47 



In preseuliiig the above list of premiums and gratuities 

 awarded by your Committee, we wish to state that it was al- 

 most imposjjible that full justice to all should be done, with 

 558 plates of Apples of such good quality aud of so many 

 different varieties, scattered, as they were, among Pears and 

 other fruits, over six long tables, without regard to kinds. 

 Is it not too much to expect, and too- much to impose upon 

 this or any committee, in the limited time assigned them? 

 We at least think so, and as Chairman of this Committee, 

 this years experience added to the experience of last 

 year as Chairman of Committee on Grapes, Peaches, and As- 

 sorted Fruits, causes me here and now to protest against the 

 manner of arranging and displaying the fruit upon the tables 

 of the Society, causing such laborious and unsatisfactory 

 work for your Committees, who believe it a necessity that a 

 radical reform should be made in this direction, if it expects 

 faithful service from its committees, and justice dealt out to 

 its exhibitors. We therefore would recommend, what has 

 already been adopted in some societies, the plan of having 

 stands set upon the tables, labelled with the variety or kind of 

 fruit there exhibited, with rods to lay across the table to sep- 

 arate each variety. By having all of each variety by them- 

 selves so labelled, the kind of fruit and variety can be easily 

 found, and when found the best can be easily selected, as all 

 the plates of that variety are together for comparison ; while 

 as the tables are now arranged it is simply impossible for any 

 Committee on Fruits to perform their duties in the time al- 

 lotted for it, and do justice to all the exhibitors ; the labor be- 

 ing so tiresome and tedious that it is a wonder that men are 

 found interested enough to undertake it. We consider that 

 an exhibitor obliged to exhibit fruit in a round dish, or emp- 

 tied loose upon the table, is not treated with equal fairness 

 with those using the regular plates of the Society ; and there- 

 fore the Society should provide plates enough of its own for 

 all to use, and we would recommend that it do so before an- 

 other season. We also think more notice ouffht to be taken 



