246 MAIZE 



CHAP, at some local shows in South Africa the whole purport of a 

 championship seems to have been misunderstood, and the mis- 

 take has been made of calling for separate entries for the 

 championship, thus turning it into a distinct class, which is 

 uncalled for and undesirable. The aim and object of the 

 championship is to determine which is the best exhibit in any 

 class in the whole show ; experience proves that if separate 

 entries are called for, for the championship, the end aimed at 

 is defeated, for the majority of exhibitors will not make 

 separate entries, nor pay two fees, on the chance of securing 

 the championship. 



200. Principles of fudging. — Although each Province and 

 District specializes in particular breeds of maize, and though 

 the ears produced in each may differ in size, etc., the principles 

 underlying maize judging are the same for all conditions, and 

 these must be clearly understood in order to judge successfully. 

 It is not merely a question as to which is the best exhibit in 

 its class, on a particular show, but whether the exhibit com- 

 pares favourably with a definite standard. This standard 

 should be the one recognized by authorities as embodying all 

 of the qualifications of the best maize. Therefore the judge 

 must be thoroughly familiar with the points on which maize is 

 judged, and with the standards which have been set for each 

 breed. A printed " standard of perfection " is a useful guide ; 

 such a standard cannot be final, but will grow or be modified 

 from year to year as the various breeds are improved or 

 altered. 



A well-arranged score card is of great assistance in main- 

 taining a judicial balance. But the judge should bear in 

 mind that there are no absolute rules which can be reduced to 

 writing by which maize samples can be properly judged, in- 

 dependent of that intuitive perception of good and bad points 

 which in a good judge accompanies experience. The score 

 card may easily be abused if it is used in a strictly 

 mathematical sense, for there are certain points which 

 cannot be reduced to precise figures, and which will be 

 neglected in the effort to do so. If the score card is slavishly 

 followed, a wrong decision will result. On this account the 

 use of the score card is sometimes condemned, though it is 

 usually not the score card but the lack of comprehension on 



