iThe Canadian Horticulturi^ 



'ol. XXXII 



SEPTEMBER, 1909 



No. 9 



The Better Judging of Fruits 



THE first national apple show held at 

 Spokane, Washington, last Decem- 

 ber, while doubtless the largest dis- 

 play of apples ever brought together, was 

 also a skillfully managed and thoroughly 

 successful event. Eight carloads of 630 

 boxes each, entered in competition in 

 Class I. .calling for "best carload of stand- 

 ard commercial apples," is but one in- 

 stance of the magnificent scale upon 

 which the show was run. There were 

 other features, typically western in being 

 about the best possible and showing inde- 

 pendence in thought and action. Several 

 fruit farms and a customer at $25 a box 

 for the first prize boxes in a certain sec- 

 tion, were some of the novelties in prizes. 

 By-products of the apple — cider, apple 

 butter, apple vinegar, apple jelly, etc., 

 home-made and factory-made — won 

 numerous awards. In the apple kitchen 

 the king of fruits, daintily served in about 

 every conceivable way by a bevy of col- 

 lege girls, was an innovation that proved 

 very popular and will surely result in an 

 increased use of this wholesome fruit by 

 thousands who attended the show. 



THE JUDGING SYSTEM 



The splendid system of scoring by 

 points must have been gratifying to the 

 judges and was surely utter fairness to 

 the exhibitors. This feature of the great 

 show seems to have been but little com- 

 mented upon by the horticultural press. 

 In view of the notes about better judg- 

 ing of fruit in recent issues of The Cana- 

 dian HoRTicuLTiRisT, a review of the 

 methods of judging there may interest 

 some of its readers, and may suggest 

 some points worthy of adoption at the 

 fruit shows of our Dominion. 



A grand system was used in judging 

 the plate exhibits. The judges were 

 asked to score each variety on its mer- 

 its as an apple as well as award prizes. A 

 score from one to ten was used. Vari- 

 eties that scored lower than three, were 

 awarded no prizes. Some sorts were not 

 scored at all. The field was open to any 

 variety, new or old ; the foregoing sim- 

 ple method will, however, gradually dis- 

 courage the exhibition of comparatively 

 worthless kinds at future shows. 



Every entry winning a fifth prize or 

 over was awarded a diploma or diplomas 

 and cash prize according to the scoring. 

 In the case of a variety scored ten by the 

 judges, the winner of first prize received 



Charles Webster, Kelowna, British Columbia 



a diploma and $5 ; second, diploma and 

 $2; third, diploma and $1 ; fourth, medal 

 and diploma ; fifth, diploma. Varieties 

 scoring only three and four points receiv- 

 ed prizes as follows: First, $1 and 

 diploma ; second, fifty cents and diploma ; 

 third, diploma. Varieties scored inter- 

 mediate to these instances were awarded 

 prizes in proportion. 



In the box and carload classes, the 

 system was ideal, the judges having to 

 show on score card just where the points 

 had been earned as well as indicating (as 

 in the plate fruit section) how much bet- 

 ter they deemed one entry than another. 

 An instance of score card will illustrate 

 clearly : 



General display. No. 2 — Class 2 — For 

 best individual, county, district, state or 



For Progressive People 



I sincerely hope that The Cana- 

 dian Horticulturist will soon 

 have a vast circulation throughout 

 Canada. It fills a long-felt want, 

 and should become very popular, 

 especially among progressive peo- 

 ple in the rural communities. — Dr. 

 J. E. Klotz, Lanark Co., Ont. 



provincial exhibit of apples. Each exhibit 

 to consist of two barrels, two boxes, two 

 plates, two baskets and two jars of ap- 

 ples. No package to contain more than 

 one variety : 



SCORE CARD— SPECIAL DISPLAY. 



Entry No 47 23 57 



Texture and flavor.... 15 14 13 12 



Size 10 10 10 8 



Uniformity 10 9 8 8 



Color 10 10 10 9 



Condition and freedom 



from blemish 20 18 18 17 



Arrangement 10 8 5 7 



Number of varieties . . 25 25 25 25 



Total 100 94 89J^ 86 



Figures in first column represent high- 

 est possible score. There were nine en- 

 tries. Kelowna was entry No. 47 and 

 she is justly proud of her success, as 

 first prize meant $500 cash and $25 each 

 from a Spokane merchant for the two 

 first prize boxes. Rather a record price 

 for a bushel of apples. Kelowna was 

 also fortunate enough to win at the same 

 time the greatly coveted silver loving-cup 

 presented by the Seattle Chamber of Com- 



1«5 



merce to the exhibit in this class scoring 

 highest points for texture and flavor. It 

 is an open question whether eastern fruit 

 excels in texture and flavor, but it is 

 pretty certain now that British Columbia 

 grows the finest flavored apples in the 

 west. 



For Foreign Countries. — No. 6 — Class 

 5. — For best two barrels or six boxes 

 from foreign countries : 



SCORE CARD FOREIGN BBLS. AND BOXES.. 



Entry No 211 47 46 



Variety 20 15 18 15 



Commercial value 30 25 28 28 



Uniformity 20 16 19 18 



Attractiveness 20 16 18 18 



Total 90 72 83 79 



PACK SCORE (boxes.) 



Bulge or swell 20 16 18 17 



Alignment 20 15 17 16 



Height of ends 20 16 17 17 



Firmness 20 15 18 17 



Attractiveness 20 18 19 18 



Total 100 80 89 85 



All prizes in this section, first, second 

 and third, were won by British Columbia. 

 Kelowna was entry 47. Second and third 

 were won by Mrs. Smith, Spence's 

 Bridge, (46), and Mr. Cockle, Kaslo, 

 (211), respectively. 



No. 12. — Class 7. — For best packed 

 two barrels. — No barrel packing is done 

 in Kelowna, the standard Canadian apple 

 box being used exclusively, therefore Mr. 

 De Hart who packed this exhibit and 

 who had had no practice for years, de- 

 serves great credit for winning first prize. 

 As I have been unable to get details 

 of the score, only the possible points are 

 shown : 



SCORE CARD TWO BARREL PACK. 



Entry No 



Fruit (a) Quality 10 



(b) Appearance 50 



— 60 

 Packing (a) Staves 3 



(6) Hoops 5 



(c) Heads 4. 



(d) Nailing 3 



—15 



Packing (a) Facing 10 



(b) Tailing 5 



(c) Pressing 5 



(d) Racking 5 



— 25 



100 

 In the fruit score it would almost seem 

 as if fifty points for appearance was a 

 handicap for eastern barrel fruit which 



