^ Pomological Convention. 569 
be accounted sincere in this opinion, for our willingness to cor- 
rect his errors in past time is well known. Such being his repu- 
tation, it is not surprising that in addition to his appointment by 
the society of his own county, he was deemed a suitable delegate 
from the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, of which he was a 
member. 
The experience of the delegates from this society gives thtm 
deservedly a prominent place wherever horticultural knowledge 
or action is required, but it will scarcely be credited that they 
" usurped all the important business of the convention," when 
such men as Dr. Hare and Dr. Brinkle, of Philadelphia, Dr. Mun- 
son, of New Haven, Dr. Wendell, of Albany, and others were so 
effectively useful in all its proceedings. The convention accom- 
plished far more than its most ardent projectors anticipated. They 
supposed that very little more could be done this year than to 
organize and appoint a committee to report a list of select fruits 
another year. Not only was this effected, but a small list was 
reported at once by a committee appointed for the purpose and 
was adopted by the convention with, if we recollect aright, but two 
dissenting voices. The convention did almost unanimously dis- 
approve of any attempt to change this list before its adoption, from 
the conviction that if it attempted to form a list according to the 
great variety of tastes and individual preferences of its members, 
founded upon experience or the reverse, nothing whatever could 
be accomplished, while it could, on the other hand, safely rely 
upon the deliberate and unanimous decision of a committee of 
knowledge and experience, representing various sections of the 
country. 
There are some other points on which the author of the article 
in question attacks the members of the Massachusetts Horticultural 
Society, but they are scarcely worthy of notice. I have simply 
stated the facts which bear upon the case, and the public can 
readily decide between the two parties — the assailed, a highly 
respectable and most useful society, and the assailant, one whose 
character is also w^ell known to the community, and whose dis- 
honest transactions in France and England, have injuriously 
affected American reputation abroad. Between these parties the 
public can readily judge, and to its unerring verdict we willingly 
leave them. S. B. PARSONS, Sec'y. 
Bone Pcna. Pens made out of bones are now in use in Eng- 
land and sold at the rate of fifty for twenty-two cents. They are 
pronounced to be as inflexible as the quill and far more durable. 
