1192 



EXHIBITIONS 



EXHIBITIONS 



increase very rapidly in size just before maturity. 

 The picking should be done by hand and with the 

 greatest care. Many an excellent specimen has been 

 ruined by careless handling. The stems should remain 

 intact. The picker should remove, not a sufficient 

 number of specimens to meet the requirements under 

 which the exhibit is held, but many times that num- 

 ber. A bushel, or even a barrel, of seemingly high- 

 class fruit will often yield after the most rigid inspec- 

 tion but a single plate of perfect specimens. 



The actual selection of the specimens to be exhibited 

 is the most difficult and perplexing problem connected 

 with this work. Fundamental to a successful solution 

 of this problem is a thorough knowledge of the variety, 

 an intimate acquaintance with the characters of a 

 normal specimen, and a fine discrimination in the 

 balancing of these characters and in the attaching of 

 the proper values to each. 



The external factors that must be considered are 

 size, form, color, uniformity, and freedom from blem- 

 ishes. The criteria to be used in the inspection of the 



1469. Good exhibition plates of apples. 



first three factors are the attributes of a typical normal 

 specimen of the variety when grown under conditions 

 favorable to its development. The largest apple is not 

 necessarily the best; in fact, great size is usually 

 obtained at the expense of some equally desirable 

 factor. The extra-large specimen is always an abnormal 

 specimen and, as such, is not to be sought. It is in 

 regard to this factor, however, that many exhibitors 

 make their first mistake. A safe rule to follow is to 

 choose the specimen combining large size with the 

 highest color. This rule will almost invariably elim- 

 inate the abnormally large specimen. 



The form of the specimen should be true to the pre- 

 vailing type of the section in which it grows. Occasion- 

 ally different sections produce different types, as, for 

 example, the New York and the Oregon-grown Esopus. 

 One is as true to type as the other, but the two types 

 should never be mixed on the same plate or in the 

 same package. 



Of all external factors, none exceeds in importance 

 the quality of color. High color always sets up in the 

 mind the presumption of excellence; the higher the 

 color, the more pronounced seems to be the presump- 

 tion, though it is not always justified. Color is also an 

 indication of fitness, of approaching maturity, but a 

 specimen maturing far in advance of its companions 

 should be regarded with suspicion lest it harbor a worm 

 that may emerge at a most inopportune moment if 

 it escapes detection. Polishing a specimen to enhance 

 its color should not be practised. The operation 

 removes the bloom, which is more beautiful than the 

 high polish because it is natural. 



The factor of uniformity implies that one specimen 

 should resemble every other specimen as nearly as 



it is possible for the human eye and hand to make it. 

 It is a literal application of the expression "as nearly 

 alike as two peas." A single specimen of highest order 

 should not be retained for a moment if its companions 

 are on a more nearly equal though somewhat lower 

 plane of excellence. 



Freedom from blemishes implies that the specimen 

 is perfectly sound. A blemish may be anything from a 

 bruise, a broken stem, or a stem puncture to a scale- 

 mark or scab-spot. In an age when knowledge of pre- 

 ventive measures is so widespread and so accessible, 

 evidence of injury from insect or disease should com- 

 pletely exclude a specimen from consideration. Need- 

 less to say, the condition of the specimen should be as 

 sound as the season permits, showing neither flabbiness 

 nor physiological disintegration of the tissues. 



The factor of quality is also worthy of consideration, 

 though it is of more importance in case of collections 

 in which one variety is exhibited against another than in 

 case of different specimens of the same variety. Granted 

 that size, form, and color are normal, the factor of 

 quality will usually take care of itself. 



There is need of a standardization of requirements 

 under which fruit exhibits are held. These require- 

 ments should be based on trueness to type and all that 

 the term implies, and the values attached to the dif- 

 ferent characters concerned should be fixed in pro- 

 portion to their relative importance for the purpose 

 in hand. Such a statement appears in the following 

 score-card for apples, which is in somewhat common 

 use in the eastern United States: 



Size 10 



Form 10 



Color ' 20 



Uniformity 15 



Quality 20 



Freedom from blemishes 25 



Total 100 



This score-card may be no more nearly correct than 

 many others, but it represents a concerted effort to 

 fix a satisfactory standard. There should be more of 

 this work for every fruit. 



Score-cards for other fruits have been adopted by 

 particular exhibitions and institutions as the follow- 

 ing for grapes: 



Form of bunch 10 



Size of bunch 15 



Size of berry 10 



Color 10 



Bloom 5 



Freedom from blemish 20 



Flavor 25 



Firmness 5 



Total 100 



There is need also of a general agreement as to the 

 number of specimens to be exhibited on a single plate. 

 The rules now governing all large exhibitions in the 

 East require that plates of apples, peaches, pears, and 

 quinces shall contain five specimens; of the smaller 

 fruits a sufficient number to fill a 6-inch plate; and of 

 grapes three clusters. 



Fruit to be sent away for exhibition should be care- 

 fully packed. A bushel box is a satisfactory package 

 for this purpose, being better than a larger package in 

 which the pressure on the fruit is greater. Each speci- 

 men should be wrapped, and the box should be well 

 lined with excelsior or other material. Extra speci- 

 mens should be included to replace those that are 

 injured in any way. 



In selecting the room in which the exhibition is to 

 be held and in setting up the fruit, one prime factor 

 should always be kept in mind there should be noth- 

 ing in the room to detract in any way attention from 

 the fruit. To this end, the walls should be plain or 



