264 SYSTEMATIC POMOLOGY 



Each character or quality is given its due 

 weight, and the merit of any particular hog or 

 sample of butter is estimated point by point. 

 It has often been proposed that this system 

 be adopted in judging fruits, especially at 

 exhibitions where competition is apt to be 

 keen. Thus far no great progress has been 

 made, however, toward bringing the score- 

 card method into vogue in this country. 

 The most effective attempts appear to have 

 been made in Canada, especially in Ontario, 

 where fruit exhibitions are more popular and 

 generally better conducted than in the United 

 States. For the most part, though, experi- 

 enced fruit judges, like those of the American 

 Institute, the Massachusetts Horticultural 

 Society, the Worcester Horticultural Society, 

 etc., depend upon their extended knowledge 

 of the fruits in exhibit, and make up their 

 judgments offhand after an examination of 

 the various samples. 



This is not usually very difficult, especially 

 when only a single variety is being passed 

 upon and when that variety is one well known 

 to the judge. It is almost always easy to elim- 

 inate the large majority of samples as being 

 manifestly inferior, thus reducing the compe- 



