were also prominent at the Buffalo 
Convention, were among the most active and useful at the Con- 
gress in New York; and that Patrick Barry, another active mem- 
ber of the Buffalo Convention, was one of the secretaries of the 
Congress. The meeting in New York for pomological purposes, 
has been in agitation for some three years past, and the writer 
well recollects a conversation with A. J. Downing upon the sub- 
ject on the Hudson river in the fall of 1845. The subject w-as at 
that time also mentioned to others, but delay was deemed advisa- 
ble and a decisive movement was not made until the present year, 
and previous to the announcement of the Buffalo Convention, 
when the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, the American In- 
stitute, and the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, all moved 
jointly in the matter. That these are well known facts and that 
the Massachusetts Horticultural Society was not the prime and 
only mover, is evident from the published circular and from the 
fact that the Congress was not held in Boston. We wish to pass 
lightly over the slur upon Samuel Walker's English birth, — a 
feature in the history of many whose descendants now enjoy the 
institutions of this country. He may be an adopted citizen, but 
we know that he has cast no stain upon the reputation of his 
adopted country by dishonest transactions abroad. He is de- 
servedly esteemed and respected by those who know him, and it 
is not for me to pronounce his eulogy. Neither is it necessary for 
me to notice the remarks upon M. P. Wilder, whose character 
and ability stand too high to need my pen. He has long been 
valued as an efficient President of the Massachusetts Horticultural 
Society, and all its members deeply regret his resignation of that 
office, however well it may be filled at present. It is quite a new 
principle too, which the article advances, that the fact of their 
selling trees unfits these gentleman for any effort to improve the 
cultivation of fruit. 
The remarks upon A. J. Downing are of the same jealous and 
bitter character, but still less does he need my defence, for his 
works have given him a reputation, which even Dr. Lindley, 
hostile as he is to American talent and edbrt, has readily acknow- 
ledged. He may have committed errors, for who has not, but he 
willingly submits to their correction; and he may also adhere 
closely to his opinions, but we are convinced that all unprejudiced 
minds will bear us out in the assertion that he has done more to 
advance pomological science, and to improve horticultural and 
architectural taste, than any other American whatever. We may 
