84 
THE NATIONAL NURSERYMAN. 
“ Resolved, That we hereby express our sorrow and 
tender our syinpithy to the families of these departed co¬ 
workers.” 
CONVENTION NOTES. 
Thomas B. Meehan sailed for Europe soon after the 
convention, to be absent six weeks. 
Jacob W. Manning. Reading, Mass., has attended every 
meeting of the association since its organization twenty 
years ago. 
William F'ell, Hexham, England, the only representa¬ 
tive of Great Britain at the convention, returned to Eng¬ 
land the week following the Indianapolis meeting. 
A committee on final resolutions, Messrs. Watrous, 
Stark and Bennett, presented appropriate acknowledg¬ 
ment of the accommodations provided and the hospitality 
of the citizens of Indianapolis. 
At 4 o’clock on the afternoon of the first day the mem¬ 
bers of the association accepted the invitation of Ex- 
President Harrison and called upon him at his residence 
and shook hands with Mr. Harrison upon introduction by 
Vice-President Albaugh. 
Members of the association to the number of thirty- 
five visited the nursery of Albertson & Hobbs, nine miles 
from Indianapolis, on the day previous to the opening of 
the meeting, upon invitation of the members of that firm. 
Others visited the nursery on the morning of June I2th, 
and twenty-five others went out to the nursery on June 
13th. 
Papers on the following subjects were prepared by the 
gentlemen named, but were not read at the convention: 
“ Nomenclature, Description and Characterization of 
Fruits,” T. T. Lyon, South Haven, Mich.; “ Wrong Horti¬ 
cultural Laws,” Charles J. Brown, Rochester, N. Y.; “ Com¬ 
petition in the Nursery Business,” Charles Green, Roch¬ 
ester, N. Y. 
The Nurserymen’s Mutual Protective Association 
elected these officers: President, Hon. N. H. Albaugh, 
Tadmor, O.; vice-president, William C. Barry, Rochester, 
N. Y.; secretary and treasurer, George C. Seager, Roch¬ 
ester, N. Y.; executive committee, W. F. Heikes, Hunts¬ 
ville, Ala.; D. S. Lake, Shenandoah, la., Irving Rouse, 
Rochester, N. Y. 
The annual meeting of the American Nurserymen’s 
Protective Association was held on the evening of June 
12th. The following officers were elected : President, C. 
L. Watrous, Des Moines, la.; vice-president, George Meiss¬ 
ner, Bushberg, Mo.; secretary, Thomas B. Meehan, Ger¬ 
mantown, Pa.; treasurer, A. R. Whitney, Franklin Grove, 
Ill.; executive committee, George B. Thomas, Westches¬ 
ter, Pa.; Charles J. Brown, Rochester, N. Y. 
A NECESSITY. 
A. 11. Pennelt., IIoneoye, N. Y.—“Please fiiul enclosed $1 to 
settle for jonnml for IHtlo. Would not, know how to get along with¬ 
out it.”, 
DESERVES HEARTY SUPPORT. 
Wii.iuAM M. Peters' Sons, Snow llria, Nurseries, Wesley, 
Ml), —•• The National Nurseryman in our estimation deserves the 
liearty support of every nurseryman, all over this as Avell as foreign 
countries.” 
THE DESCRIPTION, CIIARACTERIZ.A.TION AND NOMENCLA¬ 
TURE OF FRUITS. 
T. T, LYON. SOUTH HAVEN, .MICH. 
If we are to realize the obvious ambition of many of its 
modern devotees, to secure the acknowledgement of pom¬ 
ology as a science, in the appropriate sense of the word ; 
it appears essential that steps be taken to rid it, as far as 
practicable, of a mass of worse than worthless material; 
including much of coarseness, vulgarity and even super¬ 
stition, with which, during the many centuries of its 
development, it has come to be cumbered ; as well as of 
the more modern pretentions and sensational names, 
which may be due to the ambition of originators, or to 
the desire of disseminators to promote sales. 
So far as descriptions are concerned, intended, as they 
are, for the use of the masses; it is doubtless wise, and 
even indispensable, that, they be framed in our vernacu¬ 
lar, rather than in a dead language, as in botany, ento¬ 
mology and other sciences generally. 
Simplicity of description and nomenclature, especially 
for popular use, is exceedingly desirable. In this respect 
pomological practice must be conceded to be decidedly 
in advance of that of the sciences mentioned ; recogniz¬ 
ing, as it does, but a single name for a variety of fruit; 
and remanding all others to the rank of synonyms ; while 
in other sciences, in ignorance of previous discovery and 
naming, it is not infrequently the case, that a subsequent 
discoverer imposes a new name, with the result that, when 
either name is quoted, it becomes necessary, in order to 
avoid confusion, that the name of the author be also 
quoted—a necessity which, under pomological practice, 
cannot arise. 
To fill the requirements of science, the description of a 
variety of fruit should be so concise and accurate, that a 
specimen of such variety may be certainly identified by 
means of such description—a requirement which, owing 
to variations of form, size, color and even flavor, due to 
climate, soil, vigor and even to peculiarities of the seasons, 
it has, so far, been impossible to realize, save in the cases 
of a few peculiar or unusually distinct varieties. 
As a more accurate method of determining the size of 
specimens. Prof. Heiges, of the Division of Pomology, has 
proposed that it be measured by means of the displace¬ 
ment of water. This, though susceptible of accurate 
results, involves the necessity of using a graduated vessel 
—an article which few persons are likely to possess; or 
to procure for such purpose. 
Considering, therefore, that the weight of a fruit will 
generally more accurately express its real value, the 
writer has proposed that weight, rather than size, be taken 
as the measure of the comparative values of specimens ; 
expressing this in ounces, in case of the larger fruits ; and 
in fractions of an ounce, or the number of specimens in 
an ounce, in case of the smaller fruits. This method has 
been submitted to several prominent pomologists, with 
approval, so far. Having been approved by Professor L. 
R. Taft, the horticulturist of the Michigan State Experi¬ 
ment Station, it is to be used at the South Haven P'ruit 
