Ho^ to Judge Vegetables w. k craig 



[Editor's Note : Last year we had many complaints from enthusiastic new gardeners who did not feel satisfied with the decisions at the local club 

 or war garden exhibitions of the season s produce. The conditions were due to various causes. Sometimes the exhibitors themselves did not know the points 

 of merit — and were in any event at least a little prejudiced in their own favor — sometimes the fault rested unquestionably in the similar ignorance of the judges. 

 So we asked Mr. Craig to write this article. He is an experienced gardener of well known ability, having a large estate under his 'care. He is also quite 

 familiar with the exhibition hall as contestant; and his services are often called for as a judge in professional contests. Hence this presentation should be of 

 service to the members of the various clubs conducting contests at this time.] 





ONE blessing that the great European war 

 has brought in its train is the fact that 

 thousands of men, women, boys, and girls 

 have been brought into intimate contact 

 with the brown earth. There are many more 

 "war gardens" than a year ago, and the growers 

 are more careful and critical. In practically 

 every village, town, and city there will be exhibi- 

 tions of vegetables this fall, to say nothing of 

 the numerous school exhibits and millions of 

 people will in the aggregate view the products. 

 Last year at similar gatherings there was injus- 

 tice often done in the final judgments and 

 awards becauseof an ig- 

 norance of standard of 

 merit. Perhaps these 

 remarks may be of 

 timely help this year. 



The exhibitor must 

 bear in mind that spec- 

 imens put on display 

 for competition should 

 be as well grown as 

 possible, clean and cor- 

 rectly named. Any ex- 

 hibit in a competition 

 should also contain the 

 £xact number of speci- 

 mens called for in the 

 schedule. Some organ- 

 izations are still offering 

 premiums for the " best 

 display" of tomatoes, 

 beets, potatoes, and sun- 

 dry other vegetables. 

 This should be discon- 

 tinued — such classes al- 

 ways put difficulties on 

 all concerned and invar- 

 iably cause lots of bick- 

 erings. 



The method of judg- 

 ing is wonderfully sim- 

 plified when all the 

 exhibits in each class 

 are grouped together. 

 Even in some of our 

 agricultural fairs this 

 is not done. Judges 

 should insist that the 

 committees in charge 

 of exhibits so arrange 

 the articles that the 

 classes can be handled 

 with a minimum of 

 trouble. 



While competent 

 j|udges can usually 

 make their awards 

 without having re- 

 course to any system 

 of scoring, yet where 

 competition is very 

 close this is sometimes 

 necessary and partic- 

 ularly so in the case 

 of "collections." 



With new exhibitors the greatest trouble al- 

 ways is in wanting to show their largest speci- 

 mens, irrespective of form, and in failure to stage 

 specimens of uniform size. Points for judges to 

 consider in making awards are: I, size; 2, form; 

 3, smoothness (in the case of all root crops); 4, 

 varietal character (whether true to type or not); 

 S, uniformity; 6, general condition (fresh appear- 

 ance, freedom from coarseness, good color, etc.); 



7, correct labeling. In order to show how this 

 would work I will discuss in detail some of the 

 more important vegetables which are sure to be 

 shown in the greatest numbers. 



The leader amongst these is the potato, a vege- 

 table which needs very careful judging. It is 

 necessary, as a rule, to turn over all potatoes and 

 where competition is at all close the proper 

 method is not to attempt to pick out the winners 

 ofFhand but to gradually eliminate all but a few 

 dishes; and then proceed to carefully "point" 

 each factor in each exhibit, but this procedure 

 should also be applied to all vegetable judging. 



A general utility collection of everyday vegetables of good quality 



Arrangement counts in this display of produce grown at the Santa Cruz Light Station War Garden 



HERE ARE TWO "COLLECTIONS" OR "DISPLAYS." WHICH WINS? TRY POINTING BY THE SCALES ON 



PAGE 64 AND SEE WHERE YOU ARRIVE 



' I *HOUGH individual classes are occasionally 

 ■*■ difficult to judge they are simplicity itself 

 as compared with "collections." With the lat- 

 ter it is more easy to make a decision when the 

 schedule calls for a certain definite number of 

 varieties and specifies the number of specimens 

 of each to be shown, but "where the largest and 

 best collection," "collection of not less than 18 

 varieties," "finest general display" and other 



49 



vaguely worded phrases are used decisions are 

 often more difficult to make and cannot well be 

 more than personal preferences. It is always 

 best to use a score card with collections; snap 

 judgments from hasty glances will often convince 

 an exact judge where awards should go but ama- 

 teur judges would do well to score all they judge. 

 In this connection it is well to remember that 

 an exhibitor may put up a fine imposing collec- 

 tion of low-scoring vegetables and another one 

 a smaller sized collection of high class heavy-scor- 

 ing sorts. Such vegetables as cauliflowers, on- 

 ions, peas, potatoes, celery, asparagus, and brus- 

 sels sprouts should be 

 allowed the maximum 

 of 100 points each if in 

 perfect condition; to- 

 matoes, egg plants, car- 

 rots, sweet corn, leeks, 

 parsnips, and beets — 

 8oeach ; endive, lettuce, 

 green peppers, cucum- 

 bers, salsify, and tur- 

 nips — 60 each; string 

 beans, shell beans, cab- 

 bage, red peppers, and 

 c e 1 e r i a c — 5 o each; 

 Swiss chard, horse rad- 

 ish, kohl rabi and 

 squash — 40 each; with 

 rhubarb, spinach, rad- 

 ishes, okra, and Jeru- 

 salem artichokes only 

 30 points each. 



Where tasteful ar- 

 rangement is called for 

 (too often ignored in 

 schedules), 100 points 

 should be allowed as a 

 maximum. Not infre- 

 quently arrangement 

 turns the scale where 

 the collections are on 

 a par for quality. 



A competitor who 

 sh[ows well grown 

 squash, cabbage, spin- 

 ach, radishes, string 

 beans, and lettuce, etc., 

 may score a maximum 

 of 270 while one who 

 shows potatoes, celery, 

 cauliflowers, onions, to- 

 matoes, and sweet corn 

 can secure 560 points. 

 Common cabbage, sa- 

 .voy cabbage, red cab- 

 bage; green string 

 beans, wax beans, lima 

 beans and shell beans, 

 are generally admitted 

 as distinct varieties; cab- 

 bage lettuce and cos or 

 romaine lettuce are also 

 allowed as distinct. 



The exhibitor having 

 the largest number of 

 distinct kinds of vegetables in a collection should 

 take priority over one who shows more than one 

 variety of any of the staple vegetables, such as 

 two potatoes, or corn, or beans, or tomatoes, or 

 beets; other points being equal. 



Amateur judges will find that judging by a 

 process of gradual elimination is the best course 

 to follow. For scale of points to be used in 

 judging see page 64. 



