JUDGING FRUITS 265 



tition to two or three. Then by more care- 

 ful examination and by repeated eliminations 

 the various samples are thrown out up to the 

 one best sample. 



In judging large collections this offhand 

 method is more unsatisfactory. Unless the 

 judges are thoroughly experienced and known 

 to be quite unbiassed, the results are sure to 

 be disappointing. Under the best of circum- 

 stances it is difficult to convince every man 

 who failed of the capital prize that his collec- 

 tion is really inferior to the one marked by 

 the judges. It is certainly better for men 

 whose knowledge of fruits is limited to avail 

 themselves of the help of a good scale of 

 points, and it is probably better for any judge 

 or committee of judges to use a score-card 

 whenever their decision is of considerable 

 consequence or likely to be called into ques- 

 tion. 



The real difficulty arises in choosing a suit- 

 able score-card ; for our lack of experimenta- 

 tion along this line has left us in this country 

 without much knowledge of what is really re- 

 quired. 



Mr. R. W. Starr, of Nova Scotia, who has 

 probably had as much experience as any man 



