The American Pomological Society had been founded in 1848 by Marshall P. Wilder as the American Congress of Fruit Growers, taking on its new name four years later. Meeting every other year, the sixth national meeting of the Society took place in Philadelphia with Wilder in the chair and Thomas Field as secretary. The Society remains in existence as the oldest organization of fruit growers in the United States, publishing a journal, and promoting the study of the cultivation of fruit and nuts. (By John Osborne)