No. 4.] eJUDGING BY SCALE OF POINTS. 95 



State Board in perfecting the scale of points for the varied 

 exhibits is not only most opportune, but to my mind neces- 

 sary, to justify the continuance of the liberal stipend. It 

 is a work so far above the level of that usually attempted 

 that its influence will be felt all over the country. It tells 

 of faithful, painstaking service on the part of the members 

 and the secretary. It speaks volumes for their thorough- 

 ness. Rightly applied, it marks an epoch in the history of 

 Massachusetts agriculture. It will be for the best interest 

 of agriculture, throughout the Commonwealth, if the Board 

 should be given power to insist upon the adoption of this 

 system of awarding premiums, and make the payment of the 

 stipend conditional upon its intelligent application. 



By awarding all prizes and examining all stock and prod- 

 ucts under the decimal or score-card system, every exhibitor 

 may have the evidence of merit, or cause of failure, to con- 

 sider at leisure, in the detailed score-card. This may not 

 insure any better judgment, but it furnishes all the evidence 

 upon which judgment was based, and it is this, and this 

 only, which will educate, which can advance and promote. 



Every man who passes judgment on any article or animal, 

 at any time or place, measures it by an ideal of his own. 

 It may be imperfect, so vague as to be beyond description, 

 yet to him it is a standard of perfection, and he approves or 

 disapproves as the object approaches or falls away from that 

 standard. You like a horse passing before you, but if I ask 

 why, you cannot tell ; yet in the glance you have measured 

 by your standard, by your ideal. The one object gained 

 through the decimal system of judging, above all others, is 

 that it fixes this ideal of perfection by parts, sc that one 

 becomes critical in judgment ; he becomes educated. 



When a committee goes out to award the premiums by 

 comparison, it is presumed that this standard of perfection 

 shall not enter in to influence judgment, but that the exami- 

 nation and comparison of individuals shall determine the 

 awards. The advantages here are that the whole field may 

 be examined together, and under the critical eye of the com- 

 mittee the awards made and ribbons attached in much less 

 time than by the use of the score-card, on each animal ; the 

 objections — that the worth of eacli is measured by that of 



