356 BOAED OF AGKICULTURE. 



exhibits, in which no awards are made except in the case of seedling varie-- 

 ties, to any plates not correctly named. In the vegetable department, 

 however, it would seem to the writer that there is still ample room for 

 improvement. In too many instances it was found that exhibits were not 

 named. As an illustration of this a few examples are cited from last 

 year's premium list: "Twelve best cucumbers," "Six cauliflowers," 

 "Twelve ears early sweet corn," "Twelve ears late sweet corn," "Half 

 peck garden peas (dry)," "Best peck purple tomatoes," "Best peck red 

 tomatoes," "Six largest and best nutmeg_ melons," "Six largest and best 

 muskmelons," "Six carrots for table use," "Six carrots for live stock," etc. 

 The above examples, selected at random from the premium list, it seems 

 to me, furnish sufficient evidence that these exhibits, while they may be 

 of the best, are not educative, in the highest sense at least, because the 

 varieties exhibited are not named. To remedy this defect does not neces- 

 sarily mean any material increase in the premium list; nor, for that matter, 

 any great change in it. Supposing that instead oi saying "Twelve best 

 cucumbers" it said "Twelve best cucumbers, any variety, properly named;" 

 or, if desired, it might be included in the rules that all exhibits should be 

 named, in which case it would read, "Twelve best cucumbers, any variety." 

 We can readily see how much more instructive an exhibit would be to 

 all, and especially to one desirous of increasing his stock of knowledge 

 along these lines. It would be more than likely that a number of different 

 varieties would be competing for the same premium and in this way one 

 would be able to judge of the good and bad qualities of each. 



Another matter to which I wish to call your attention is that of the 

 arrangement of the exhibits. Under the present system of management 

 each exhibitor, at least in the vegetable department, stages his exhibit 

 of possibly two or more dozen varieties or kinds of vegetables in a certain 

 bench space which has been allotted to him. In this way exhibits of the 

 same class of vegetables are scattered all over the hall among the collec- 

 tive exhibits of the different individual exhibitors. As a result, if one 

 wishes to study the exhibit in any particular class of vegetables he has 

 to wander all over the building in order to do it, or else he has to wait 

 at the judge's table while they are being judged, which is not always 

 feasible to do. To remedy this defect I would suggest that each class of 

 exhibits be staged together, even though it might necessitate some changes 

 in the interior arrangement of the hall. With such a system of arranging 

 exhibits, the displays would be not only more attractive, but they would 

 also be much more instructive. 



In regard to the display of fruits there is little to be desired. All ex- 

 hibits, other than seedlings, are required to be properly named in order 

 to compete for a premium. In the individual plate exhibits the varieties 

 are«igrouped together, readily permitting one to make a fairly careful 

 study of the individual and collective exhibits. It, however, occurs to me 

 that in the case of apples and pears if it were possible to divide the indi- 



