JUDGING. 



It should be the aim and desire of all exhibitors to set up their 

 specimens in the most perfect condition attainable, and with all 

 the tasteful effect which their skill and experience can devise, 

 so as to have the best possible chance of winning the highest 

 awards in competition. The mferits of every specimen should 

 be brought out to the highest perfection by the skill and taste 

 of the cultivator, and exhibited when they are in their most 

 perfect form. Without going into elaborate details on the 

 specific merits of every class of horticultural exhibits, with all 

 their varied characteristics among plants, flowers, fruits, and 

 vegetables, with which all properly qualified judges should be 

 perfectly familiar, the chief points of merit in each class will 

 be pointed out in its place in this work, when the subject is 

 dealt with. 



In ordinary practice, competent judges have seldom any diffi- 

 culty in arriving at a fair and just conclusion as to the respec- 

 tive merits of the exhibits, after a close examination of the 

 specimens. Where, however, they may differ in opinion, or 

 where the competition is keen and close, the following simple 

 and easy method may be adopted in estimating the merits of 

 the individual specimens, and thereby settling the order of 

 the awards to the satisfaction of all reasonable persons. For 

 example, say nine exhibitors are competing in a class of Twelve 

 "distinct" Stove and Greenhouse Plants, or the same number 

 Rose-Blooms, Dishes of Fruit, or of Vegetables, for which three 

 prizes are offered. On careful examination, it is found that 

 four of the collections are clearly out of the running, and may 

 be passed without further comment. The merits of the other 

 five collections are so nearly equal that it is resolved to esti- 

 mate the value of the individual specimens to decide the order 



