REPORT OP THE COMMITTEE 0:N" FRUITS. 105 



sub-committee, but in ca«e of a tie or of any doubt it is revised by 

 llie full committee. In such cases minuter distinctions may be- 

 come of importance. Tims at the November show we remarked to 

 an exhibitor that his collection was depreciated by the slightly 

 wilted condition of part of a dish of pears ; and on his saying that 

 he did not know we took that point into consideration, it was 

 answered that, where competition is so close, everything that goes 

 to make one dish of fruit better than another must be taken into 

 consideration. When the low marking of Clapp's Favorite, at the 

 annual exhibition, was objected to, on the ground that it was not 

 more out of season than Beurre d'Anjou and other winter pears, we 

 could only reply that it appeared to us a matter for judgment rather 

 than argument, and that, while it was desirable at the weekly shows 

 to have all fruits as near maturity as possible, custom, since the 

 establishment of the Society, had sanctioned the exhibition of winter 

 fruit at the annual show, but not of fruit which had been, perhaps, 

 kept by artificial raenns, and which, however sound it might appear 

 when placed on the table, would certainly be so decaytd as to 

 present a very unpleasant appearance before the end of a three- 

 days' show. 



The four points above mentioned are placed in the order in which 

 it has been customary to mark them, but if we were to arrange 

 them in what we deem the order of their relative value, we should 

 place, 1st, quality ; 2d, value for general cultivation ; 8d. size ; and 

 4th, beauty.* Thus, if there were a tie between two collections, 

 one of which was marked, say 18 in quality and 17 for general cul- 

 tivation, while the other was 17 in quality and 18 for general culti- 

 vation, the former would take the prize, and in like manner one in 

 which size predominated over beauty would take the precedence, 

 though we think this would cease to be the case after reaching a 

 certain size, as an overgrown fruit is not so desirable for general 

 use as one of more moderate size. The value of a fruit for general 

 cultivation becomes every year a more important consideration in 

 making our awards. It will be seen that while all the other points 

 relate to the fruit alone, this depends on the character of the tree 

 as well as of the fruit. Beauty includes form as well as color, and 

 it should be considered not only whether the form is beautiful in 



* For a full rUscussion of the question, " Wliat constitutes a good tree 

 and a good fruit?" we would refer to the address of the President of 

 the American Pomological Society, at the St. Louis session, 18G7. 



