EXHIBITING AND JUDGING 67 



JUDGING 



Societies or organizations holding exhibitions must 

 employ competent judges in order to secure the good 

 will and the confidence of the growers, upon whom they 

 rely to make the show. Men of practical ability and 

 known integrity must be chosen, giving preference, if 

 available, to men who have already distinguished 

 themselvei in the culture of the flower they are called 

 upon to judge. But, beside this essential knowledge, 

 they should be possessed of good judgment and sound 

 common sense, combined with a capacity to critically 

 consider and justly appraise true merit. 



An endeavor to systematize judging, to make it a 

 matter of mathematical computation, has resulted in 

 the arranging of a scale of points apportioned to cover 

 all the essential attributes of plant and flower. This, 

 however, is only a means to an end and is cumbersome 

 at the best. It is chiefly used when some new variety 

 appears and we scale it to see the result, but even then 

 a practical man can tell by intuition just about where 

 the newcomer stands in point of merit. An incom- 

 petent man could not take the scale of. points, and, by 

 its use, get a correct appraisal of merit. A competent 

 man possesses that faculty which enables him to see 

 merit at a glance. The scale is but an analysis of 

 essentials with points for values, and the chief purpose 

 it serves is as a vehicle for expressing conclusions 

 arrived at. It is useful in a limited sphere as applied 

 to new kinds, but judging competitive exhibits of cut 

 blooms is a different matter entirely, and, moreover, 

 if it had to be done by scale of points, would hardly 

 be completed within the period of the show. 



The scales of points as revised and adopted by the 

 Chrysanthemum Society of America at its meeting in 

 Boston, November, 1904, are as follows: 



