EXHIBITIONS 



EXHIBITIONS 



1193 



even bare. The decorations should be few, simple, 

 and in harmony with the colors of the fruit, that is, 

 substantial and perfectly plain. Red and white make 

 a very effective combination for ceiling decorations, 

 if decorations seem desirable. Plain white is best for 

 draping the tables. If electric lights are present, the 

 shades may be covered with red crepe paper. This 

 will give a quiet and subdued effect to the room when 

 the lights are on and will be in keeping with the other 

 decorations. The tables should be covered with a 

 material that will throw the fruit into sharp relief 

 without attracting attention to the covering itself. 

 Oatmeal paper, gray-green in color, answers these 

 specifications very well. Six- or eight-inch papyrus 

 plates are better than smooth-pressed paper plates or 

 the wooden plates and need no covering. 



The fruit should be set up in such a way that a 

 mass effect is produced, which impresses the observer 

 with the fruit and with nothing else. This means that 

 all the fruit must be on the same level. Shelves or tiers 

 one above the other are not desirable. In other words, 

 every detail should be subordinated to bringing out as 

 sharply as possible the fruit that is on exhibition. It 

 is therefore highly undersirable to place labels on the 

 top of a specimen, as is so often done. The observer 

 notes first of all a vast and meaningless sea of tags and 

 after that perhaps the fruit. The label may be pinned 

 into the plate in such a way that it is unnoticeable 

 except on close inspection, when it can be plainly seen. 

 A satisfactory label is a plain white card with three 

 lines on it, the first for the variety name, the second for 

 the name of the exhibitor when permissible, and the 

 third for the section from which the fruit comes. If 

 the exhibit is to attain its highest educational value, 

 the varieties must be correctly named and the names 

 correctly spelled. 



In general, it will be better to group varieties together 

 in order that comparisons may be made between the 

 different plates. By so doing an opportunity is afforded 

 for a study of variations of fruits grown under differ- 

 ent methods of management and in different sections 

 in which climatic conditions are unlike. Occasionally 

 grouping by sections may be desirable, especially if 

 there are general and marked contrasts between the 

 same varieties ad grown in different sections. 



The plates should not be crowded on the tables lest 

 the eye become confused and the fruit appear to be a 

 jumble of specimens lacking orderly arrangement. 

 The background of paper covering the table should be 

 visible between every plate, not in order that it may 

 be seen, but because it will serve to set off each plate 

 as a separate unit meriting for the moment undivided 

 attention. 



Finally, the specimens should be arranged in the 

 same order on every plate and the plates should be 

 in perfect alignment in every direction. Not only this, 

 but when the angles formed by the specimens on a 

 plate are right angles, as in case of apples with four 

 specimens on the bottom and one on top at the cen- 

 ter, the angles should assume the same direction as 

 those of the table top. 



The same rules hold for the selection of fruit for 

 barrels, boxes, or other packages as for single plates. 

 The arrangement should be such as to bring out the 

 fruit and subordinate the package, exemplified in the 

 bank of boxed fruit. C. S. WILSON. 



Exhibition of vegetables. 



The exhibition of vegetables is usually an impor- 

 tant feature at county, district and state fairs, and 

 often at farmers' institutes, horticultural society 

 meetings and conventions of vegetable-growers. Vege- 

 tables are also likely to occupy a prominent place in 

 county or state exhibits at state, national or inter- 

 national shows or expositions. The exhibits may be 



competitive or non-competitive. In the former case 

 they are usually made by the individual producers; in 

 the latter case, they are more often made by a com- 

 pany, development bureau, or an institution, primarily 

 for advertising or educational purposes. In either case, 

 they have some educational value, even the individual 

 exhibitor learning by comparison of his exhibit with 

 others. 



Competitive exhibits are of two kinds: (1) those in 

 which the exhibit consists of a specified quantity of a 

 given kind of vegetable, e.g., one dozen table carrots, 

 and (2) those which consist of a collection or display 

 of vegetables alone, or combined with other products 

 of the soil. Vegetables in exhibits that are designed 

 primarily for advertising or educational purposes 

 usually form only a part of some general exhibit. 



In making exhibits in competition with the products 

 of other exhibitors, the successful competitors are 

 usually those who give most careful attention to the 

 selection, preparation and installation of their exhibits. 



In making single exhibits, care should be taken to 

 show the exact quantity or number of specimens men- 

 tioned in the entry list. At county fairs, especially, 

 exhibitors are prone to make their "pecks" or "half- 

 pecks" exceedingly small if exhibition material is scarce 

 or time limited. The present tendency is to specify 

 in premium lists the number of specimens, whenever 

 this is feasible, rather than a given bulk, and to dis- 

 qualify exhibits which do not conform to the require- 

 ment in this respect. 



In selecting specimens which are to form a single 

 exhibit, very few inexperienced persons appreciate 

 the importance of uniformity in size and type. Some- 

 times an exhibit will be very creditable with the excep- 

 tion of one or two specimens. These odd specimens 

 may be very good as individuals, but differ much in 

 size or type from the other specimens and detract 

 seriously from the value of the exhibit. 



Vegetables on exhibition should be clean. Root crops 

 should usually be washed. Onions are best prepared 

 by careful brushing. Cauliflower and cabbage should 

 be carefully trimmed; tomatoes, eggplant and melons 

 wiped with a moist cloth. Celery, lettuce and endive 

 should be gathered with the roots on, carefully washed, 

 and displayed with the roots immersed in water so 

 that the plants will not wilt. 



The arrangement of the specimens in a single exhibit 

 is also important. When the judging is by comparison, 

 only, those exhibits which attract the immediate 

 attention of the judge will be likely to receive careful 

 consideration if the number of entries is at all large. 

 Under such conditions it often happens that the 

 arrangement of the specimens is fully as effective in 

 securing careful examination of the exhibit as is the 

 perfection of the specimens themselves. In the case of 

 many kinds of vegetables, if the number of specimens 

 is not over one dozen, the exhibit can often be dis- 

 played very advantageously on plates or trays. If one 

 peck or one-half bushel is prescribed, splint baskets are 

 desirable receptacles. In any case, the appearance of the 

 exhibition room will be greatly enhanced if the recep- 

 tacles used for all the single exhibits are as uniform as 

 the nature of the products will permit. With this end 

 in view, it is desirable that the management furnish 

 the receptacles. 



In the exhibitions held by thoroughly established 

 organizations which give special attention to vegetables, 

 there is likely to be a recognized appropriate method 

 of disposing the specimens of each kind of vegetable 

 in or upon a given type of receptacle. At county fairs, 

 each exhibitor usually exercises his own ingenuity both 

 as to type of receptacle and method of arrangement; 

 and the .result is at least lacking in monotony. To 

 show at its best, every exhibit should be charac- 

 terized by neatness and simplicity in arrangement. 



The principles involved in making a general display 



