24 Nebraska State Horticultural Society. 



of horticulture done in Nebraska in the last quarter of a centurj' has 

 certainly done great good in developing the country. 



Now I don't want to spoil what the mayor has said, so I will stoo. 

 Again I say, Ave are all glad to have you here. Everything we have is 

 open to you. Come and come again. Thank you. (Applause). 



H. S. HARRISON: I move that the chairman send a telegram of 

 congratulation to Mr. Pollard. 



Motion carried unanimously. 



THE PRESIDENT: Mr. Scott was to have given a paper this 

 morning, but he is not here yet, and we will take up the next subject, 

 on our program, by Mr. Keyser. 



THE NEED OF A FRUIT JUDGING COURSE IN OUR AGRICULT- 

 URAL SCHOOLS. 



By Val Keyser, Lincoln. 



In the department of animal husbandry, the professors will tell 

 you that the stock judging course is the most attractive work they give. 

 The grain judging courses are equally interesting, especially the judg- 

 ing of corn, which has given rise to the numerous lectures on seed corn 

 selection and created a demand for the seed corn special train. 



Now because these departments are giving such work and are 

 making a success of it is no reason why a fruit judging course should 

 be introduced, nor would we expect to attach the importance to this 

 work that is claimed for the judging of stock or corn. In fact, the 

 lines of work are not entirely comparable. However, the idea of hav- 

 ing the student handle the finished product, and the laboratory meth- 

 ods, are essentially the same. It is by studying the finished product 

 that we learn to observe its points of excellence, that we become able 

 to appreciate its good points and criticise the bad ones. 



The judging of stock and corn enables the student to pick out the 

 best, and stimulates a desire to reproduce the best. There is a standard 

 of excellence among fruits as well as in corn, and by learning to score 

 fruit, by comparing the superior with the inferior, the same desire t> 

 leproduce the best is bound to come. 



If you want a boy to become interested in fruit, you must put the 

 fruit before him. It takes an expert word painter to make a boy's 

 mouth water by merely telling him about apples or peaches, but it does 

 not take long to appreciate his interest in the subject if you plfoe before 

 him a basket of big, red apples or a plate of juicy peaches. 



Now then, it happens to be the case that the majority of students 

 In our agricultural schools know very little about fruit. It is true that 



