62 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



JUDGING FRUIT. 



Doubtless one of the most important 

 matters in connection with any exhibi- 

 tion is the appointing of competent 

 judges There was a time when this 

 Ontario of ours was in its infancy and 

 exhibitions wei'e entirely local, with 

 but veiy little competition in any class: 

 that, as a rule, judges were expected 

 only to decide upon the excellence in 

 appearance of specimens before them 

 without regard to varieties, how gi'own, 

 or whether or not possessed of quality, 

 or actually valuable as a crop for mar- 

 ket. A black Gilliflower was likely to 

 receive the highest award with Baldwin 

 and ^'Esopus Spitzenburg in competi- 

 tion. While another class of judges 

 would give preference to the largest 

 specimens without regard to points of 

 excellence. A Gloria Mundi would far 

 excel an American Golden Russet in 

 their estimation, and a Louis Bonne de 

 Jersey, or even Flemish Beauty, would 

 not be considered for first place if the 

 portly Souvenir du Congr^s appeared 

 in competition. But there was not 

 much chance of any immediate loss 

 from this bad system of judging in 

 those days, as there was a ready demand 

 for the small amount of fruit grown, 

 and all varieties were easily disposed of 

 or Tised at home. This state of affairs no 

 longer exists, and in many sections we 

 find gi-owers top grafting old orchards, 

 so as to get only such varieties as are 

 of value both for home and foreign 

 consumption. 



There has been some improvement 

 in the method of judging, which, so 

 far as it has gone, has had a beneficial 

 effect in inducing growers, in many 

 instances, to discard worthless varieties. 

 Possibly few consider the responsibility 

 of judges as they make awards now-a- 

 days at our leading, or indeed at all 

 our exhibitions. The general public 

 looks up to them as being possessed of 

 superior knowledge, and quite capable 



of dealing correctly and fairly with 

 the subject. Thei*e may be ten, fifty, 

 or more growers who desire to plant 

 orchards of various fruits, and they are 

 all watching ^\^.tll much interest the 

 awards of these judges in order that 

 they may select varieties receiving the 

 highest awards. Generally speaking 

 such growers will make their selections 

 from the various collections on the 

 tables, hence the great importance of 

 care and skill in making aw^ards in 

 such cases, and that such awards should 

 be in writing, containing full and 

 explicit reasons. 



We have arrived at a time when I 

 believe it is necessary for the public 

 benefit to look more particulai'ly into 

 the matter of judging fruits, and, if 

 possible, to establish a scale of points 

 and set of rules by which j udges should 

 act in arriving at awards, and if all 

 Societies that hold annual exhibitions 

 would publish such rules and directions 

 to judges in their prize lists, much good 

 would be accomplished. 



Look at our several large fall exlii- 

 bitions, and we find that in the past 

 few years there has not been much im- 

 provement in the system of judging, 

 or perhaps more correctly speaking 

 there has not been a system at all, for 

 although the awards are generally more 

 correct than they would stand by the 

 judgment of fifteen or twenty years 

 ago, yet we find the same differences in 

 the various exhibitions between dif- 

 fei'ent sets of judges as of old. Xow, 

 while it would be unreasonable to ex- 

 pect all judges to agi-ee precisely on all 

 points, I do think that in many leading 

 important points all should agree. 



Competent judges should possess a 

 thoroughly practical knowledge of the 

 whole subject, beginning with the tree 

 and vine, its growth and habits, soil 

 and cultivation requu-ed, general care, 

 the market values of the various fruits 

 upon which they are called to pass 



